# Between Two COOs
> Between Two COOs is the podcast for operational leaders — COOs, Chiefs of Staff, and executives who run the business behind the business. Hosted by veteran COO Michael Koenig, the show features candid conversations with operators at companies from early-stage startups to $50B enterprises about execution, scaling, leadership, AI in operations, and what it really takes to run a company.

## About

- [Home](https://betweentwocoos.com/): All episodes, latest first
- [Blog](https://betweentwocoos.com/blog/): The Operator's Library — written essays and frameworks
- [About the host](https://betweentwocoos.com/about/): Michael Koenig's background and the show's mission
- [Subscribe](https://betweentwocoos.com/#/portal/signup): Weekly newsletter for operational leaders

## Listen

- [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/between-two-coos-with-michael-koenig/id1596195041)
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## Episodes (60, newest first)

- [Greg Keller, JumpCloud CTO on AI Agent Identity & Security](https://betweentwocoos.com/ai-agents-need-logins-too-identity-security-and-the-future-of-ai-greg-keller-cto/): Get 90 days of Fellow free at Fellow.ai/coo AI is moving fast. Most companies are focused on tools. The real challenge may be identity. In this episode o
- [Seth Levine of Foundry Group on Capital Evolution & AI](https://betweentwocoos.com/seth-levine-of-foundry-group-on-capital-evolution-ai-and-the-future-of-company-l/): Foundry Group's Seth Levine on capital evolution, AI's impact on company leadership, the changing economy, and what it means for operators running companies today.
- [Brad Feld on Emotional Operating Systems & Giving First](https://betweentwocoos.com/brad-feld-on-the-emotional-operating-system-of-great-leaders-and-giving-first/): Brad Feld, co-founder of Techstars and Foundry Group, joins Michael to unpack the philosophy behind his book Give First—but this isn’t a standard VC retros
- [Peter Dougherty, Spreedly President on AI, Fraud & Commerce](https://betweentwocoos.com/ai-fraud-and-the-next-era-of-commerce-with-peter-dougherty-president-of-spreedly/): Peter Dougherty, President of Spreedly, breaks down how payments are changing, why “open payments” is the new orchestration, and how AI and agentic systems
- [Harris Clarke, GuideCX COO on Building Trust & Systems](https://betweentwocoos.com/the-power-of-calm-guidecx-coo-harris-clarke-on-building-trust-and-systems-that-h/): Harris Clarke, COO at GuideCX, joins Michael to unpack what it means to lead when everything feels like it’s shifting under your feet. From learning precis
- [Anna Elwood, Cascade COO on Turning Chaos Into Clarity](https://betweentwocoos.com/the-coo-who-turns-chaos-into-clarity-anna-elwood-of-cascade/): From Zocdoc to Cascade, COO Anna Elwood breaks down the systems, rhythms, and AI tools that turn chaos into execution. In this episode of Between Two COOs
- [Lance Willett, Automattic CQO on Powering 45% of the Web](https://betweentwocoos.com/automattic-chief-quality-officer-lance-willett-on-what-it-takes-to-power-45-of-t/): Try Fellow's AI Meeting Copilot - 90 days FREE - fellow.app/coo In this episode, Michael Koenig sits down with longtime friend and colleague Lance Willett
- [Linda Tong, Webflow CEO on Running Ops with AI at Scale](https://betweentwocoos.com/linda-tong-webflow-ceo-on-the-new-web-ai-powered-ops-and-how-they-run-webflow/): Webflow CEO Linda Tong on the new web, AI-powered operations, product thinking, and how they run a 300,000-website visual development platform.
- [Doug Hanna, Kustomer COO on Agentic AI & Modern Ops Teams](https://betweentwocoos.com/kustomer-coo-president-doug-hanna-on-building-agentic-ai-running-sales-and-struc/): Get 90 days of Fellow's AI meeting assistant at fellow.app/coo Doug Hanna, President & COO of Kustomer (acquired by Meta), returns to the pod for Episode
- [Brad Rosen, Sales Assembly President on RevOps & Growth](https://betweentwocoos.com/sales-assembly-president-brad-rosen-on-unlocking-growth-and-why-revops-is-critic/): In this episode of Between Two COOs, Brad Rosen, President at Sales Assembly, takes us deep into the world of Revenue Operations (RevOps)—a critical functi
