It’s hard, near impossible, to find an excellent, experienced, affordable startup COO for a company at this stage. Do not despair! You don’t need to find your magical once-in-a-lifetime unicorn on day one. Here are 3 strategies to fill a COO role at an early stage startup.
Read MoreI frequently talk to founders who are looking for a Chief Operations Officer (COO). These are early stage companies – 5 to 20 employees, $0 to $1,000,000 in revenue, 5 to 50 customers, bootstrapped or small seed funding.
The founder is looking for:
It’s hard, near impossible, to find an excellent, experienced, affordable startup COO for a company at this stage.
Do not despair! You don’t need to find your magical once-in-a-lifetime unicorn on day one.
Here are 3 strategies to fill a COO role at an early stage startup.
Why buy a sledgehammer when a heavy duty fly swatter does the job? Yes, the very junior folks haven’t worked out. But the range between entry-level ops and COO is vast.
Is there someone smart, hungry, and operationally-minded in your network that could start as an ops manager and grow from there? COOs are hard to find but everyone knows an up-and-coming ass kicker, I mean, operator.
Think: project manager, exec assistant, event planner. Look for a few years of experience in a logistics-heavy role with people or vendor management experience. They will be well-respected, highly recommended, and have moved up quickly. You’ll hear people say, “I trust them to get shit done.”
What area of your business could use a leader or more experience? Don’t hire a general COO. Hire a VP of Sales, Head of Marketing, Finance Manager, or Business Development Lead. Pick someone who thinks about systems, processes, and playbooks.
You’ll acquire deep expertise in an area where you need it today AND the potential to develop a COO from within your organization.
If someone was managing your calendar, paying invoices, following up on client to-dos, designing marketing materials, running your social media, buying groceries, setting meeting agendas, onboarding new hires –OR WHATEVER ELSE YOU NEED– how much time would that give you?
Not sure what could be delegated? Levels CEO Sam Corcos has 56 tasks that are handled by a virtual assistant. Read this amazing Sam Corcos Starter Pack for inspiration.
Is this blasphemy coming from a former startup COO?
Spoiler alert. I was Option #2. I started as the head of Client Success and moved into the COO role after a year. I was motivated, well-prepared, and had deep knowledge of the team and business. The company knew my strengths (and weaknesses - ha!) and moved me into the role with confidence. It was a win-win.
Do you have an awesome story about how you found (or developed) your COO? Other tips for startup founders looking for COOs? Please share!
Your Startup Is Growing. Your company is in the Wild West phase. You’re moving fast and breaking things. The idea of documenting something is laughable. Your process changes daily and you’re the only person doing this work anyway. Then things start to change…
Read MoreYour company is in the Wild West phase. You’re moving fast and breaking things.
The idea of documenting something is laughable. Your process changes daily and you’re the only person doing this work anyway.
Then things start to change…
You start wondering, “Is now the time to start documenting stuff? Maybe define a workflow or add a Zapier integration?”
Speed is your competitive advantage. You want to stay lean and nimble. But also, stuff is starting to break.
How do you know when it’s time to add structure, playbooks, automation, tools or guidelines??
One customer renewal overlooked, no problem. Two or three? → Okay, let’s add a weekly email report.
Forget to send invites to an event? → Time for a checklist.
The dollar amount is wrong on a contract because of a manual error…for the third time this month. → Do we upgrade our e-sign tool to get pricing configurations?
You’ve added several new hires who aren’t “getting it.”
What resources are available to them to understand the company, job, tasks, or internal quirks? Do you have recordings of a product demo, a plan for call shadowing, and some documentation about how to use the CRM?
You don’t need an LMS on day one. Start simple and build it out over time.
I love to get in the middle of employee conflict
…said no CEO ever
It usually happens first in sales because commissions are at stake and sales folks, by definition, are great at making the ask and pushing boundaries.
It’ll overflow into a fun game of “Whose job is it anyway?”
Clarifying roles or putting rules of engagement on (digital) paper will help alleviate this. Creating technology-enabled guardrails with in-app automation or user permissions is phase two.
