The Operations Room: A Podcast for COO’s

In this episode we unpack the topic of: "Transitioning Roles: From COO to Venture Capitalist". This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Our special guest is Cleo Sham, Venture Partner at StrideVC. We discuss the following:  Why did you decide to move from operator to investor?  How did being an operator inform your role as a VC?  Where did you find joy in the COO role? As a VC? Which ro...

In this episode we discuss: "The Wartime COO”. Our special guest is Huw Slater, COO of Oliva Health, formerly COO of TravelPerk and Bella Riemer, Head of Operations at Joblift. We discuss the following with Huw and Bella:  What is a Wartime COO? How does this impact how you operate the business? How do you surface existential threats to the organisation and inject a sense of focus, without sc...

In this episode we discuss: "Efficiency Unleashed: NoCode Revolutionising Operations”. Our special guest is Philip Lakin, Co-Founder & CEO of NoCodeOps. He is the ultimate MacGyver and an ambassador for reimagining the future of internal innovation. We discuss the following with Philip:  What is NoCode? Why does it matter?  What is a tangible example of business impact?  Should...

In this episode we discuss: "Surfacing the COO's Crucial Role in Revenue Generation". Our special guest is Pete Crosby a coach, lecturer & advisor, focussing on the successful design & execution of SaaS revenue & growth strategies. He is a 4x successful scale up revenue leader, most recently as CRO at Ometria. We discuss the following with Pete:  What kind of focus helps enable re...

In this episode we discuss: "The COO's Endless Battle: Navigating Legal and Enterprise Contracts". Our special guest is Ahmed Badr, COO of GoCardless. Ahmed also worked for Microsoft, where he supported multi-billion pound licensing deals.  Bethany and I discuss the following: The importance of a generic contract template Empowering sales to get contracts done Default and deal-breaker positio...

In this episode we discuss: "Revolutionising Workplace Honesty: The Radical Candor Experiment". Our special guest is Ben Gateley, CEO at CharlieHR. Ben is an outspoken champion of positive workplace culture and is a passionate advocate for all things “people”.  Bethany and I discuss the following: Praising publicly and criticising privately Giving criticism within 24 hours  Killing the “...

In this episode we unpack the topic of: Nurturing High-Performance Leadership Teams. Our special guest is Becca Sweetman, a leadership team coach who has worked across leading VC backed organisations like Kano, MOO and Babylon Health. We discuss the following:  What is a high performing team? How do you achieve it?  What is the PERILL framework and why is that a good one to use?  Ho...

In this episode we unpack the topic of: Navigating Leadership Team Success and Transitions . Our special guest is Maddies Fox, a guru in leadership development across venture-backed organisations including  Blippar, Lantum and Mixcloud. We discuss the following:  How do you set-up a COO for success when they join the organisation?  Do job titles matter and how important is transpare...

In this episode we discuss the topic of: Decoding the CEO-COO Relationship: Strategies to Thrive Our special guest is Scott Gellman, COO of Nowsta. We discuss the following: How do you think the role of a COO differs from that of a CFO in terms of responsibilities and dynamics with the CEO How do you think the power dynamic between CEO and COO can affect decision-making and the overall functioning...

In this episode we discuss the topic of: Why licensing 170 SaaS tools is a great idea! Our special guest is Joe Aurilia, Jr., Senior VP Operations at Cyware. As a former CIO, Joe comes at the COO role from a really interesting angle. We discuss the following: Why 170 SaaS applications in an organisation with 270 employees? What does best practice look like in the procurement process? What should i...

In this episode we unpack the topic of: What are the five traits of successful COO’s? Our special guest is Charlene Chen, a key figure in the startup operations community and former COO of Lantum and AZA Finance. We discuss the following:  How do different personalities and styles of Ops leaders contribute to the overall success of a company? In what ways do Ops leaders act as the connective...

In this episode we discuss the topic of: Generative AI & the Impact on the COO role. Our special guest is Aarti Samani, an experienced executive leader with a fascinating career in AI, spanning investment banking and high growth technology businesses. We discuss the following:  How does a smaller, tech-enabled company get started?  Who should own the quality of data ingested into a g...

In this episode we discuss the topic of: How does a co-founder COO survive and thrive? Our special guest is Tom Mundy, is the COO of Goodlord which has scaled to over 350 employees, raising more than £50m in capital and turning over tens of millions of pounds. How did you end up being COO? Why was that the right title?  What were the inflection points for your growth? How did you manage to su...

 In this episode we discuss the topic of: How does a COO work effectively with the board? Our special guest is Keith Wallington, the former COO of Mimecast and currently Chairperson working across five B2B SaaS organisations. Keith lays out “what good looks like” in board stewardship for growth stage businesses. He also lifts the hood on expectations for the COO. What do you know now that you wis...

In this episode we discuss the topic of a growth mindset and how that informs the COO role. Our special guest is David Norris, a three time COO for venture-backed organisations. David talks about managing critical feedback, personal growth and the transition to Chief Growth Officer. How has studying theology informed the type of COO you are?  Is there a playbook for COO’s?  What does the...

In this episode we discuss a topic that is one everyone’s agenda: Efficiency vs. Growth: What does the new world look like? Our special guest is Reece Howe, CFO at C TWO. Reece tells it like it is when it comes to efficiency, ownership and organisational impact.  How do you shift the culture of a company used to “growth at all costs” to one of capital efficiency and prudence?  How should...

In this episode we address the elephant in the room: Do OKRs work? Our special guest is Jenny Herald, Vice President of Product Evangelism at Quantive which delivers better business outcomes for companies providing a strategy execution platform based on the OKR methodology. In this episode we get her experiences on the following questions:  What are we doing wrong and how can we do it better?...

In this episode we tackle the question of: How do you scale from 50 to 500 employees?  Our special guest is Kristen Shannon, founder and CEO of Highliner a consultancy that helps high-growth businesses scale across people, systems and processes.  In this episode we get her experiences on the following questions:  What was the lesson in hiring 800 people in one year?  How do you...

In this episode we tackle the question of: How do I hire a COO? Our special guest is James Mitra, Founder of JBM, an executive search firm that specialises in placing COO’s.  In this episode we get his experiences on the following questions:  When a CEO comes to you and says “we need to hire a COO”. What is your approach?  What is your take on “assignments”?  What does that sal...

In this episode we tackle the question of: What is a COO? Our special guest is Divinia Knowles, Founder of the London COO Roundtable.   In this episode we get her words of wisdom on the following questions: What is a COO? What does a COO do?  What are the differences between: COO, Chief of Staff and Operations Lead? Which COO is more successful, those that are promoted internally or...

We are the COO coaches to help you successfully scale in this new world where efficiency is as important as growth. Remember when valuations were 3-10x ARR and money wasn’t free? We do. Each week we share our experiences and bring in scale up experts and operational leaders to help you navigate both the burning operational issues and the larger existential challenges. Beth Ayers is a seasoned Chie...