- [Aydin Mirzaee, Fellow CEO on Pivoting Meetings to AI](https://betweentwocoos.com/the-bold-pivot-from-meetings-to-ai-with-aydin-mirzaee-ceo-of-fellow/): Try Fellow's AI Meeting Copilot - 90 days FREE - fellow.app/coo In this episode, Aydin Mirzaee, CEO and founder of Fellow, returns to discuss Fellow’s dra
- [Flick Fisher on the EU AI Act & Its Impact on US Companies](https://betweentwocoos.com/ai-and-privacy-navigating-the-eus-new-ai-act-the-impact-on-us-companies-with-fli/): Try Fellow's AI Meeting Copilot - 90 days FREE - fellow.app/coo In this insightful episode, Flick Fisher delves deep into the newly enacted European Union
- [Cut Your SaaS Costs: COO Justin Etkin on Smarter Procurement](https://betweentwocoos.com/cut-your-saas-costs-coo-justin-etkin-on-smarter-procurement/): In this episode of Between Two COOs, Michael Koenig sits down with Justin Etkin, COO of Tropic.io, to discuss how procurement has evolved into a strategic
- [Evan Grossman, True Search MD on Landing a C-Suite Role](https://betweentwocoos.com/true-search-managing-director-evan-grossman-on-how-to-land-your-next-c-suite-rol/): In this episode of Between Two COOs, Michael Koenig interviews Evan Grossman, partner and head of the CEO and board practice at True Search, one of the wor
- [Jon Mark, Vestwell COO on Strategy at Multi-Billion Scale](https://betweentwocoos.com/vestwell-coo-jon-mark-on-applying-strategy-and-tactics-to-build-a-multi-billion/): In this insightful episode of Between Two COOs, host Michael Koenig sits down with Jon Mark, the COO of Vestwell, a trailblazing digital platform revolutio
- [Valentin Gruber, HomeToGo COO on M&A & Going Public](https://betweentwocoos.com/hometogo-coo-valentin-gruber-talks-m-a-strategic-planning-and-taking-the-multi-b/): In this episode of 'Between Two COOs,' host Michael Koenig interviews Valentin Gruber, COO of Home2Go. The conversation covers Home2Go's history, its publi
- [Stacey Ryan, School of Rock COO on Crisis Leadership](https://betweentwocoos.com/school-of-rock-coo-stacey-ryan-on-navigating-crises-change-leadership-and-empowe/): Empowering Leadership and Innovation with Stacey Ryan of School of Rock In this episode of Between Two COOs, host Michael Koenig interviews Stacey Ryan, t
- [Aydin Mirzaee, Fellow CEO on Mastering AI Productivity](https://betweentwocoos.com/fellow-ceo-aydin-mirzaee-on-mastering-productivity-and-efficiency-with-ai/): In an insightful episode of 'Between Two COOs,' host Michael Koenig converses with Aidan Mirzaee, the founder and CEO of Fellow, about the art and science
- [Cameron Herold of COO Alliance on Second in Command](https://betweentwocoos.com/cameron-herold-of-coo-alliance-and-1-800-got-junk-on-how-to-delegate-lead-fix-pr/): Join me, Michael Koenig, on a journey with business guru Cameron Harold, as we celebrate his latest literary achievement, "The Second In Command." Listen i
- [EU vs AI: Flick Fisher on the Legal Opinion for US Companies](https://betweentwocoos.com/eu-vs-ai-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-eus-ai-act-the-legal-opinion-with-flick/): How you need to plan for the AI Act? What is permissible and isn’t? How the EU will regulate AI? What constitutes AI? Could the EU's new AI Act be the corn
- [Greg Strickland, Productboard COO on SMB to Enterprise](https://betweentwocoos.com/productboard-coo-greg-strickland-on-how-to-balance-growth-and-innovation-collect/): Join us as Greg Strickland, COO of Productboard, and I explore the power of embracing new opportunities and the crucial balance between business outcomes a
- [Tao of GetYourGuide on Building a $2B Travel Giant](https://betweentwocoos.com/get-your-guide-coo-tao-on-building-a-2-billion-dollar-travel-experience-giant/): Unpack the transformation of travel experiences with me, Michael Koenig, as Tao Tao, COO of GetYourGuide, reveals the secrets behind turning a dorm-room sta
- [Allan Christensen, Doist COO on Remote Ops & Hiring](https://betweentwocoos.com/doist-coo-allan-christensen-on-remote-ops-perfecting-hiring-designing-ops-for-ca/): Are you ready for a deep dive into the world of remote work, productivity, and leadership? Let us whisk you away on a journey with our special guest, Alan