You realize it’s quicker to put instructions in a Google Doc than to sit down for a 30 minute walk through of <insert your fave startup workflow here>.
If you’re an engineer, you’d rather write a script or create a widget than do that manual data pull again.
Ask me once, it’s a one off. Ask me twice, I notice. Ask me three times, I’ll answer you with a canned response or link to doc. Ask me twenty times, I’ll spend money or time on a longer term fix.
Things are changing fast and getting more complex. What are all the steps to send a customer email again? Do you pull the list from the CRM or the Marketing Automation tool?
You designed the workflow but can’t remember it. Whomp whomp! It’s only happened to me 100x. Time to document, automate, or both.
It’s a common and important question - when is the right time to add internal process?
Add too much, it will slow you down, create unnecessary expenses, and be out-of-date before it’s done.
Add too little, your customers, employees, and growth trajectory will pay the price.
It’s a delicate balance that you’ll continually refine. Look for the signs and adjust as you go.
Growing pains are a fantastic “problem” to have! 🚀
The Journey. I love the process and journey of pursuing big things. It’s goal setting. It’s planning. It’s incremental progress applied to all aspects of life. We do it year-round but the start of a new year is a natural time to reflect and refocus. Here are several specific strategies to lay a foundation for success for 2022 and harness the energy and motivation of the new year!
Read MoreI love the process and journey of pursuing big things.
It’s goal setting. It’s planning. It’s incremental progress applied to all aspects of life.
We do it year-round but the start of a new year is a natural time to reflect and refocus.
Here are several specific strategies to lay a foundation for success for 2022 and harness the energy and motivation of the new year!
What is within your control, that you can execute daily, that will move you towards your goal?
Sometimes this is identified as Leading vs Lagging Indicators. In sports, you’ll hear Trust the Process.
Want to complete a marathon? Follow a workout plan with daily runs.
Want to be the top sales rep? Identify daily meeting goals to hit pipeline targets.
Work backwards from the end goal to understand what needs to happen monthly, weekly, and daily. Then focus on consistent, steady execution every day.
Human brains are weird. We hear “don’t do that” and it makes us want to immediately do that. Just ask my kids!
How do you work within our crazy brains? Flip it to what you can do.
Goal: Lose weight.
Positive framing: Eat more vegetables.
Goal: Decrease social media usage.
Positive framing: Call friends IRL.
Everyone likes MORE of something. How can you turn your goal into addition instead of subtraction?
Time is our most valuable resource. And often the biggest obstacle to your positive, specific, actionable intentions.
You want to go to the gym 4 times per week. Cool.
You’re also working 50 hours per week, getting 6 hours of sleep, and have a 5am wake up to pack lunches, get ready, and commute.
You have a specific, positive daily action…BUT NO TIME TO DO IT.
How to ✨magically✨ create more time:
Get a weekly meal delivery service. Respond to emails in 48 hours instead of 24. Turn a work meeting into a walking catch up.
Get specific with your plan of “when” and how to realistically fit it in.
If you can’t find the time, that’s okay. That means you have other priorities. Acknowledge that and table the goal for now.
Best. Book. Ever.
4.8 out of 5 stars from 50,000+ people so I’m not the only fangirl.
Comprehensive, clear, and actionable.
I had several eye-opening takeaways even though I “knew it all already.” (Lolz.)
Any #protips on dominating goals? Everyone is different! What’s been effective for you?
Reminder: If anyone needs help on specific daily actions, how to reframe something in the positive, or where to find time, shoot me a note. I love this stuff!
Are You Behind on Scaling? I often hear from CEOs of high growth companies that they need process, operational help, or they feel “behind” on scaling. Good news: THIS IS TOTALLY NORMAL!
Read MoreI often hear from CEOs of high growth companies that they need process, operational help, or they feel “behind” on scaling.
Good news: THIS IS TOTALLY NORMAL!
If you’re “ahead,” there’s a good chance you built process before you needed it, overhired, or aren’t growing fast enough.
I’ve seen operational scale and systems at high growth companies of all stages and sizes.
