Embedded, part-time operational leadership and AI workflow systems for content-led businesses. From start-ups and SMEs scaling content strategy to ad agencies bringing production in-house, I work inside the business for 3 to 6 months and leave behind operating systems — and AI workflows — that run without me.
Whether you’re a start-up or an established business, this probably sounds familiar.
of small businesses that cross $1M in revenue never reach $10M. Losing margin, momentum and key people as operational complexity outpaces the founder.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Statistics of U.S. Businesses (annual receipts data).Fifteen years inside creative production, directing, producing and running global campaigns for Samsung, Mondelēz, Visa, YouTube and many others. Then six years running the operations behind a $5M+ branded-content slate.
These days I work as a Fractional COO, particularly across the content economy. Start-ups and SMEs scaling content strategy; ad agencies bringing production in-house; production houses, content platforms and 7-figure creator businesses that have outgrown their current infrastructure.
Most operational consultants stop at strategy. I don’t. Where a workflow gap can be closed with custom tooling, I build the app. Where two systems have never been connected before, I find the bridge and engineer it. And where a process is being done manually that an agentic AI workflow could handle better, I build that too — autonomous research agents, intelligent content pipelines, automated reporting systems. The result is a business that runs more efficiently and with less of the background noise that keeps founders up at night. Creative judgment, operational rigour and the ability to build what the business actually needs — including the AI layer — is genuinely rare, and it’s the part most of my clients can’t hire for.
All engagements start with a 30-minute exploratory call. No deck, no pitch. Just whether the fit is real.
For founder-led businesses in need of scale, from $200k up to $2M+ revenue. I work inside the business for 3 to 6 months, fix what’s breaking, build the systems and team structure to support the next phase, and hand back a company that runs without me.
For founders who already have an operations lead but want an experienced operator in the room for the decisions you can’t outsource: org design, hiring, system rebuilds, post-investment integration. Two days a month, focused on what moves the needle.
When you know the operational problem and just need it fixed: workflow rebuilds, team restructures, production-system implementations, post-acquisition integration. Defined deliverable. Defined timeline. Defined fee.
Fixed-scope AI workflow projects: I scope, build and deploy agentic systems that take repetitive operational work off your team’s plate. Recent builds include autonomous market-intelligence agents, social-listening + AI publishing pipelines with automated reporting, and intelligent content categorisation. Production-grade tooling, documented, handed off with training so your team owns it.
Every engagement runs the same arc, scaled to scope. The goal is not to make the business dependent on me. It’s to make the business work without me.
Audit current systems, workflows, team structure, and output. Identify the three operational levers that move the business most.
Build the operating cadence, accountability structure, and tooling. Align the team around clear priorities and a weekly rhythm.
Roll out the new systems alongside the team. Coach leads on running them. Solve problems in real time. Make execution the default.
Document, train, and remove founder dependency. Leave behind a business that runs without me, or you, if you want it to.
Two recent engagements illustrating the work.
Founder-led YouTube business with 12M subscribers on the main channel and 3.7M on the secondary channel. Revenue was strong but the operation needed order brought to chaos. Consistency was lacking, infrastructure was struggling, and output had stalled. The founder was the bottleneck on every script, edit, and thumbnail. Employee sentiment was diminishing, and the culture was under strain.
30-person production house with revenue upwards of $10M. The founders wanted to understand how to scale further without losing quality, motivation or drive, and what was holding the team back from getting there. Each employee operated with different working styles and perspectives, leaving three senior producers each running their own ad-hoc systems.
Two examples of the AI workflows running inside my own ventures. Both are production systems, not demos. The same architecture is what I deploy for clients on fixed-scope AI Workflow Builds.
Surfaces three active investors every morning, each with reasoned scoring against the venture’s thesis. A reasoned shortlist, not a database export — and one that never has an off day.
Hours of manual investor research and CRM enrichment per week — and the live opportunities that get missed when this work falls to the bottom of the list.
Agentic LLM architecture with proprietary scoring. Full stack and methodology shared in scoping under NDA.
An always-on social rhythm that listens, drafts, generates visuals, publishes, and closes the loop with a weekly performance report. Human stays in for the brand-defining moments; the agent runs the rhythm.
A significant chunk of what a full-time social media manager does — without losing strategic intent.
End-to-end pipeline from signal to publish to report. Architecture and prompt design shared in scoping under NDA.
Want to see the architecture, or commission a similar build for your business? Start a conversation →
A Fractional COO is an experienced Chief Operating Officer who works part-time inside your business, typically 2 days a week, for a defined engagement period. You get senior operational leadership without the cost or commitment of a full-time executive hire. For founder-led content and creative businesses, it's often the fastest way to install durable systems and remove yourself as the bottleneck.
A Fractional COO works part-time on a retainer basis, typically for 3 to 6 months. A full-time COO is a permanent executive hire, usually appropriate once a business exceeds £5M+ revenue and has the complexity and budget to justify it. For founder-led businesses that need to fix operational chaos and build scalable systems, a Fractional COO delivers the same outcome at a fraction of the cost and exits cleanly once the work is done.
When the founder has become the bottleneck on every decision and the business can't scale without them in the room. Common signals: inconsistent output, team misalignment, missed deadlines, and a founder spending more than 40% of their week on operational logistics rather than strategy and growth. If you're past £500k revenue and the business still runs on you, it's worth a conversation.
Most structured engagements run 3 to 6 months. That's enough time to diagnose, design and implement new systems, and complete a clean founder handoff. Shorter operational projects (workflow rebuilds, team restructures, post-acquisition integration) run 2 to 12 weeks on a fixed-fee basis. Every engagement ends with documented systems and a team trained to run them.
A consultant advises. A Fractional COO builds. I sit inside the business 2 days a week, attending standups, running weekly team rhythms, making hiring decisions and implementing systems alongside your team. The deliverable isn't a strategy deck or a recommendations report. It's a business that runs without me.
If you’re a founder or CEO of a creative-led business ready to step out of the day-to-day, send me a note. I respond personally within 48 hours.