The job is lonely in a specific way. Not for lack of people — for lack of anyone who carries the same weight you do. Your team cannot be the sounding board for a decision about your team. Your investors are not neutral. Your friends are supportive and three steps behind the context.
Shadow CEO is the seat next to yours. Not a coach asking what you think you should do. Not a consultant producing a deck. Someone who has run companies, knows your numbers, and will tell you plainly when a plan is weak.
We agree the hours and the outputs at the start of each month, so it stays a working arrangement rather than an open-ended retainer. Between calls you can message me directly — most of what matters is a ten-minute answer, not a scheduled hour.
We agree the hours, the two or three deliverables, and what success looks like by month end.
Not a status update. We work on the live problem — the pricing model, the hire, the board pack, the plan that is slipping.
Message me when a decision comes up. Documents, offers, emails and plans get reviewed before they go out, not after.
Once a quarter we stop working in the business and spend a session on where it is actually going.
If you want someone to run the company for you, this is the wrong arrangement — hire a COO. And if you are not going to use the hours, do not buy them; unused time does not roll over and I would rather tell you that now than invoice you for it.
Most people start with Ops in a Box, then move onto a monthly seat once the system is in place and the questions change.
See Ops in a Box →Bring the decision you are stuck on right now. Thirty minutes, free, and you will know within one call whether this is worth a month.