- [Dan Siroker of Rewind.ai & Optimizely on AI & Memory](https://betweentwocoos.com/rewind-ai-optimizely-ceo-founder-dan-siroker-on-augmenting-human-memory-with-ai/): We're thrilled to welcome Dan Siroker, co-founder and CEO of Rewind, and former CEO and co-founder of Optimizely, to Between Two COOs! This episode centers
- [Kate Henningsen, Arcadia COO on Clean Tech & Energy](https://betweentwocoos.com/arcadia-coo-kate-hennigsen-on-clean-tech-and-disrupting-the-energy-market-non-tr/): The compelling Kate Henningsen, co-founder and COO of Arcadia Power, joins us for a deep dive into the revolutionary world of clean tech and the disruption
- [Darren Murph, Fmr GitLab VP Remote on Remote Operations](https://betweentwocoos.com/perfecting-remote-work-operations-with-darren-murph-fmr-gitlab-vp-remote/): We're thrilled to present a fascinating conversation with Daren Murph, acknowledged as the Oracle of Remote Work by none other than CNBC. Prepare for a dee
- [Nitin Gupta, Prisma COO on Open Source & Hackathons](https://betweentwocoos.com/prisma-coo-nitin-gupta-explains-tech-to-my-mom-operationalizing-hackathons-the-b/): Prisma COO Nitin Gupta joins to explain Prisma to my mom, how Prisma University educates internally, and technical team members share knowledge. He discuss
- [Shanaz Hemmati, ZenBusiness COO on Building $1.7B Co.](https://betweentwocoos.com/zenbusiness-coo-shanaz-hemmati-on-building-a-1-7b-company-that-thrives-in-both-u/): Shanaz Hemmati is the co-founder and COO of ZenBusiness, a company that makes it simple for people to start their businesses and run their G&A. We chat abo
- [Munish Gandhi, Productiv COO on AI for SaaS Cost Cuts](https://betweentwocoos.com/productiv-coo-munish-gandhi-on-harnessing-ai-for-streamlining-contract-renewals/): What if you could get a hold on your SaaS governance and optimize how you manage your applications with AI? That's exactly what we're exploring in our rive
- [Allen Narcisse, Gigs CEO on Labor Markets & AI Jobs](https://betweentwocoos.com/former-workrise-coo-and-current-ceo-of-gigs-allen-narcisse-on-transforming-the-l/): Ever wondered what it takes to thrive in the gig economy arena? Hold on to your seats as we discuss the intricate world of the gig economy with none other
- [Tobias Peggs, Square Roots CEO on Urban Indoor Farming](https://betweentwocoos.com/embracing-the-future-of-food-the-rise-of-sustainable-indoor-urban-farming-with-s/): Discover how indoor urban farming changes how we grow and consume food in our captivating conversation with Tobias Peggs, co-founder and CEO of Square Root
- [Stephan Jacob, Cotopaxi COO on $100M Brand Building](https://betweentwocoos.com/cotopaxi-coo-cofounder-stephan-jacob-on-getting-to-100m-in-revenue-brand-buildin/): Stephan Jacob, Co-founder and COO of Cotopaxi, joins Michael to talk about building an impact-driven business to $100M in revenue, how sustainability drive
- [Woody Hartman, Lime COO on Micromobility & Scaling Lyft](https://betweentwocoos.com/lime-coo-woody-hartman-on-micromobility-helping-lyft-grow-from-100k-to-3b-in-rev/): Woody Hartman, COO of Lime and former VP of Global Operations at Lyft sits down with Michael to talk about the challenges in scaling a micromobility compan
- [Flick Fisher on Data Privacy & GDPR at Fieldfisher](https://betweentwocoos.com/data-privacy-gdpr-with-flick-fisher-partner-at-fieldfisher/): This week on B2COO’s, lawyer, data privacy expert, and Partner at Fieldfisher’s Technology and Data Group, Felicity “Flick” Fisher joins Michael to dive de
- [Holger Seim, Blinkist CEO on 21M Users & the 4-Day Workweek](https://betweentwocoos.com/blinkist-co-founder-ceo-holger-seim-on-growing-to-21m-users-optimizing-your-info/): Holger Seim, co-founder and CEO of Blinkist, speaks with Michael about how Blinkist emerged out of shifting consumption patterns, geographic expansion out
- [Diego Camberos, Vodafone Qatar COO on 5G & World Cup Prep](https://betweentwocoos.com/vodafone-qatar-coo-diego-camberos-on-prepping-for-1-4m-world-cup-visitors-rollin/): Diego Camberos, COO of Vodafone Qatar and former CEO of Tigo Millicom Senegal and Rwanda, joins Michael to share insight into navigating cultural differenc
