You're a visionary. Or you work with one. Either way, I'm the second-in-command.
I've been the closet integrator. I know the way out. Since 2024 I've sat in the second seat for founders carrying both jobs, and I take engagements directly from visionaries as well as from the implementers, fractional CFOs, and other operators who refer their clients to me. The discovery call sorts the match.
"I'm doing my job and the integrator job."
Almost every founder I work with says some version of that line on our first call.
You've got the visionary thing down. You see the future. You're the one in the room who can read the market three moves ahead. But you've also been writing the SOPs, running the team meetings, hiring the next director of operations, and answering the Slack at 11 p.m. when nobody else can make the call.
You didn't sign up to be the integrator. You became one because the seat was empty and the business needed someone in it.
That's the closet integrator pattern. Most founders don't know it has a name until they hear it.
Forrest, or one of his picks. The call decides.
Most founders walk into the discovery call thinking they're hiring me. Some are. Some aren't, and don't realize it yet.
Here's what we actually sort out in 30 minutes:
Am I the right operator for your business right now?
Industry, stage, team shape, the kind of second-in-command you need. I'll tell you straight if I'm the fit.
If I'm not the fit, who is?
I run a bench of vetted fractional COOs, operators I've worked with, learned from, or vetted directly. Real second-in-command experience, not consultants playing dress-up. I'll match you with one or two whose backgrounds map to what you need.
What does the engagement look like once we know the match?
Cadence, scope, how the seat gets filled, what the founder still owns. We get to a clear picture before anyone signs anything.
Either way, the call ends with a real next step. Either we're working together, or I've matched you to someone on the bench whose name I'd stake on the seat.
I'm the second-in-command, fractionally.
When I'm the right operator for your business, here's what running alongside you looks like. I'm there a few days a week. Not as a consultant. As your integrator.
I take the integrator seat on your leadership team.
L10s, scorecard, accountability chart, quarterly rocks. If you're already on EOS, I plug in. If you're EOS-curious, I help you decide if it's the right call.
I evaluate the people you have, the seats you have, and the gap between them.
Right person, right seat, doing the right things. We put names on the chart. We have the hard conversations you've been avoiding.
I run the day-to-day so you can stop.
The team knows who to escalate to. The decisions you've been making at midnight get made earlier and by the right person.
I build the foundation that holds when I leave.
This is the difference between a fractional COO and a consultant. I'm not here to be needed forever. I'm here to make myself replaceable by someone full-time when the business is ready.
Who this isn't for.
I don't take every engagement. A few patterns I pass on:
- 1.Founders who want a binder. I don't just bring frameworks. I bring stories and patterns from operators who've been there.
- 2.Businesses that need a tactical department lead. I'm a second-in-command, not a director of operations. If you need someone running marketing or finance directly, hire that person.
- 3.Founders who aren't ready to share the seat. The fractional COO model only works if you actually let me run alongside you. If you'll second-guess every call I make, this won't work.
What changes when this works.
You get your time back. The team knows where to take what.
The right people are in the right seats. Or you've named the gap and started filling it.
You have a foundation. The next quarter, the next hire, the next big bet all run through a structure that holds.
You stop being lonely. The second seat is filled.
If any of this sounds like the year you've had, let's talk.
A discovery call is 30 minutes. No pitch, no deck. You tell me where you are. I tell you whether I think I can help. If I'm not the fit, I tell you who is. Sometimes that's a different fractional from my bench. Sometimes it's a full-time hire. Sometimes it's that you don't need anyone yet.
Book the call.
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