The start-up industry has vastly scaled over the last decade with more advancement and increased demand within AI/ML and automation. Whether it’s to increase the effectiveness of finding and treating curable diseases, or if it’s just to make a sales professional’s job just slightly easier, start-ups have made a major impact in the growing market for both consumers and businesses. But who is making a major contribution to the start-ups and founders? Their People and Operations partners!
Founders, Co-Founders, CEO’s, Managing Directors – this one is for you. To establish a start-up is one thing, but to scale it is another! Operational excellence can be crucial to the success of a scaling business, especially for technology-based start-ups. Without sound operational infrastructure and defined processes, a business can struggle to raise more funding, expand product offerings, and even expand client growth. People and Operations talent such as Chief of Staff, Head of Operations, and Founder’s Associates add the specialized knowledge that can introduce or expand tooling used within the business to increase operational efficiency or to create a scalable process that mitigates risk. They can also provide a birds-eye-view of the business strategy and manage cross-functional departments to streamline execution and ensure the Founder’s vision is attainable.
People and Operational leaders often get to do the ‘dirty’, ‘unattractive’ work that needs to be done in order for a business to thrive. They often have the ability and personality to manage vendor relationships and ensure deadlines are met. They will keep you, as a Founder, and the business protected from legal and compliance issues that come with a rising business. They strive to ensure that the business’s employees have the proper tools, applications, and processes to be successful individually and still have the wider business’s mission in mind. They are often the ‘not so silent’ heroes to future employees being hired due to the success of your growing business, and the investors and board members putting faith in your vision. People and Ops leaders allow Founders, whether they are technically-minded, product-minded, sales-minded, or anything in between, to flourish in their specialized space within the business and dedicate their role to ensuring the business reaches growing success.
When I ask a Chief of Staff, Head of Operations, COO, or Head of People why they chose to take on their role within a start-up organization or similar, there tends to be a common theme: These people are driven by the direct impact they have on the business and the ambiguous, versatile list of things they get challenged with in the role. When compared to larger organizations, start-ups often allow operational talent to build something from scratch which gives them the space to leave a legacy that has exponential impact on the company’s success. That could be building the automation behind project management and cross-functional communication, revamping an application process and connecting it to data lakes to move them out of Excel sheets or as simple as finding and establishing roots in the company’s very first office, and then building an entire talent acquisition strategy to grow as the fundraising grows. Most importantly, these individuals like working behind closed doors, sometimes after hours creating a pitch decks for their Founders to shine in front of Investors.
So, if you are a Founder of a newly established start-up or an accomplished CEO of mature and successful global organization, your People and Operations team is crucial to the development and success of your business both internally and for the benefit of your stakeholders… but you alreadyknew that, so if you need to hire the best talent, let me know!
Mandy Goya - Head of People & Operations Recruitment
If you want to help contribute to a blog article with the Wayoh team, please contact me directly.
