COO & Operational Leadership for
Growth-Stage Companies

I provide embedded operational leadership to companies in the $1M–$10M range that have outgrown founder-led operations but are not yet ready for a full-time COO hire. I work through GBDS LLC, fully embedded in your team — engagement scope matched to what the company actually needs. My engagements have ranged from 9 months to 4+ years.

What I Deliver

Service 1: Embedded COO

Your company has product-market fit. Revenue is growing. But operations can’t keep up.

An embedded COO from GBDS integrates into your leadership team and builds the operational infrastructure to scale — without losing the speed and culture that got you here. We take P&L responsibility, own execution, and stay until the operating system works without us.

Engagements range from 6 months to multi-year roles. Our longest: 4+ years scaling an AI/ML company across 10 countries.

Proof points: 25x throughput growth (no headcount increase) · 20x processing speed · $0 to 150% of revenue plan in 18 months.

Service 2: Fractional COO

You need senior operational leadership but aren’t ready for a full-time hire.

GBDS provides a fractional COO who works with your team on a retainer basis — building execution cadence, defining accountability, and scaling the systems that let you move faster without the founder being the bottleneck.

This isn’t advisory. We attend your leadership meetings, own your operational KPIs, and execute alongside your team.

Typical engagements: 2–4 days per week. Companies in the $1M–$10M revenue range. Often evolves into an embedded role as the company grows.

Service 3: Operational Turnaround

Profitability has stalled or declined. Costs are out of control. The team knows something is wrong but nobody is making the hard calls.

GBDS steps in as interim CEO or COO, diagnoses the operational drag, and executes the turnaround — fast.

What this actually looks like: cutting unprofitable service lines, centralizing vendor relationships, fixing revenue cycles, and installing KPI scorecards that create accountability.

Proof point: 4x profit growth in 9 months. 8x cumulative over two years. DSO reduced from 90+ to 45 days. Cash collections up 218%.

Service 4: Operational Diagnostic (90-Day Sprint)

Not sure where the drag is coming from? Start here.

GBDS conducts a focused 90-day operational diagnostic: mapping processes, identifying bottlenecks, benchmarking unit economics, and delivering a prioritized action plan with clear ROI estimates for each initiative.

This is designed as a low-commitment entry point. Many diagnostics convert to retainer engagements once the CEO sees the roadmap.

Deliverable: a written operational assessment with a sequenced 6–12 month execution plan.

Service 5: VC Portfolio Company Operations

Your portfolio company has outgrown founder-led operations. The CEO is drowning in execution. You don’t want to wait 6 months for a full-time COO search.

GBDS deploys an embedded or fractional COO into your portfolio company within weeks — not months. We bring operational frameworks built across AI/ML, healthcare, agribusiness, and international markets.

For VCs: we’ve evaluated 60+ venture investments and understand the operational challenges companies face post-funding. We speak your language.

Engagement structure: contracted through GBDS LLC. Flexible scope. Outcome-anchored.

Service 6: International Operations & Expansion

Scaling internationally is an operational problem, not a strategy problem. The strategy is obvious. The execution is where companies fail.

GBDS has scaled operations across 10 countries and 4 continents. We’ve deployed products on 2 continents simultaneously. We’ve built partner networks in markets before the product was ready.

For US companies expanding into Europe or Latin America — or European companies adopting US operational discipline — GBDS offers a rare combination: US execution methodology, European presence, and bilingual EN/ES capability.

Based in Spain. Dual US/EU citizen. Remote-first with travel as needed.