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Interim Fractional COO as a Service 
with Shaun Arora

Why wait any longer for your business to achieve operational excellence?  

Interim

Success means I will be replaced by a great full-time hire. I work with founding teams to stabilize various operations. My strength is in laying the foundation for that successful hire who will be on the journey in a more permanent role. We will work together to scope the duration of our sprint.

Fractional

At the early stages, full-time COOs are often either founders or are brought from the outside at a high price. The hours I invest (typically 10 hours per week) focus on scaling teams, risk mitigation, and strategy. I enjoy jumping into collaborative and asynchronous tools while building and leading the team. Though some of my hours will be remote, I am on-site during critical moments.

COO

Founders (rightfully so) lean into what's working -- often seeing initial success by building a great product and finding customers who want that exact solution. As startups scale past their Series A, some functional areas mature to best-in-class, while others stay at the "good enough" level until they can no longer be ignored. A COO identifies and takes ownership of many of these areas.

My Philosophy:
The Best Fractional COOs are Strategic Instigators Who Get Their Hands Dirty

AM I RIGHT FOR YOUR COMPANY?

Maybe.

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I typically serve first-time CEOs leading organizations of 10-100 people. As your Interim Fractional COO, I will take a process-oriented approach to address current and future friction points while laying a foundation for scaling.

 

The companies that benefit most from my strengths are led by product visionaries seeing customer traction and some level of product-market fit. They have worked incredibly hard to reach the Series A milestone and recognize they are perhaps working harder than they should -- given the long journey ahead. It's a strange time where experienced senior-level hires may not mesh well with the culture and junior-level hires need supervision from someone with experience. 

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Some of the typical scenarios I work in: 

  • Founders are wearing too many hats 

  • A cofounder is transitioning away from a traditional C-Suite role 

  • A seasoned full-time executive hire didn't work out 

  • Consensus decision-making process is no longer working

  • Transitioning away from Founder-led sales 

  • Strategic re-positioning from a single product to a portfolio of solutions 

  • Strategic re-positioning around the business model 

  • Managing culture and leadership objectives across multiple locations 

  • Balancing the tension between selling new products and supporting legacy products 

  • A need for standardized titles and salaries 

  • An incentive system that rolls into company goals 

  • How to lead high performers who may not be culturally aligned, or culturally aligned employees who are no longer high performers

THE PROCESS

CEOs bring me in at a time just as the need for operational excellence adds friction to the founder's desire to advance their vision and team.

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During our first 30 days, we will work together to identify the areas we wish to transform and the people and tools available to shepherd that transformation. We will collaborate on a contract that includes expectations around outcomes, time commitment, and compensation. 

 

I am aware of the cash constraints on startups and am drawn to the alignment of incentives, which is rarely billable hours. I am also not the cheapest candidate and will often structure agreements as more equity compensation than cash on a monthly retainer.  

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Once under contract, it's go time. After joining a founding team, CEOs tell me that they see me as another cofounder because of how I go "all-in" emotionally to achieve our mission. 

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However dedicated I may seem, I try to have one eye on the exit door. While building the team, I am evaluating internal and external talent to find someone to succeed me. 

HERE TO HELP FIX THINGS BEFORE THEY BREAK: 

Business Operations

  • Company Operating System

  • Launching and Managing KPIs and Incentive Programs 

  • Inquiry-to-Order-to-Cash 

  • Moving from Make to Buy decisions 

  • Prototype-to-Production Execution

  • Overseeing Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Logistics, Quality, and Vendor Management

  • Value Stream Mapping

  • Process Management and Scale-Up

  • Banking and Legal Setup

  • Payroll and Benefits Processes

  • Data-Driven Insights

  • ERP Implementation

  • Expense Reduction 

  • Kaizen and TPS

  • New Feature Pipeline and Prioritization 

  • Engineering and Product Operations 

Strategy and Finance

  • Customer Discovery and Pain Analysis

  • GTM De-risking

  • Organizational Alignment

  • Business Experiments 

  • Product Roadmap

  • Cashflow Forecasting and Management 

  • Fundraising Strategy

  • Strategic Narrative, Pitch Deck, and Storytelling

  • Investor Data Room

  • Investor Mapping and CRM

  • M&A Strategy, Execution, and Integration 

 

Talent and People

  • Talent Strategy 

  • Applicant Recruitment, Tracking, and Closing

  • Talent Development 

  • Onboarding and Offboarding Procedures

  • Communication Flow-Downs

  • Multi-Site Culture 

  • Leadership

Sales and Marketing

  • Marketing Strategy and Execution

  • CRM and Funnel Optimization

  • Transition from Founder-Led Sales

  • Customer-Oriented Product Execution

  • Launching and Leading In-house and Outsourced Customer Service and Customer Success Teams 

  • Automating Customer Service and Onboarding

  • Content Strategy, Guerilla Marketing, and Media

  • Community Building and Moderation

  • Brainstorming and Creative Facilitation

  • CAC and Cohort Analysis

  • Customer Personas 

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WHY ME?

I believe that all businesses can be built in a more resource-efficient manner, and I will help your team punch well above your weight-class.

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While I did not join your journey on Day 0, I embed in your team much like a cofounder. I currently serve in C-level roles for up to three startups at any given moment, in engagements of around 10 hours per week. 

 

I earned my operational stripes while scaling NEO Tech (a global contract manufacturer) from 20MM to 800MM in revenue in under 10 years, and in the process we received Inc 5000's award for fastest-growing companies, Raytheon’s 5 Star Supplier Award for delivery and quality, and Boeing’s Performance Excellence Award.

 

I was a founding partner at MiLA Capital, a Venture Capital firm that seeded hard tech companies such as Emerge, Feel, and Caban, and was the cofounder of the Make in LA accelerator and Toolbox LA innovation lab.

We want to give you every shoutout in the world for all of your support -- spanning so many topics from manufacturing to pitch feedback to process implementation to leadership advice.
- Christine Schindler, CEO @ PathSpot

His deep array of knowledge across a multitude of industries allows him to identify issues and problem solve from a global perspective. What also sets Shaun apart is his unwavering commitment to helping those he works with reach their full potential. 
- Nitin K. Chexal, CEO @ Palladius Capital Management

Ready to Take the Next Step?

People seek me out for my ability to see creative solutions and move multiple objectives in parallel.


I am proud to have helped thousands of founders, builders, and executives break through their roadblocks. Reach out if you are curious how I can support you and your business. Always a sucker for a good underdog story ;-)

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