A COO coach who has held the COO seat, and the CEO seat it answers to.

I coach Chief Operating Officers and second-in-command executives, and the leaders stepping into the COO seat.

I was COO of Blameless, a VC-backed company in a turnaround. We cut burn in half, extended runway 18 months, took the win rate from near zero to 80% by rebuilding go-to-market, and took the company to a merger with FireHydrant. Before that I was the CEO a COO reports to: I founded Interland, grew it to $200M and took it public on Nasdaq.

So I coach from both sides of the relationship that decides the seat.

I joined Blameless, a Series B venture-backed company, as COO for a turnaround. The job was to make the company work on the money it had, without losing the people who had to do the work.

We cut burn in half without gutting morale, and that bought 18 months of runway. We rebuilt go-to-market: the win rate went from near zero to 80%, and the sales cycle came down 40%. We shipped a generative AI incident-response product used by Fortune 500 reliability teams. And I guided the company to its merger with FireHydrant.

Harvard Business Review lists leading one hard initiative, such as a turnaround, as one of the seven reasons companies create the COO role.¹ It is the version of the seat where the clock is loudest, and the one I have held.

A council with real decision rights. Cross-functional, with P&L authority, meeting weekly with one job: find the constraint before it shows up in the financials.

A dashboard that pairs every growth metric with its capability metric. Sales growth against onboarding capacity, new markets against support, feature releases against quality. The gap between the pair is the early warning.

Rate, direction and method, decided together. The CFO, the COO and the revenue leader in one room: if we succeed at this, can we deliver it, and how will we pay for it?

A quarterly recalibration with one question. What capability do we need to build before we accelerate?

I wrote up the method in the perils of an unintegrated growth strategy. At New Relic the same instinct took three moves: a general manager holding product and engineering to business metrics, a quarterly plan with a set share of engineering for roadmap, bugs and new sales, and a cross-company meeting for any roadmap change.

The job is whatever the CEO needs. Harvard Business Review found seven different reasons companies create the role, from executing the CEO's strategy to leading a turnaround to testing a successor.¹ Two COOs can hold the same title and do different jobs.

Almost everyone in it is new to it. More than 85% of the COOs appointed worldwide in 2025 were first-time COOs, and 82% were promoted from inside:² into a job the old peers now report to.

Many companies have never had one. Only about a third of large US companies had a COO in 2025 (38.1%),³ so the seat often arrives without a predecessor or a job description.

The clock is short. Average COO tenure since 2019 is about 3.2 years; COOs tend to last as long as the transformation they were hired to run.⁴

Everyone knows it leads to CEO. COOs and presidents were 48% of new S&P 1500 CEOs in 2025, the largest single route to the top.⁵

The hard part is rarely operations. It is the mandate, the relationship with the CEO, and knowing which of the seven jobs you were actually hired to do.

A COO sits in the middle of everything: under the CEO, beside the product and sales leaders, in front of a board that wants the plan delivered, and sometimes across the table from an acquirer. The hardest problems in the seat live in those relationships, not in the operating plan.

I have held each of those chairs: founder and CEO through a Nasdaq IPO, EVP at New Relic, COO in a VC-backed turnaround, Chief Product Officer through an $80M acquisition, and a decade as a managing partner at a venture firm: an operator in venture-backed startups, a unicorn, PE-backed companies and turnarounds. I have sat on every side of the table, so I understand how the whole organization moves, not just the seat you are in.

I am also a certified coach, trained, with a BS in Psychology, Summa Cum Laude, a CMHC master’s underway, ICF and CEC certifications, and co-author of Business Breakthrough 3.0, an Amazon bestseller. Since 2020 I have coached hundreds of executives and founders. We can work on the operating plan and the person carrying it in the same hour.

Discovery call. Forty-five minutes on video, no pitch: what is actually going on, and whether I am the right person for it.

Calibration. We agree what success looks like and how we will both know, before the work starts; when the company is paying, its goals are agreed up front and in writing. Most seats do not need a 360 or stakeholder interviews before we start; when one would help, we run it first. Otherwise the calls start.

Standing calls. Weekly while needed, then the cadence we agree in calibration, usually every other week or monthly, on video or in person. At ninety days we review against the calibration goals and reset the cadence.

Access between calls. The hard things do not wait for the calendar. More on the approach on the executive coaching page, and on choosing any coach in six questions to ask.

What does a COO coach do?

A COO coach works one on one with a chief operating officer on the parts of the seat an operating playbook does not cover: the mandate, the CEO relationship, the leadership team and the road beyond the seat. The best ones have held it. I was COO of a VC-backed turnaround through its merger with FireHydrant.

Why would a COO need an executive coach?