What I’ve learned:
So, what are the stages of scale and key characteristics?
Key Characteristics:
##Protip: Many founders look back on this time as one of their favorite phases. It’s hard but incredibly focused. Nothing matters but customers, revenue, and building something people want. Lots of hilarious stories about scrappiness and first-timer mistakes.
Key Characteristics:
##Protip: Define your Core Values and shore up your culture NOW! It will help in recruiting, hiring, performance management, and faster decision making across the company.
Key Characteristics:
##Protip Invest in your people. Leadership training and career path discussions are fantastic to implement now. Employees feel empowered and see a future at your company, even if they get a new boss or their day-to-day has changed.
Key Characteristics:
##Protip Any senior leaders or folks from the early days looking for new challenges? Having trusted people on new initiatives can provide them with “startup-like” work within a larger company. It also ensures company culture is at the forefront and de-risks the people aspect of the new endeavor.
Key Characteristics:
##Protip Who on your current team is organized, analytics-oriented, and loves playbooks and systems? Could they be a fit for a new operations role?
Key Characteristics:
##Protip Appreciate how many lives you’ve impacted. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people with jobs, opportunities, life experiences, relationships, and memories, thanks to what you and others have built.
These stages are an overview but each company is different.
At Pardot, we opened up a London office before we had in-house legal or IT. Some companies make their first acquisition before they’ve hammered out their hiring process. Sometimes Stage #5: Operations Everywhere! happens as part of Stage #3: Departments Grow Up. Or not at all!
What operational stages or journeys have you seen? Do you identify with these? Any key areas to add??
If you’re a man in a leadership role who wants to help level the playing field or help more women succeed, here are 6 specific strategies that are straightforward and impactful. Some of them you can do in less than 5 minutes, starting today!
Read MoreI’ve worked with many fantastic men in leadership positions who have been supportive of me and other women at the company and in the business world at large.
I’ve also talked to many men who care and want to help but aren’t sure where to start.
If you’re a man in a leadership role who wants to help level the playing field or help more women succeed, here are 6 specific strategies that are straightforward and impactful.
Some of them you can do in less than 5 minutes, starting today!
A (male) CEO I worked for introduced me to an informal group of CEOs with an email list and a quarterly gathering. He was too busy to regularly participate. For me, it was an incredible learning and networking experience. The group wanted more diversity and welcomed me as a startup executive even though I wasn’t a CEO.
💡✨ What exclusive or high-impact organizations or events could you broker access to for a woman at your company?
The first week I joined the company, the (male) CEO sent me an article detailing the toxic bro culture of Wall Street and said, “If our company is ever doing things like this, let me know.”
There were a few things over the years I brought to his attention. Nothing egregious. A comment to a woman about what to wear to a meeting. A suggestive email from a customer. He addressed them quickly and directly. Molehills never became mountains. The women who worked for him proudly shared the stories with their friends and future hires.
💡✨ Do the women at your company know you want to hear from them if something is off? Shoot them a quick note linking to this blog or another article about the topic.
Not just primary parent leave, which we know is important, but secondary parent leave too.
For example, when Dad has more time to help with a new baby because of secondary parent leave, Mom has more mental and physical energy to re-engage with work. The time Dad spends as primary caregiver lays the foundation for a more equitable split of family responsibilities in the future. Subsequently, Mom is more likely to stay in the workforce.
This heterosexual example is not coincidence. It’s a much more common dynamic in male/female relationships than same sex ones.
💡✨Are your company policies supportive of working parents which directly and indirectly provide tremendous support for working moms?
💡✨ BONUS ✨💡 Did you take your full paternity leave? If you do it, it’s easier for the moms in your organization to do it too!
If you meet someone awesome who could be helpful to an up-and-coming woman in your organization, see if they’d be open to an intro.
Meeting experienced folks who feel “like me” – similar gender, ethnicity, role, disposition, or background – can be transformational to someone’s motivation, growth, and career trajectory.
If you don’t have many women in leadership currently, this is a great “hack” to provide mentorship to your future women leaders who you want to retain and develop.
💡✨ Could you make a meaningful intro?
