Fractional COO: Is it worth it?
Why your value isn’t your CV, and what actually lands paid board seats with Karina Mikhli.
Listen now on Apple and Spotify.
Summer’s officially here, which means half of LinkedIn is posting beach photos and the other half is quietly wondering if now’s the time to make a change. Maybe you're eyeing a shift. Less full-time grind and more freedom. Perhaps you’ve already dipped your toe into the fractional COO world and you’re wondering, is this actually sustainable? Or just a polished way of being overworked and underpaid?
It seems like a great time to revisit our episode with Karina Mikhli, Founder of Fractionals United and Right-Size COO.
Karina Mikhli is a community, professional services, development, and SaaS fractional COO, a workflow consultant, and founder of Fractionals United. She has a decade of experience building, optimizing, and scaling small to mid size businesses.
In the episode, we discuss:
Why your network depth matters more than your network size
The best kind of people to stay close to (and it’s not just VCs)
Why you need to say the number and walk away if needed
How to define and sell your board value
Managing the feast-or-famine cycle of fractional work
Energy management when you’re doing multiple roles at once
How to set pricing and structure your offer
Key takeaways:
Most board roles come through a tiny handful of strong relationships
Influential people who will recommend you are gold
It’s okay (and essential) to walk away from underpaid offers
You need to be able to pitch your board value clearly
Let people know you’re looking, visibility is everything
Fractional life can be energising or draining
Avoid back-to-backs and make sure to block decompression time
Is your board seat plan just “hope someone thinks of me”?
Get actionable steps to keep clients coming →
Where to find Karina:
Additional Resources:
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Best,
Beth and Brandon