- [Cameron Herold on Founding COO Alliance & Antarctica](https://betweentwocoos.com/silent-discos-with-penguins-in-antarctica-founder-of-the-coo-alliance-and-former/): Cameron Herold, Founder of the COO Alliance and former COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, talks to Michael about building a successful company culture, effective proce
- [Cathy Hawley on Building Great Company Culture](https://betweentwocoos.com/return-path-chief-people-officer-co-author-of-startup-cxo-bolster-co-founder-cat/): Cathy Hawley, former Chief People Officer of Return Path and Co-Founder of Bolster, sits down with Michael to discuss the importance of intentionality and
- [Dale Pfeifer, Goodworld CEO on Social Impact & CSR](https://betweentwocoos.com/goodworld-ceo-dale-pfeifer-on-scaling-social-impact-via-tech-mastercard-citi-bla/): Dale Pfeifer, CEO of Goodworld, chats on scaling social impact through tech, the evolution of CSR (corporate social responsibility) from consumer targeted
- [Jenny Lawton on Makerbot's $400M Exit & Techstars Ops](https://betweentwocoos.com/bolster-evp-fmr-makerbot-ceo-techstars-coo-cio-jenny-lawton-on-makerbots-400m-ex/): Jenny Lawton knows how to run businesses. Period. From her role as CEO of Makerbot, democratizing 3D printing (and exiting for $400M), to being COO of Litt
- [Jonathan Stull on Building a $3.5B Marketplace at Handshake](https://betweentwocoos.com/handshake-coo-jonathan-stull-on-democratizing-access-to-opportunity-the-journey/): Handshake COO Jonathan Stull on building a three-sided marketplace, the journey to $100M ARR & $3.5B valuation, global expansion, and hiring specialists.
- [Cyrus Mistry, GoGuardian COO on Google to Startup Jump](https://betweentwocoos.com/goguardian-coo-cyrus-mistry-on-joining-at-the-same-time-as-200m-in-new-funding-s/): GoGuardian COO, Cyrus Mistry, spent 14 years at Google as the Director of Product Management for Chromebooks bringing computers to schools, before joining
- [Art Harding, People.ai COO on Operating Leadership](https://betweentwocoos.com/people-ai-coo-art-harding-on-supporting-ukrainian-team-members-e2t-driving-effic/): Art Harding is the COO at People.ai, and joins to share how People.ai has supported their Ukrainian team members, how coaching is inspiring for the right t
- [Angela Tucci, Uplight COO on $1.5B Valuation & B Corps](https://betweentwocoos.com/uplight-coo-fmr-symantec-cso-angela-tucci-on-reaching-a-1-5b-valuation-in-3-year/): Angela Tucci, COO at Uplight, joins to talk about running a $1.5B company created from the M&A of 6 companies, advocating for voice & equity for women in t
- [Ken Weary, Hotjar COO on Remote-First Culture & M&A](https://betweentwocoos.com/hotjar-coo-ken-weary-on-remote-first-with-220-employees-creating-remote-culture/): Ken Weary is the COO of Hotjar and joins to chat on running a fully remote 200 person company, being a digital nomad traveling for over 7 years as a COO wi
- [Steve Taylor on Lyft's Pink Mustaches & a $20B IPO](https://betweentwocoos.com/from-the-white-house-to-a-20b-ipo-hiptrain-coo-fmr-lyft-exec-steve-taylor-on-man/): Former Lyft executive, Steve Taylor, joins to talk about Lyft's growth from early days to $20B IPO, managing the NYC and DC Lyft markets with a $500M P&L,
- [Joe Meyer, ExecThread CEO on Landing Hidden Exec Roles](https://betweentwocoos.com/execthread-ceo-joe-meyer-on-accessing-hidden-exec-retained-searches-how-to-land/): Joe Meyer joins to discuss organic marketplace creation, how to overcome any challenge, exiting to Apple and AOL, and how to land your next exec role. on
- [Nathaniel Manning, Kettle COO on Climate Risk Insurance](https://betweentwocoos.com/kettle-coo-white-house-innovation-nathaniel-manning-on-balancing-risk-in-a-chang/): Kettle COO, Nathaniel Manning, talks about balancing risk in a changing climate, structure without bureaucracy, evolution by design, good decision making,
- [Dave Weiss, Hatch COO on Shark Tank & 2M IoT Devices](https://betweentwocoos.com/hatch-coo-dave-weiss-on-selling-2-million-iot-devices-cofounding-a-company-with/): Dave Weiss, co-founder, and COO of Hatch, joins us to discuss what it takes to confound a hardware company with his wife, sell 2 million IoT devices, the h
