That gap is where most companies stall. The product works. Revenue is growing. But operations cannot keep up. The founder is still making every decision. Systems that worked at $1M are breaking at $5M.

I have built my career solving exactly this problem — as a COO, a CEO, a board chair, and a venture evaluator. Across SaaS, healthcare, agribusiness, and international markets.

The Operator’s Story

 As embedded COO of Niricson, an AI/ML SaaS company, I led operations across 10 countries, architected a product pivot from concept to international deployment in 30 days, then built two next-gen product platforms in six months and deployed them in 4 countries. Provided the operational infrastructure that let two highly technical and complex (one composed of two robotic platforms and the second an end-to-end SaaS offering using advance photogrammetry and AI/ML) products fast, securing the company’s leader positioning in the marketplace.

As CEO of NW Return to Work, a healthcare services company, I took over a business that was operationally bleeding and delivered 4x profit growth in 9 months. No new product. No new market. Just operational discipline applied to what was already there. Then implemented a new product and increased profit an additional 2x within a year. 

As Founder/CEO of Eco Ventures, I built a venture from zero to above revenue targets in 18 months in a regulated industry where most companies take three years to see first revenue.

At SWAN Venture Group, I evaluated 60+ venture investments and learned to see operational maturity (or the lack of it) from the investor’s side of the table. I know what VCs look for in portfolio company operations because I have been in the room making those assessments.

And at Antioch University, I served for a decade as Board Member, Board Chair, and Trustee of an $80M institution with five campuses — governance leadership at institutional scale.

These are not advisory recommendations. These are results from engagements where I took P&L responsibility, built the systems, and operated inside each company — as a member of the leadership team, not an outside consultant. My engagements range from 9-month turnarounds to 4+ year embedded operating roles. I stay until the operating system works without me.

What I Actually Believe

 I believe the COO’s most valuable skill is not saying yes to growth. It is saying no to the wrong growth — with data.

I have blocked CEO-sponsored initiatives that would have cost companies millions. I have formally recommended against international expansions that looked great on paper but failed in execution. I have redirected resources from exciting-but-unprofitable markets to boring-but-profitable ones.

In every case, the data was on my side. That is how I operate: vision grounded in operational reality.