1. What is a COO?
Hear from Divinia Knowles, Founder of the London COO Roundtable
In this episode we get Divinia’s words of wisdom on the following questions:
What is a COO? What does a COO do?
What are the differences between: COO, Chief of Staff and Operations Lead?
Which COO is more successful, those that are promoted internally or those people who have joined externally?
How do you measure the success of a COO?
What is your advice for COO’s struggling with their CEO?
Speaker notes and references:
HBR article - https://hbr.org/2006/05/second-in-command-the-misunderstood-role-of-the-chief-operating-officer
Allison Pickens article -
Generalists vs Specialists - Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World https://amzn.eu/d/5Sxi43L
Divinia Knowles article https://www.publicover.co/articles/the-coo-problem-misconceptions-and-mistakes
Divinia’s Bio
Divinia was COO, CFO & a director at both Mind Candy and Pact Coffee, where she also served as interim CEO. She has held or still holds chair and board seats at too many companies to list and is occasionally an angel investor.
Divinia re-trained as a coach in 2017 and combined it with her previous experience to become the COO Coach, working with start up/scale up COOs/CEOs to help guide them through successfully starting up, scaling up and exiting.
And in addition to all that, she is also the Founder of the London COO Roundtable, a community that brings operations professionals together to define what it means to be a highly effective startup and scale up Chief Operating Officer.
Contact Divinia
COO Roundtable - https://www.cooroundtable.com
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/diviniaknowles/
Email - divinia@diviniaknowles.com
Summary
CEO roles and types, with a focus on Allison Pickens' article. 0:05
Brandon and Bethany discuss the different types of CEOs, with Bethany describing four flavors of operations professionals as described by Allison Pickens in her article "The Rise of the CEO."
Brandon and Bethany engage in a back-and-forth conversation on the topic, with Brandon sharing his thoughts on the four flavors and Bethany adding her own insights.
COO roles and responsibilities in startups. 2:40
Bethany and Brandon discuss the different roles of a Chief Operations Officer (COO), including Chief of Staff, operator, chief customer officer, traditional CIO, and product and development lead.
Bethany identifies a fifth role, the "finance and people person" on the product and development side, who aligns teams to get work done.
Brandon and Bethany discuss the different roles in a scale-up organization, including the CEO, Chief of Staff, CRO, and CCO.
Bethany shares her experience starting as the CRO at Peak and how her role is interchangeable with a CFO, despite having different titles.
Leadership roles in startups and scale-ups. 7:41
Bethany identifies three types of roles within an organization: operators, visionaries, and backfillers.
She describes herself as not being an operator, preferring to focus on strategy and building rather than day-to-day operations.
Bethany highlights Divinia Knowles' diverse experience as COO, coach, and founder of the London CEO roundtable.
The role of a CFO and its responsibilities. 12:08
Divinia: CEOs have different job descriptions, even within the same company, and it's hard to find others with the same role.
Divinia: CFO role can be defined by 3 R's: remit, relationships, and responsibility.
Divinia: CEOs are C-level execs who work on & in the business, with holistic view of organization.
C-level roles and responsibilities in startups. 15:41
Bethany and Divinia discuss the differences between Chief of Staff and CFO roles, with Chief of Staff having less functional responsibility and more strategic lead roles.
Brandon clarifies the difference between Chief of Staff and CEO, with Chief of Staff serving as an extension of the CEO and providing extra capacity.
Divinia observes that some VPs of Operations may be "trapped" in their role due to lack of influence and relationship with the CEO, leading to a perception of obsolescence.
CEOs may consider bringing in a CFO when the company reaches a certain size or stage of growth, as they can provide strategic financial guidance and help the CEO make informed decisions.
CEO hiring and scaling strategies in startups. 20:46
Divinia identifies 7 types of CEOs based on their reasons for hiring a CIO, including scaling, needing an heir apparent, and wanting an operating partner.
CEOs may bring in a CIO for operational complexity, as seen in a recent conversation with a CEO whose model is very operationally complex.
Divinia agrees with Brandon that CEOs can join companies earlier than VCs typically prefer (series A or even earlier).
Both Divinia and Brandon believe that scaling an organization is more about repeatable GTM processes than just pure scale.
CEO success factors and internal vs. external moves. 25:10
CEO role depends on company complexity, external facing, and operational savviness.
Internal moves (e.g., from within the company) tend to be more successful than external hires for CEO roles.
Relationship with the CEO and shared values are key factors in determining success, with a COO who doesn't align with the CEO's values often leading to failure.
Divinia discusses the challenges CEOs face in their role, including lack of remit to operate and identity issues.
Many CEOs are introverted and struggle to make relationships at board level.
CEOs often measure success by avoiding breakdowns, but when something does break, the CFO is left to deal with it.
CEO and CFO roles, responsibilities, and relationships. 31:47
Bethany struggles with identifying her identity in the workplace, while Divinia sees the COO role as an opportunity to bring value to the business through connecting people and ideas.
Divinia questions the traditional tropes of the COO role, such as being a dumping ground for tasks nobody else wants, and seeks to craft the role around the strengths and experiences of individual professionals to measure success.
Divinia emphasizes the importance of contracting and open communication between the CEO and CFO to build trust and ensure success in scaling businesses.
Bethany agrees and adds that the relationship between the two roles is ever-changing, and CEOs should be mindful of this when contracting and setting expectations.
CEO-CFO dynamics and power. 37:42
Divinia emphasizes the importance of trust and psychological safety in the CEO-CFO relationship, citing it as a prerequisite for the CFO to be as powerful as they could be throughout the organization.
Bethany agrees that it can be challenging to maintain this dynamic over time, especially as the CEO-CFO relationship evolves and becomes more complex.
Divinia: Embrace the confusion in the CFO role to unlock its power.
Bethany: Flip the ambiguity into authenticity to be a powerful COO.
Brandon: Reflect on the conversation and consider the final thought for future reference.