- [Valerie Hoecke, Dia&Co. COO on Growth to Survival Mode](https://betweentwocoos.com/valerie-hoecke-dia-co-coo-fmr-cdo-at-lvmh-on-how-a-50b-company-preps-you-for-any/): Dia&Co. COO and former LVMH Chief Digital Officer, Valerie Hoecke, joins to chat on how a $50B co. like LVMH preps you for anything, how Dia&Co. solves the
- [Catherine Stewart on Scaling Ops at Shippo & Automattic](https://betweentwocoos.com/part-1-catherine-stewart-on-scaling-operations-and-people-management-at-shippo-a/): Catherine Stewart, former COO at Shippo and former CBO at Automattic, joins us in part one of a special two-parter, to talk about the craft of scaling oper
- [Doug Hanna, Grafana Labs COO on GTM at $3B Scale (Pt 2)](https://betweentwocoos.com/part-2-grafana-labs-coo-doug-hanna-on-scaling-the-go-to-market-machine-of-a-3b-t/): Part 2 with Grafana Labs COO Doug Hanna: scaling the go-to-market machine of a $3B tech company. Sales orchestration, channel strategy, and pricing at scale.
- [Doug Hanna, Grafana Labs COO on Open Source at $3B (Pt 1)](https://betweentwocoos.com/part-1-grafana-labs-coo-doug-hanna-on-building-a-3b-company-with-open-source-sca/): Part 1 with Grafana Labs COO Doug Hanna: building a $3B company with open source, scaling culture, and going from 70 to 500 people. Lessons on engineering-led growth.
- [Micah Rosenbloom on COO to VC at Founder Collective](https://betweentwocoos.com/micah-rosenbloom-founder-collective-managing-partner-former-brontes-coo-on-build/): Before Micah Rosenbloom was a venture capitalist, he was the co-founder and COO of Brontes Technologies, which he sold to 3M. Micah and his business partne
- [Marie Prokopets, Nira COO on Pivoting Search to Security](https://betweentwocoos.com/nira-coo-marie-prokopets-on-pivoting-from-search-to-security-context-switching-b/): Marie Prokopets, COO at Nira, on pivoting her company from search to security, the operational reality of context-switching across product priorities, balancing…
- [Justin Reilly, Tucows CPO on Product Design & Operations](https://betweentwocoos.com/tucows-chief-product-officer-justin-reilly-on-how-product-design-influences-oper/): Tucows (NDAQ: TCX) Chief Product Officer, Justin Reilly, joins as our first non-COO, and shares on your customer's best last experience, product designs in
- [Jim Stewart, True Ventures COO on Taking 4 Companies Public](https://betweentwocoos.com/true-ventures-coo-jim-stewart-on-taking-four-companies-public-venture-capital-fi/): True Ventures Chief Operating Officer, Jim Stewart, joins us to discuss what it's like to take four companies public, what goes into the operations to run
- [Allie Fleder, SimplyWise COO on Early-Stage COO Roles](https://betweentwocoos.com/allie-fleder-coo-at-simplywise-on-changing-industries-how-coo-roles-vary-remote/): Allie Fleder discusses changing industries, how COO roles change throughout the life stage of a company, the blood sweat, and tears (literally) that go int
- [Rich Wallach, Deepak Chopra Global COO on Uncertainty](https://betweentwocoos.com/deepak-chopra-global-coo-rich-wallach-on-synchrodestiny-managing-through-uncerta/): Rich Wallach, COO and CFO of Deepak Chopra's Chopra Global, joins us to discuss creating happiness and security for employees, maintaining focus on the lon
- [Introducing Between Two COO's](https://betweentwocoos.com/introducing-between-two-coos/): The pilot episode of Between Two COOs. Host Michael Koenig kicks off the podcast that's now 60+ conversations deep with operators from Google, LVMH, GitLab,…

## Blog

- [Allie Fleder on the COO Role at an Early-Stage Startup](https://betweentwocoos.com/blog/what-does-a-coo-do-early-stage-startup-allie-fleder/): What does a COO do at an early-stage startup? Allie Fleder, COO at SimplyWise, explains how COO roles vary, the CEO-COO relationship, and creating clarity amid ambiguity.

## Related

- [Helm](https://helmapp.ai/): Execution intelligence system. Tells leadership teams whether they are going to hit their goals, where execution is drifting, and what to do about it while there is still time. Built by Michael Koenig.