When you hire more women, the effect starts to snowball. Women recruit other women. Having women at your company attracts other women. Getting to critical mass of 30% will happen faster than you think.
The place to start… have more women in the candidate pool!
💡✨ Do you have at least two women as finalist candidates for each role?
Outside-of-the-office social interactions are a great way to build rapport and network. Are these activities interesting, welcoming, and appropriate for the women at your company?
Coffee and lunch are fantastic networking for all. Group dinners are also good. Book clubs, bowling, and volunteer activities are also pretty universal.
If it’s a casual, typically “guy” event like a fantasy football league or sports bar after work, be intentional about inviting the women. They may be interested – in the event or the bonding.
💡✨ Can you adjust a social or networking opportunity to make it more welcoming to women?
These are just a few of many ways male CEOs or leaders can support women in their careers.
💡✨ What other ideas or experiences can you share to build on this list??
Special shout out to Craig Hyde, Rigor CEO, who inspired several items on this list. Thanks for initiating these things before I even knew I wanted them!
Startups + Career Growth = Magic One of the most powerful things about a startup is the career and growth potential. You’re learning constantly, things are moving fast, the work changes daily, and the trajectory is unlimited.
Read MoreOne of the most powerful things about a startup is the career and growth potential. You’re learning constantly, things are moving fast, the work changes daily, and the trajectory is unlimited.
I often get asked, “How did you become XYZ Role at Company ABC?”
Or, put another way, “How do you leverage the fast pace, flexibility, and chaos of a startup to turn it into a role and career that you love?”
Not every company has a Make Your Own Role option (love this, Laudable!) but if you’re intentional, you can build your own ideal role by doing work you enjoy that benefits the company.
Work hard. Do good work. Have a great attitude. You will build credibility, good will, and relationships across the company.
What could drive more revenue? Save money? Make customers happier? There’s usually at least 1,496,382 things a startup could improve.
What problem is most interesting? Where do you have aptitude or experience that might be helpful? If you’re going to invest time, make it something you enjoy or want to learn.
Start with a low effort, high value item. Think about revenue and what your company’s priorities are. Double check with your manager if needed. Then off to the races. Plan a user group, make a pipeline report, build a self-serve tool -- whatever you’ve picked at the intersection of company need + your interest.
What did you learn? Did you enjoy the work? How was it received by the team? Use this analysis to determine your next foray.
Continue experimenting. Figure out what you like. Do more of that. You’ll start to build an informal portfolio of projects and be the go-to person for those things.
You’re doing great work that you enjoy while solving company problems. You’ve set yourself up for a custom role, possible promotion, and a meaningful career long term.
You love to lead sales trainings but you only have 2 sales reps. You want to sell to enterprise customers but your product is currently $100/mo. You want to deep dive on security protocols but the app is still in beta.
Keep the faith! Startups move fast and things could change quickly. A colleague of mine wanted to work internationally. At the time, we were a 100 person company in Atlanta so this seemed pie in the sky. In less than a year, we had been acquired and needed her skill set abroad. Startup dreams coming true!
Or save money. Or help a LOT with efficiency or team morale. Make sure it’s valuable. Your passion for cat gifs, cooking, or yoga may be awesome but if it doesn’t help the bottom line, you probably won’t make much progress.
I cannot emphasize this enough:
**Doing your current job is table stakes for future promotion or customization.**
Gotta do excellent work on the task at hand to have internal credibility. If the current role is truly not a fit, at least show you’re working hard, have a great attitude, and highlight what you are good at.
The best way to get a job is to already be doing it.
Position yourself to be top-of-mind when your company starts thinking about that role. It’s faster, easier, cheaper, and happier to hire from within!
Better yet, companies will often create unique roles because of a person on their team. They may not post online for a new hire operations specialist who also does lead gen but if you’re awesome at it, you’ll be the next Lead Gen & Onboarding Specialist.
Startups move fast but there’s no time warp worm holes. Six months or a year can feel like a long time but in the grand scheme of things, it’s nothing! Starting over at a different company will take even longer. Don’t let impatience cloud your judgement or cause you to miss a rocketship ride.
