OPERATOR Board
The Professional Advisory Board For Scaleups
A board model built on competence, clarity, and real Operator experience, designed to help scaleups execute and reach the next stage faster.
The Problem
The Reason Why Most
Boards Don’t Work
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.
Our 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.
The Why
Why launch an OPERATOR Board?
We work with founders who understand the risk/reward profile of a scale-up and aim to maximise odds.
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Work with experienced people normally out of reach to hire, bringing real execution depth into your toughest decisions.
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Align incentives the startup way: Operators earn from the impact they deliver, not from retainers or consulting hours.
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Give founders, investors, and boards sharper decisions, faster progress, and fewer high-stakes mistakes.
What's Included
What an OPERATOR Board Covers
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Business & Value Case
Together, we develop the business case and value proposition for everyone involved.
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People
Based on mapped needs, we identify the right team size, profiles and candidates.
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Legal & Alignment
We manage all contracts and legal procedures to ensure transparency and trust.
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Playbooks
We bring proven playbooks on how to raise, scale, and lead, based on experience and research.
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Quality Assurance
We ensure Operators add measurable value and stay fully aligned with your evolving needs.
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Processes & Tools
We help manage your extended team with professional tools, freeing founders to focus on growth.
Results From the OPERATOR Boardroom
What Founders Say About the Operator Board
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![Large blue opening quotation mark symbol on a transparent background.]()
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
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![Large blue opening quotation mark symbol on a transparent background.]()
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.
Venture Capital Fund Manager
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![Large blue opening quotation mark symbol on a transparent background.]()
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
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![Large blue opening quotation mark symbol on a transparent background.]()
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
How It Works
A Structured Process Built for Scaleups
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.
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.
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.
Founder Fit
What we look for
We back founders solving meaningful problems in industries we know, where real impact meets real business.
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Competitive Edge
Probably technical - whether that's patented tech, proprietary data or access or other hard-to-copy advantage.
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Industry Focus
Solving a significant problem in maritime, supply chain, ocean, or energy, ideally with potential for scaling into other industry verticals.
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2x Impact
Operating where measurable B2B value meets improving people’s lives or creating planetary value.
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B2B Model
Partnering with industrial corporations in the target industries (maritime, supply chain, ocean or energy).
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Growth Stage Scaleup
With a product beyond lab stage - in the market with paying customers or funded pilots.
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High Ticked / Mid Margin
Typically ACV (annual contract value) ≥ €75k per customer and gross margin ≥ 40%.
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Funded Or Profitable
Seed round (or above) closed/closing, or cash-flow positive. Focused on building a real business, not hype.
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Qualify Your Startup
Qualify For An OPERATOR Board