Fractional COO · Founder-led companies
When your instincts stop being enough, bring in an operator.
I work alongside founders as a fractional COO, with the time each stage of your company needs, plus async. Together we build the structure, cadence and team ownership your company needs to keep growing without every decision running through you.
Or write to info@leticiaorcelbordoni.com
You probably need a COO if…
You are still the one approving decisions your team could make on its own.
Growth added people but not structure. Meetings multiplied, ownership didn't.
You suspect your team tells you one version of things and lives another.
A full-time COO feels premature, and too expensive a hire to get wrong.
What I can help with
The operating side of a founder-led company
Operating rhythm
Priorities, metrics and a meeting cadence that keeps the team moving without you in every room.
Org design and roles
Who owns what, who decides what, and where the next hire should go.
Your team, for real
Getting to know your people well enough to see where the work gets stuck, and why.
Hiring leaders
Defining, finding and onboarding your first heads of team, including your future full-time COO.
New markets
Taking your operating model to new countries, from years of working across Latin America and Europe.
Thought partner
A senior operator to think out loud with when the stakes are high.
Engagements
From hands-on to light touch
Every engagement is shaped around your company. Fees depend on the scope of work, and after our first call you get a written proposal with scope, timeline and fee.
Start here
Operating Audit
Two weeks inside your company before any long-term commitment.
- Interviews with you and your leadership team
- A map of decisions, meetings and bottlenecks
- A 90-day operating plan with priorities and owners
- A working session to walk your team through it
Ongoing
Fractional COO
Your operating partner, embedded in the business.
- Regular live work with you and your team, sized to your company
- Weekly operating rhythm: priorities, metrics, meeting cadence
- Org design, roles and hiring support
- Async access between sessions
- Quarterly planning and reset
Light touch
Founder Advisory
A sounding board for the decisions you don't want to make alone.
- 90-minute sessions, booked when you need them
- Hiring, org design, pricing and operating decisions
- New market entry, from years across Latin America and Europe
- A short written follow-up after each session
How it works
Discovery call
We look at where the company is, what is breaking and whether I'm the right operator for it. No deck needed.
Audit and plan
I map how the company runs today and we agree on a 90-day plan. Your team feels the first changes within weeks.
Operating rhythm
Weekly work with you and your leads, a monthly review against the plan and a quarterly reset.
Selected work
Where I've done this before
Founder-led businesses
Side by side with the CEO: shaping the plan, leading the teams, improving delivery and training the people who run it. Automated manual work and put client delivery, from onboarding to completion, under one method.
Founders step back from daily execution, without adding headcount
Investment firm
Ran daily operations with the heads of IT, marketing, sales and finance, side by side with the founder. After a one-month review, reorganised the sales team and set targets, OKRs and expansion plans.
+20% team performance
GoCancel
Led operations for a €1M consumer business across eight European countries. Built and managed a team of 10+ direct reports on KPIs and wrote the European expansion plan.
8 countries under one operating plan
PAUSE Fashion Hub
A community-led, experience-first fashion hub, years before everyone was talking about experiences. 12 pop-ups in museums, art galleries and old factories across Amsterdam, New York, London Fashion Week, Paris, Brussels and Barcelona, with 300+ creatives.
Acquired by The Canvas Global in 2020
Questions founders ask
How is this different from hiring a consultant?
I don't hand over a report and leave. I run the operating rhythm with your team every week and I'm accountable for it working.
What kind of companies do you work with?
Founder-led companies with real traction and a team that has grown past the point where everything can go through the founder. Typically 10 to 80 people.
How do you set the fee?
It depends on the scope of work. After the discovery call I send you a written proposal with scope, timeline and fee, so you know exactly what you are signing up for.
Do you work remotely?
Yes. I work with founders in Europe, the US and Latin America, in English and Spanish.
How many clients do you take at once?
A small number of retainers, so each company gets real attention. If I'm full, I'll tell you when the next spot opens.
What happens after the first three months?
We continue month to month with 30 days' notice. Many founders keep me on until they hire a full-time COO, and I help with that hire too.
Let's see if I'm the right operator for your company.
Write to me at info@leticiaorcelbordoni.com with a few lines about your company, and we'll set up a 30-minute video call. You leave with at least one thing to fix this month, whether we work together or not.
Email me Fractional COO · Operating Audit · Founder Advisory · Fees based on scope of work