Fractional leadership
Fractional COO and CCO for growing tech companies
Senior commercial and operating leadership without the full-time hire. I embed with founders and leadership teams to steer a critical moment, fill a gap while you scale, or get the business ready for the executive you will eventually hire.
Sound familiar?
Signs it's time
- You are the bottleneck: every decision, deal and hire still runs through you.
- You have traction, but planning, reporting and accountability haven't kept up with headcount.
- A key leader has left, or the role you need doesn't yet justify a full-time salary.
- You're raising, and investors want to see an operating plan, not just a pitch.
- Commercial deals and partnerships are done ad hoc, with no shared terms or clear owner.
- The leadership team is busy, but not pulling in the same direction.
What I do
What's included
A fractional engagement is leadership from inside the team, not advice from the sidelines. I join leadership meetings, own workstreams and am accountable for results. Depending on what the business needs, that covers:
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Operating rhythm
Quarterly planning, OKRs and the weekly and monthly cadence that keep teams aligned and decisions moving.
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Commercial leadership
Pipeline, partnerships, pricing and commercial terms, with named owners and a forecast you can trust.
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Management reporting
The handful of numbers that matter, reported the same way every month and ready for the board.
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Team and structure
Org design, key hires and interim management of senior people while you find the right permanent leaders.
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Investor readiness
Operating plan, financial model and data room for the next round, and support through the process.
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Decision support
A senior sounding board behind the scenes, with access to networks across venture, AI and Web3.
How it works
How an engagement runs
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Diagnose
Weeks 1 to 3
Conversations with founders, team, investors and key customers, and a look at the numbers. You get a clear read of what is working, what is broken and what matters most.
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Plan
By the end of month one
A short operating plan: priorities, owners, KPIs and the rhythm for running them.
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Embed
Month two onwards
I work as part of the leadership team, typically two to four high-impact sessions a month plus decision support in between, and lead specific workstreams where needed.
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Hand over
Agreed at the start
The aim is to make myself unnecessary: a system that runs without me, and a brief for the full-time hire if you need one.
Who it's for
A good fit if you are
- Seed to growth-stage technology companies with real traction
- Founders who want an operator, not a report
- AI, Web3 and digital assets, fintech, developer tools and product-led businesses
- Investors who want hands-on senior support for a portfolio company
Probably not the right fit for
- Pre-product ideas looking for a co-founder
- Companies that need a full-time executive from day one
Proof
Recent work
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Interim leadership
Boson
Interim Chief Strategy Officer. Built the quarterly business planning cycle, integrating the product, engineering and growth teams, and set up and ran OKR and goal setting.
Result: An aligned team working to a shared plan.
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Growth and developer relations
Unicity Labs
Built out the growth team and developer relations function, alongside a partner and supplier network.
Result: Community grown to 100,000 developers and a 1,500-strong builder network, with 9,000 GitHub stars.
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Matt and the team have been instrumental in helping the Boson team around shared goals, guiding us through the process of refining our brand, product, and value proposition to meet the needs of our users.
Justin Banon, Founder & CEO, Boson
Why me
Operator, not adviser
- COO and later CCO at Outlier Ventures, leading commercial strategy and operations across 370+ portfolio companies
- Global COO at AnalogFolk; as UK Managing Director grew the business from 26 to 150 people and £1.8m to £13m revenue
- Non-executive director of Brave Bison PLC as it grew from around £10m to around £100m market capitalisation
- Interim Chief Strategy Officer at Boson Protocol
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a fractional COO and a consultant?
A consultant diagnoses and recommends. A fractional executive owns outcomes as part of the team: I attend leadership meetings, run workstreams and am accountable for results, for a fraction of the time and cost of a full-time hire.
Do I need a COO or a CCO?
If the problem is how the company runs (planning, structure, accountability), start with operations. If it is how the company makes money (pipeline, partnerships, pricing), start with commercial. Most growing companies need some of both, which is why I cover the two together.
How much time do you commit?
Most engagements run at two to four high-impact sessions a month plus support in between. Heavier phases, such as a fundraise or a reorganisation, can be scoped at more days for a set period.
How long does an engagement last?
Usually several months: long enough to install the operating system and see it working. We agree the handover point at the start.
How is it priced?
As a fixed monthly fee for an agreed scope, reviewed each quarter. Book a call and I will propose a scope that fits what you need.
Working on something at the inflection point?
Let's talk about where you are and where you want to get to.