The company doubled. The way you run it did not.
After a growth round the team grows faster than the habits that held it together. Decisions slow, hiring gets uneven and the founders spend their week in meetings that used to be unnecessary.
What cracks after the round
In growing Bay Area companies, the weak points are easy to predict:
Approvals still sit with the founders
More people, the same two sign-offs, and every exception waits for a calendar slot.
Reporting lags the company
The board pack describes last quarter, and the numbers arrive after the decisions.
Hiring outran the structure
People joined faster than their roles were defined, and levels, pay and equity vary by hiring manager.
The next investor expects more
A late-stage fund or strategic buyer will examine the controls, the board and the numbers more closely than the last round did.
A fractional leader has already been through the post-round crunch. They put the structure in place as the company keeps moving, then pass the role to your permanent hire once it fills a full working week. Until then you pay only for the days you use, and no option grant touches the cap table.
Who this is for, and who it is not
Best for
- Companies that have outgrown founder-led informality but cannot yet fund a full C-suite
- Finance functions that need to become board and investor grade
- Revenue still riding on founder relationships rather than a repeatable engine
- Teams and culture straining as headcount climbs past what informal management holds
- Leadership gaps that would stall growth if left open for a full hiring cycle
Not for
- Early startups still searching for product-market fit
- A single function a ready full-time executive should already own
- Businesses wanting advice on a deck rather than an operator in the work
- A one-off project better suited to a specialist contractor
Support after the round
We match an operator for the layer the round exposed and stay involved while it is built.
Governance as headcount grows
We check in with the founders on a set rhythm, because what the company needs shifts every quarter after a round.
Depth behind them
A problem that starts in finance and ends in hiring gets answers from across our collective of 800+.
Transitions we manage
When the permanent executive arrives or the fractional one has to leave, we run the handover.
Done this stage before
We match people who have taken a company through the year after a growth round, at your size.
From diagnostic to infrastructure that scales with you
Our process runs at the pace of a scaling company, not a hiring cycle.
Scale diagnostic (weeks 1–2)
Map the current state: operational stress points, financial infrastructure gaps, commercial engine gaps, people risks.
Engagement design (weeks 3–4)
Design the right fractional leadership configuration, which roles, what scope, what priority sequencing.
Infrastructure build (month 1–3)
Fractionals embed: operational systems, financial infrastructure, commercial engine design, people frameworks.
Adapt to the growth (ongoing)
As you grow, we adjust the configuration. The goal is always the right leadership for the current phase.
What changes in the first 90 days
A scale-up engagement is judged on what moves early. These are the shifts a fractional operator is there to make.
The scale-up leadership stack
Each role below owns a different part of the scale-up: finance, operations, commercial, people or technology.
Leaders who have scaled
