Fractional Chief of Staff to leverage founder capability
Your business can't
function without you.*
* That's a BIG problem.
You've built this company from the ground up with hard work and vision. Now, though, that vision is being stifled by your time constraints. You're spending too much time answering every question, putting out every fire, and signing off on every decision. Your company has outgrown you.
If you are spending at least 15 hours a week on the work that shouldn't still depend on you, WE SHOULD TALK.
25+ years inside founder-led businesses across growth-stage operations.
Growth stops when everyone is waiting for you to make decisions.
Communication breakdowns. Projects that are never completed only because of a lack of follow-through. Leads ghosting you in the middle of your sales funnel. Inconsistent cash flow creating rollover debt. These problems usually share a common denominator: leadership that is overworked, overwhelmed, and frustrated because you are juggling several (or all) of the management responsibilities in your business.
As businesses grow, complexity increases.
What worked at one stage of growth often stops working at the next, and growth starts creating more friction instead of more momentum.
Everything starts needing your input.
Decisions slow down because too much still depends on leadership to keep things moving.
Execution becomes less consistent.
Projects lose momentum, communication breaks down, and accountability varies across teams.
Growth creates more complexity.
Instead of creating momentum, growth increases operational friction faster than the business can support it.
Whether it's a hidden cost or something that taunts you every time you look at your P&L report, every bottleneck costs your company money. You've done an amazing job growing this business, but now it's become painfully clear:
YOU ARE THE BOTTLENECK.
The REAL COST
It's easy to think you are saving money by trying to manage everything in your business by yourself. However, if you are spending 15+ hours managing systems that aren't streamlined, you're actually losing money. Your time, energy, and attention are valuable. If you're not using those resources to grow, it is costing your business more money than you may realize.
Here's the breakdown:
FOUNDER DRAG
15-25 hours/wk =
$13,000+/month
$156,000+/year
Full Time CoS
(not inc. benefits, taxes, incentives)
$13,750/month
$165,000/year
Fractional Retainer
$7,800/month
$93,600/year
Opportunity Cost
$5,200+/month
$62,400+/year
A Fractional Chief of Staff helps you move from reactive to PROACTIVE.
Business optimization is essential for growth. As the founder of a growth-stage business, your time and energy should be focused on the future, not the everyday minutia of operations. It's time to change your strategy.
Now is the time to expand your leadership leverage.
With a fractional Chief of Staff, you're not just adding more bureaucracy to clutter the system. You are bringing in a force multiplier, giving yourself the ability to go back to focusing on what's really important in your business: growth.
Think of it like this: You get to be the thinker that drives the business, I'll help you by being the doer.
Meet Mark
Fractional Chief of Staff & Operations Advisor
I’ve worked to help growing businesses across multiple industries for more than two decades. My experience includes co-founding and scaling a multi-national healthcare company as President, working as the COO for a biotech startup, and leading operational turnarounds by working directly inside the day-to-day realities of growth-stage organizations.
My greatest experience, though, comes from one thing:
I'm a founder. I get it.
What I've learned is that most business problems are not solved by generic systems or one-size-fits-all advice. Founders need practical support that fits the reality of the business itself, including its people, priorities, financial constraints, and stage of growth.
My work now focuses on helping founders reduce decision overload, organize priorities, and keep important initiatives moving. I bring an operator’s experience into the founder’s corner without stepping in to run the business day to day.
No pitch. No hard sell. Just a focused conversation.
3 ways we can work together
Whether you need ongoing strategic support or hands-on coordination for a specific project, you'll have the help you need to grow.
Fractional Chief of Staff: Ongoing support
Ongoing strategic support to improve operations, streamline communication, and prepare your business for future successes.
90-Day Triage: Clear the path for growth
Ongoing strategic support to improve operations, streamline communication, and prepare your business for future successes.
Operational Project Support
Ongoing strategic support to improve operations, streamline communication, and prepare your business for future successes.
Frequently asked questions
What does a Fractional Chief of Staff actually do?
As a founder, a Fractional Chief of Staff (FCoS) is your strategic partner and right-hand operator focusing on execution, cross-functional alignment, and operational clarity without the commitment of a full-time hire. They serve as the "operational glue" that connects different teams and ensures strategic priorities are translated into measurable progress.
Is this like hiring an Executive Assistant?
No. While both roles support the Founder, an Executive Assistant (EA) is highly tactical and focuses on managing time, travel, and administrative logistics to protect a leader's focus. In contrast, a fractional CoS operates at a strategic level to manage the organization and drive initiatives. Instead of managing a calendar, a CoS improves organizational alignment, supports high-level decision-making, and creates accountability structures across executive teams.
How is a fractional Chief of Staff different from a traditional consultant?
A traditional consultant typically studies your organization, delivers a report with recommendations, and expects your team to implement the solutions. A fractional CoS, however, is embedded directly in your team to execute the work alongside you. They own the operating rhythm, chase action items, and stay actively involved until the strategic plan is moving and fully sustainable.
When should a company hire a fractional Chief of Staff?
Startups and growing businesses typically bring in a fractional CoS when the Founder becomes a bottleneck and is too deep in daily operations to focus on the business's vision. Other major triggers include periods of rapid scaling where teams outgrow their systems, strategic initiatives consistently stalling, communication breakdowns between departments, and leadership meetings that lack clear follow-through and accountability.
How much of the Founder's time does working with a fractional Chief of Staff require?
Expect to invest about 2 to 4 hours per week working with a fractional Chief of Staff. This time is typically broken down into a 60- to 90-minute strategic check-in, quick daily or every-other-day touchpoints (around 15 minutes), and occasional focused working sessions. Ultimately, the goal of a fractional CoS is to give you back your time and mental space, meaning this small time investment requires far less effort than trying to coordinate projects or manage multiple direct reports yourself.