This is one of my favorite topics and I’m often chatting with up-and-coming startup stars who want to understand how to maximize the opportunity. What other advice would you offer? What has worked for you?
Learn by doing. “The most effective way to do is to do it.” It’s a favorite Amelia Earhart quote. And life reminder.
Read MoreIt’s a favorite Amelia Earhart quote.
And life reminder.
I like to do pre-work. I clean my room before I study. I do laundry before I start projects. I manage my inbox before I eat the frog.
It took me a long-ass time to get this blog going. I was worried about the tag line, topics, tone. Am I funny? Serious? What do I write about?
All things b̶e̶s̶t̶ only figured out by actually writing.
You want to start a company? Don’t get an MBA, then join a startup, then be an investor. Just start a company.
You want to start a blog? You don’t need to learn to code, take a writing course, hire a branding expert. Just start a blog.
Experience is a great thing. You get experience as time passes. Isn’t it most helpful to get experience in the exact area you want experience??
When I ask my husband, a running coach, how to get better at running, he says, “Run.”
I want the answer to be:
Can’t I get good at running without running??? Pleeeeeease.
But there’s no substitute for lacing up your shoes and putting in the miles. Or sitting down and writing. Or launching your first business.
The only way is through.
The fastest way is through.
Shout out to iwantthatmountain, founded by Ashley Gattis, where I found the gorgeous Amelia Earhart quote. It’s in our kitchen so we see it every day.
How did Ashley start her company? By starting it ;)
There are no shortcuts at a startup. It’s consistent hard work over time. Here’s the thing though…Having internal clarity on: what the work is, who is doing it, and when it will be done ...can 5x your company’s pace and effectiveness without changing anything else!
Read MoreThere are no shortcuts at a startup. It’s consistent hard work over time.
Here’s the thing though…
Having internal clarity on:
...can 5x 1 your company’s pace and effectiveness without changing anything else!
If you’ve ever said:
Me?!? I thought you were going to do it.
What came out of that awesome brainstorm session?
I feel like we have good meetings but nothing comes of it...
You need 3D:
After every meeting —formal or informal — ask a single question:
What are next steps?
Pause. Reflect on your 3D list.
Think about overall company priorities.
😊 YES → Proceed. Enjoy the progress and clarity!
🙁 NO → Scrap everything without hesitation. You may have wasted time with this meeting but don’t make it worse. Get back to important things!
3D Recap:
Quick, simple, game-changing.
If you’re an early stage startup that wants to go faster, try this alignment and clarity tip. Let me know how it goes or if you’re one of the magical startups already doing it!
1 Estimated. Could be 2x, 10x, 1000x. No time to collect official data when we implemented this at Rigor and Pardot. We were moving too fast 😉
Operations at a fast growing startup can be like walking into a messy closet. Lots of potential but in need of some organization. You’re not sure where to start and it can be overwhelming to a Type A closet neat freak (not that I would be one of those… ;) )
Read MoreOperations at a fast growing startup can be like walking into a messy closet. Lots of potential but in need of some organization. You’re not sure where to start and it can be overwhelming to a Type A closet neat freak (not that I would be one of those… ;) )
If your early stage startup feels like a messy closet right now, is that bad? No! It’s completely normal. In fact, I would say, it’s a great sign that you’re focused on the right things (customers and growth) early on. If you add detailed planning structure too early, you’ll kill creativity, speed, and focus.
At some point though, the paradigm flips and without more clarity and structure, creativity, speed, and focus will fall off.
Whether you’re an ops leader with a “messy closet” or a CEO ready to scale, here is a *real life* story of incremental improvements over time to create operational excellence.
Our first quarterly planning session at Rigor:
8 quarters later:
Did we implement all of these changes in a single quarter? Nope. It would have been incredibly time intensive with little adoption and minimal long term value.
Instead, we picked 1-3 things to add or focus on each quarter.
