OPERATOR Board

A professional way for scaleups to drive growth.

The Problem

After working with over 100 founders and investors, one pattern is clear:

building a technology startup is an extreme sport - and very few make it to exit. This leads to a significant waste of time, talent, potential for the world, and capital from investors.

Founders are resource-constrained by design. They turn to mentors, advisors, or advisory boards for help - but these models rarely deliver the desired value. They bring together mismatched people with no shared goals, incentives, or structure.

It’s well-intentioned - but broken.

The result is wasted time, diluted focus, and limited impact for everyone involved.

  • "No large investment has ever given me product-market fit. I cannot possibly have all the competencies I need on payroll -
I need sparring and help on demand from people who are financially incentivized like me."

    Startup founder

  • "We invest and try our best to help the portfolio companies, but it’s impossible to span all companies and offer competence across all industry segments."

    Venture Capital Fund manager

  • "I guess working with Advisors and Mentors is nothing new, but hard to get value from. To plug into a structured way of doing it as a complement to my Board, can give me the speed and ease to get results."

    Startup founder

Business Model: We Co-Invest to Build Your Business

Startups don’t need consultants. They need partners who are in it with them.

OPERATORS builds and manages OPERATOR Boards - structured, professional teams of executives, experts, and entrepreneurs who work hands-on with your startup to accelerate growth and reach exit.

We co-invest time, networks and sometimes capital, and ultimately benefit from the value we are part of creating - making it a responsible, no-brainer model for a scaleups. To qualify a continuous match, we ask for a commitment fee from everyone involved - for the scaleups equivalent to circa half a good employee, minimal compared to the value we bring.

Why launch an OPERATOR Board?

We work with founders who understand the risk/reward profile of a scale-up and aim to maximise odds. 

  1. Gain credibility and results by working with people who are out of reach to hire.

  2. Pay from value created - aligning incentives the startup way.

  3. De-risk and accelerate growth - for founders, investors, and the board alike.

"It’s like a fund of time! Unlike anything else I’ve seen, giving me access to competence and access on demand, while pushing the cost to exit."

— Startup founder

How it works

  • 1. Assess (2 weeks)

    We map needs and goals (e.g., from $1M ARR to $2M), and run a light due diligence to evaluate if OPERATORS can invest time and resources.

    Free phase - ends with a Go/No-Go decision.

  • 2. Qualify (4 weeks)

    We build the value proposition to engage top Operators, identify key candidates for you to meet, and define the team setup and terms.

    Commitment fee applies.

  • 3. Execute (24 months)

    Kick-off and start executing towards defined goals with your extended team. We conduct periodic reviews to ensure focus and momentum.

    Commitment fee + success-based upside.

What’s included

  • Business & Value Case

    Together, we develop the business case and value proposition for everyone involved.

  • People

    Based on mapped needs, we identify the right team size, profiles and candidates.

  • Legal & Alignment

    We manage all contracts and legal procedures to ensure transparency and trust.

  • Playbooks

    We bring proven playbooks on how to raise, scale, and lead — based on experience and research.

  • Quality Assurance

    We ensure Operators add measurable value and stay fully aligned with your evolving needs.

  • Processes & Tools

    We manage your extended team with professional tools, freeing founders to focus on growth.

Qualify for an OPERATOR Board

Not every startup fits this model - and that’s by design.

We work with founders who are building real industrial B2B businesses and want to scale with professional support and aligned incentives.

If that’s you, we’ll start by mapping your needs, goals, and current setup - a light and free process that ends with a Go/No-Go assessment.

Qualify

“A lead singer needs a band playing different instruments like a founder needs a team. But no band ever became global super stars without a producer, manager, capital and back stage team. OPERATORS is all that and I don't know why startups in the past were expected to succeed without.”

— Startup founder