Beyond the Founding Team | A Leadership Playbook for Growth: COOs

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COOs are hired within approximately a year of achieving major funding to complement the gaps of the founding team as they scale.

^{Source: 2022 RRA Growth Co Analysis, n = 30 First Placed COOs                                                      Source: 2022 RRA Growth Co Analysis, n = 21 COOs Present at IPO}

Archetypes of Growth COOs

• Product COOs focus on developing the systems, processes and infrastructure to support growth and expansion, with an eye toward product excellence.
• Operating COOs help set and drive strategy, and work alongside the CEO to help “connect the dots” and move from a functional mindset to a synchronized, focused and inspiring organization.
• Go-to-market COOs bring an entrepreneurial mindset to driving growth and product evolution with an eye toward customer journeys and brand loyalty.

Meet our Growth COO Experts

Authors

• Robert Alexander is a member of Russell Reynolds Associates’ Technology Knowledge team. He is based in New York City.
• Agnes Greaves co-leads the firm’s Core & Growth Technology practice globally and the Consumer Digital & Media practice in Europe. She is based in London.
• Tuck Rickards heads the firm’s San Francisco office and co-leads the Core & Growth Technology practice. He is based in San Francisco.

Methodology and Notes

• Analysis of 40 tech/tech-enabled companies that were founded since 2005 and IPO’d 2017-2021, were largest by region according to valuation at time of deal, and achieved ≥20% revenue growth rate over the three-year period prior to IPO
• Industry verticals included: fintech, healthtech, automotive/transportation, eCommerce/marketplace, software/cloud
• Analysis includes only the appointment of non-founder executives
• Major funding rounds: approximate point in time at which each company reached series C/later stage funding
• APAC excluded from study due to data accessibility
• Sources: Pitchbook, Board Ex