I am often asked what I do for a living and since I am not a PR or marketing professional, describing what I do to an “outsider” is challenging at times. I can hide all I want behind my resume and a great group of people I have worked with, but in order to further enhance my network, I must “translate” the role of a business operations leader to those in other professions.
Reading Jeremiah Owyang’s excellent article ”What’s Your Career Mission?” was a great kick-in-the-behind that inspired me to write down my Career Mission and the Value I bring to the table
Category Archives: COO
Keeping entrepreneurs and CEOs out of jail and an early grave
Doing collections the startup way!
During my career I have become very successful at keeping the number of uncollected accounts to a minimum (in one company we had only one invoice we had to write off). Collections definitely rates in the top 3 of the most undesirable duties, but there are ways to minimize the pain. The best way to do so is by implementing tough practices that send a message out there: “we are serious about delivering what we have promised and we expect the same from you”. Here are some of my techniques
Why do so many CEOs have no idea what operations people do?
So, you are a newly-minted CEO of a company. You got your investors to bet on you and now everyone wants to see how that roll of the dice will play out. You know what a COO (DOO or Ops person) is, but if I asked you what exactly his/her “magic” is, I know I will hear plethora of musings. Close… but no cigar. That is too bad, because your operations head and his/her team are the backbone of your organization. So, let me enlighten you with what drives us, and why we are probably the most valuable and loyal members of your executive team.
The best way I help others understand the value of an operations expert is by telling a story. Back when I was a 20-something punk full of ego and bravado, I was working for a great company as an operations manager. Jan was my boss and mentor. She never spared me candor or sugarcoated anything, and I felt respected by her.
If you are in a startup and have a title, you are not doing enough work…
Last November I was interviewing with a very stealthy (for a very good reason) startup in Boston. During my conversation with a co-founder Ellen (she is very stealthy too, so I will skip last name), I asked her what her title was. Her answer was something that has stuck with me to this day. She said: “if you are in a startup and have a title, you are not doing enough“!
About THE FOUNDER
Apolinaras is a business operations leader with 12-year track record of helping companies manage growth, build diverse teams, harness technology, and get a lot more profitable.Read More About Us »
The Operations Guy Blog