First, it was consistency with metrics and setting SMART goals. Next quarter, we added a leadership review and alignment process. Then, it was viewer-friendly presentations instead of one page templates. After one quarter of presentations, we started doing dry runs and using beautiful, branded templates. By then, we had also redefined our company Core Values and incorporated those into planning, presentations, and performance.
How did we decide the “next thing” to add each quarter?
Based on those inputs, we’d make a plan for what to improve next quarter. We’d also drop things that didn’t work and streamline areas that didn’t need hands-on management anymore.
Improvement Over Time
Like the famous British cycling team, we focused on consistent improvements over time which resulted in big gains in the long run. No single item was transformational but the operations snowball grew steadily.
Within a year, Rigor had developed strong operational muscle. Habits like using SMART goals started to happen automatically. Team members would remind each other about it and train new hires on it. We could focus on new habits like incorporating quarterly targets into daily and weekly cadences or project planning best practices. As familiarity with the process, expectations, and feedback loop grew, each subsequent improvement was easier to layer on.
This kind of operational rigor (see what I did there?) is always a team effort. It starts at the top with the CEO and depends on each team member adding their ideas, executing daily, and caring about improvement.
By building organically, incorporating feedback, and improving over time, a startup’s “messy closet” can become a highly-adopted, employee-driven system of operational excellence. It doesn’t happen overnight but, like most things at a startup, it will happen faster than you think!
The Pursuit of Happiness. One of my favorite things to read is happiness research. Except don’t call it “happiness”! It’s satisfaction. Purpose. Enjoyment. Living a good life. And it’s harder than it sounds.
Read MoreOne of my favorite things to read is happiness research. Except don’t call it “happiness”!
It’s satisfaction. Purpose. Enjoyment. Living a good life.
And it’s harder than it sounds.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of:
Then you achieve those things, and voila!
You feel...pretty much the same as before. Whomp whomp.
So you set a new goal and get back on that hamster wheel to hit the next milestone. Because THEN, when you get to THAT ONE, for sure you’ll be happy.
And whaddya know? Same as before. Whompppp whompppp.
So what really matters? What are the traps we fall into? What should we do in our lives to bring happiness and meaning? These are my favorite questions and here are five of my most recommended happiness resources (with a bonus item!).
Laurie is amazing. She feels like a friend. You know, a friend who is one of the top professors and researchers in the world at one of the top schools in the world. That friend.
It’s accessible, it’s actionable, and it’s at your own pace.
I did this course in the midst of the pandemic (May 2020) and it:
Just in case my personal testimonial isn’t enough, 30,000+ people gave it an average rating of 4.9/5 stars. So, yeah. Not too shabby ;)
Extra Credit: Dr. Laurie also hosts The Happiness Lab podcast which is excellent.
Dan studies the happiest people around the world to find the common denominators. I love that it’s research-based and global with specific suggestions.
For example, having sex weekly, eating lots of veggies, having a short commute, and owning a dog are common traits of the happiest people regardless of your culture or continent.
One of my most-shared articles, Erin’s research is highly relevant to happiness. She studies workplace expectations, how men and women approach them differently, and highlights real life examples of how to work in demanding jobs but still make time for family, sleep, exercise, and the other things that drive life satisfaction.
If you feel like you “can’t” or want a “life hack” to find time to even think about happiness, read this one.
The name says “money” but it’s really about freedom and happiness. If money doesn’t buy happiness, what does? There’s lots of data and research within his blogs but some of his best are stories or hilarious rants:
Ground-breaking research by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi showed that being in “flow” is one of our happiest states. How do you get there? Cal shares the research and gives specific strategies on how to do meaningful, “flow-state” work.
No research, just the feels. If you need a happiness boost RIGHT MEOW, watch this video. Then stop and navigate away immediately. Screen time and social media are no bueno for happiness!
Some of the major happiness themes that have stuck with me:
I’ve found that, like most good things, these strategies and activities are simple but not easy.
It’s a constant work in progress. In fact, I might even be on the happiness hamster wheel. If only I could get more sleep, then I will be happy… but for real this time!
What strategies have worked for you? Do you have favorite happiness resources?
Want to stay up to date? New blogs come out weekly.
