A fractional COO is a highly experienced individual who provides leadership and management expertise to a company on a part-time or project basis. The role is also known as an interim or part-time COO. Fractional COOs can be hired to fill a temporary leadership gap or to support a company’s growth strategy without committing to a full-time executive hire.
Startups are often cash-strapped but also need great talent quickly. Whereas a full-time executive, like a COO or VP of Operations, might require significant time to find, and cost a lot in salary and equity compensation as well as benefits, a fractional executive can be hired immediately, with no long-term commitment, and at a significantly lower cost. They can work remotely or on-site, and are paid on an hourly, project, or retainer basis. The benefits of hiring a fractional executive include flexibility, access to specialized expertise, and cost-effectiveness compared to a full-time executive hire.
Working with me
I serve as a fractional COO for early-stage (Series A or earlier) startups. I can function exactly like any full-time member of the team: I can join company Slack/Teams channels, use a company email address, participate in team meetings, hold 1-on-1s, and own or directly support key projects.
Your contract with me is month-to-month, so there is no long-term commitment to working together. Your monthly payment is based on the areas of coverage you need. I generally recommend that new clients try me out for one month to see how it goes, and then we reassess to determine whether we want to keep working together, and what the right number of hours and scope would be now that we’ve learned more about our mutual fit. I have had very targeted contracts that were just one month long, and I’ve had long-term clients who I’ve worked with for close to a year.