Build it. Scale it. Sell it.

Fractional COO

Your business shouldn't run on you.

I'm a fractional COO for founder-led service businesses making $300K to $1M in annual profit. I build the systems and team that push you past $1M, where the business runs without you and buyers pay a premium for it.

Book a Discovery Call

A decade in the engine rooms of Netflix, Google, and high-growth companies. 30 minutes for a fit check.

FIG. 01 — WHERE EVERY DECISION ROUTES

The Problem

You're the bottleneck, and you know it.

You built your business by being in everything. Now everything still runs through you. The revenue is there, but the operation can't scale past your calendar, the team waits on your decisions, and an exit feels impossible when the business is you. That's the gap I fill: a senior operator who builds the machine, so the company runs without you in every call, and is worth more when you're ready to step back or sell.

Proof

Real businesses, real numbers.

30 days

to first new client from a new sales system

monthly recurring revenue in 4 months

80%

of company revenue from B2B channels built from zero

CASE 01

A boutique social media marketing agency: from founder-led guesswork to a client acquisition machine.

This agency grew entirely on the founder's referrals, until sales plateaued and client churn exposed the gap: no repeatable way to win new business. I defined the ICP, codified the brand voice, designed a two-touch outreach sequence, restarted paid ads on a small budget, and built the CRM pipeline that made it all trackable. First new client inside 30 days. Monthly recurring revenue doubled by month four. The system still lands clients today, without me in the seat.

CASE 02

A sports representation agency: from firefighting to systems that scale.

The operations seat was held by someone ready to leave, payments didn't talk to the CRM, and a key hire was quietly failing. In week one I flagged the hire and delivered the offboarding checklist two days before they stopped showing up. The 90-day build goes past the obvious bottlenecks: a sales process where there wasn't one, clear roles and ownership, payment collection and attribution that reconcile themselves, and an operating rhythm that holds through seasonal spikes, without the founder policing any of it.

“I sleep better knowing you’ve got a handle on the sales system, and I’m not just waiting for referrals.”

— CEO, MARKETING AGENCY

Swell Studio, marketing agency

Indie Law, boutique law firm serving creative entrepreneurs

N8 Beauty

Wombi, where I built the sales and ops SOPs and the B2B channels that grew to 80% of company revenue

What I Do

A COO's job is to make the whole thing work.

Operations is the spine, and it only scales with sales and people attached. Some founders need one function built with surgical focus; others need the whole machine working as one system. Either way, that's the job.

PRIMARY OFFER

Fractional COO

I tighten the systems that grew faster than you wrote them, build the processes and team that scale, and get the business running cleanly enough to grow, hand off, or sell.

Operations: operating systems, process design, and documentation your team actually follows
Go-to-market: a repeatable client acquisition engine, recurring revenue, and service-line build-out
Recruiting: the right people in the right seats, with hiring plans, comp bands, and leveling that hold up
Tech stack: vendor and CRM audits, tooling consolidation, fewer tools properly connected
Exit-readiness: clean, documented operations that raise the multiple when you're ready to sell
Founder time: I own or automate the behind-the-scenes work so you get your calendar back

The Exit Edge

I build the kind of business buyers want.

Building toward a sale in the next few years? The work that makes a business run without you is the same work that makes it worth more to a buyer: documented systems, a team that doesn't depend on the founder, clean and legible operations. I build that. And when you're ready to explore a sale, my M&A bench gives you a direct path forward instead of a cold start.

Businesses under $1M in profit sell at a discount. Crossing that line with clean, documented operations behind it changes what buyers will pay. That's the work.

Build → Scale → Clean up → Exit

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How I Work

Two ways to start.

90 DAYS AT A TIME

Embedded Fractional COO

A senior operator running a function inside your team. Standing meetings, your tools, your team. Renewable in 90-day blocks.

You hire one operator, you get the bench behind her.

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30 DAYS OR LESS

Operations Diagnostic

One focused engagement to pinpoint exactly where you're the bottleneck, ending in a prioritized roadmap you can act on, with me or without me. The low-risk way to see how I work.

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Full pricing →

01 Diagnose

One week of listening, reviewing, and pressure-testing what's actually broken.

02 Build

Three to six weeks of hands-on work alongside your team, shipping the system, not a slide deck.

03 Hand Off

A documented system and a trained owner so your team runs it without us.

About

I'm Sam, nice to meet you.

I build the machine that lets founder-led service businesses run, scale, and sell without the founder in everything. Every engagement starts with me, backed by a bench of operators I trust.

Sam Golay-Smith

FOUNDER & FRACTIONAL COO

A decade of operations and recruiting inside Netflix, Google, and high-growth companies. Leads every engagement.

Nikkia Jackson

OPERATIONS & AI SYSTEMS PARTNER

Ten years building operations inside BET, BuzzFeed, and Viacom. Designs the systems and AI workflows that hold.

Samantha Hartman

EXIT ADVISOR & RECRUITING PARTNER

M&A advisor guiding owners through sales from $5M to $250M. Exit-readiness is her superpower.

Book

Find a time that works for you.

A 30-minute fit check. We'll talk about where you're stuck and whether we're a fit.

Not sure yet? Start with the Operations Diagnostic; it credits toward your first retainer block.