Because most COOs are new to the seat and the clock is short. More than 85% of COOs appointed in 2025 were first-time COOs, and average COO tenure since 2019 is about 3.2 years. A coach who has held the seat shortens the learning curve.

What should a new COO do in the first 90 days?

Find out where the cash goes and which job you were actually hired to do, because the COO role has at least seven versions. Agree decision rights and success measures with the CEO in writing, learn the business from the front line, and fix one visible operating problem before you redesign anything.

What happens in the first 90 days of coaching, and what does my CEO see?

A discovery call, then calibration: what success looks like, how we will both know, and, when the company is paying, the goals it has agreed in writing. Standing calls run weekly while needed, then the cadence we agree, usually every other week or monthly, with access between calls when the hard thing does not wait. At ninety days we review against the calibration goals and reset the cadence. The calibration goals, the cadence and the ninety-day review are what the sponsor sees; the content of the calls stays between us.

When should a COO start with a coach, and is six months in too late?

When the trigger is a new seat, the best time is before it changes hands or in the first ninety days, while the decision rights with the CEO are still being set; six months in is not too late, because by then the mandate is clearer and the pattern that needs to change has shown itself. When the trigger is the company outgrowing the operating model, the time is when you notice it, not the quarter after. Either way we begin with the discovery call and calibration, and the cadence is set to where you are.

How do you build a strong CEO and COO relationship?

On trust and explicit decision rights: which calls are yours, which stay with the CEO, and how you disagree in private and align in public. Research on the role puts that relationship at the center of whether a COO succeeds. I have been on both sides of it.

What is the difference between a CEO and a COO?

The CEO owns direction, capital, the board and the final call. The COO owns turning that direction into results across the company, and in practice the job is whatever the CEO needs most, which is why the role looks different in every company.

Is the COO job stressful?

It can be, for a structural reason: the COO carries the execution of a strategy set by the CEO, usually through a transformation, on a short clock. Average COO tenure since 2019 is about 3.2 years. The stress drops when the mandate and decision rights are explicit, which is most of what the first 90 days are for.

Can a COO be promoted to CEO?

Yes, and it is the most common route: COOs and presidents were 48% of new S&P 1500 CEOs in 2025. The move goes best when it is prepared on purpose, with P&L ownership, time in front of the board and investors, and practice at the decisions only a CEO makes.

Who is the best COO coach?

The one who has held the version of the COO seat you hold, and can prove it with the company, the mandate and the numbers. Google's own answer to how to choose one and the guides that rank on it use the same test: executive experience scaling operations, a clear method with a way to measure progress, an ICF credential as table stakes, and a first call where they challenge you. For a COO in a turnaround, that is the seat I held at Blameless, with the CEO seat above it at Interland, and I am ICF and CEC certified. The seven tests, with what to ask and what to listen for, are in my guide to how to find the best COO coach.

Will you push back?

Yes, where a mentor would nod. The one objective I hold is the goal you named in calibration, so when a plan, a hire or a decision-rights call does not square with it I say so, in the room, with my reasoning. You still own the decision, and so does your CEO.

Who pays for COO coaching, and what does it cost?

At this level the company usually pays, because it is investing in a leader it intends to keep. The price depends on cadence, length and whether the work is in person; the market ranges are in my guide to what executive coaching costs, and you get a scope and a number on the discovery call. Month to month; most engagements run three to six months, and some run longer. If the company pays, it sees the cadence and progress against the goals we set in calibration, not the content of the sessions: what is said in a session stays in the session.

Why do new COOs struggle?

Usually because the role was never defined. The COO seat has at least seven versions, and most COOs are doing it for the first time, promoted from inside. When the mandate, the decision rights and the measures are unwritten, a strong operator becomes reactive instead of strategic.

Do you coach EOS Integrators?

Yes. An Integrator working with a Visionary founder holds the same seat as a COO under a different name: turning the founder's vision into an operating rhythm and holding the leadership team to it. The relationship with the founder is the job. The founder’s side of that pairing is on the founder coach page.

Is COO coaching the same as hiring a fractional COO?

No. Coaching develops the COO you have, or the one you are becoming. If what you need is someone to own the outcome for a period, that is a different engagement, and it is the Drive level of my strategy consulting.

I am a CEO. Should I get my COO a coach?

Yes, if your COO is new to the seat or the decision rights between you are still unwritten. That is why most COO coaching is paid for by the company. I have been the CEO in that relationship, so the coaching keeps your side of it in view.

Do you coach COOs remotely?

Yes. Standing calls run on video with COOs anywhere, and I work in person when the engagement calls for it. I am based in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Tell me about your seat.

A short note is enough: where you sit, and what is on your desk. The CEO, the mandate, the turnaround. I read every note myself. If you would rather talk, book a discovery call.

Or reach me directly:
(629) 304-8755
ken@kengavranovic.com