Fractional COO · Chief of Staff to the CEO
An operator beside the CEO. Not a consultant near one.
For companies between $10M and $100M that need senior operating execution now and do not need, or cannot yet justify, a full-time hire.
Shawn holds operating roles today and takes one fractional executive engagement at a time. Advice from the seat, not from retirement.
When companies call
When companies call for this seat
- 01A new CEO needs an operator beside them for the first two quarters.
- 02The founder is still running operations and the company has outgrown it.
- 03A PE sponsor wants execution capacity in the portfolio company without a permanent hire.
- 04A transaction, integration, or carve-out needs an owner who has done one.
- 05The COO or Chief of Staff seat is empty and the search will take six months.
- 06Execution is slipping and the board wants someone accountable for it.
If two of these are true, this is the seat.
Scope
What the seat covers.
Covers
- Operating cadence and accountability across the executive team
- Transaction, integration, and carve-out execution
- Board and investor preparation with the CEO
- Hiring and structuring the permanent operating team
- The two or three decisions each quarter that determine the year
Does not cover
- Full-time presence
- Functional line management of a department
- Fundraising as a placement agent
- Anything the CEO should be doing personally
Operating record
Judgment proven in the seat.
$8.1BStrategic transactionMicrosoftAcquired PERSONA, Shawn's companyNASDAQPublic-company formation−$5M → +$28MP&L turnaround6+Exits
Figures reflect Shawn Gunn's executive, founder, board, and operating-partner record. Roles and attribution are stated precisely in the underlying cases.
Commercial terms
Structured around the mandate.
- From $25,000 per month, scoped to the mandate.
- Initial 90-day mandate, then month to month.
- One engagement at a time. When the slot is filled, this page says so.
- Many fractional engagements begin with a Four-Lens Decision Read ($12,500, credited in full).
From the CEOs
Shawn told the board what it didn't want to hear — that we weren't ready to sell — and then made the company worth selling. EBITDA up 175% over twelve months. I'd put him in the room on any decision that matters.
Every operator says they've done it before. Shawn had actually carried the P&L, actually done the deal, and it showed in how fast he got to the real question. He's the call I make before I sign anything.
One conversation decides fit.
Twenty minutes with Shawn directly. Confidential. If the seat is not the answer, you will hear that first.