COO in Practice
COO in Practice
A six-week live online masterclass
Become the leader who can run the business.
Learn how to decide which fires matter, get strong personalities moving together, and handle decisions you can’t discuss openly. I’ll take you inside my experience as a three-time COO and help you sharpen your judgment and prepare for your next level of responsibility.
For aspiring COOs and current COOs ready to develop further.
- Live online
- One theme a week for six weeks
- Small group
- Founding cohort $2,995
The course
I wish I’d had.
I’ve been a COO at early-stage, mid-stage, and public companies. Much of what I learned came through mistakes and difficult decisions.
I’ll take you inside that work: what I saw, what I missed, how I made the call, and what happened afterward.
Three-time COO
Six weeks
inside the role.
Learn the essentials, work through difficult decisions, and connect each lesson to your own development.
WEEK 1Why do you want this?
Understand your motivation, the responsibility, and the kind of COO role that fits you.
What we’ll cover
- What attracts you to the role and what you want from it.
- Which parts of the work energize you, and which may challenge you.
- What a COO owns versus the CEO and functional leaders.
- How the role changes by company stage and CEO.
- Which kind of COO role fits your goals.
- Where your experience prepares you, and where you need more exposure.
The situation
You’re offered a COO role. The CEO wants you to “run operations,” but nobody agrees on what that means. What do you need to understand before accepting the responsibility?Your development
Define the responsibility you want, why you want it, and your initial strengths and gaps.For current COOs
Examine why you took the role, how it has evolved, and what you want your next stage to look like.WEEK 2Decide what matters.
Diagnose the business, understand the numbers, and choose which fires need attention.
What we’ll cover
- Business models, economics, cash, and financial statements.
- Understanding the strategy and testing its assumptions.
- Using KPIs without being misled by them.
- Separating symptoms from their causes.
- Deciding which fires need your attention and which can wait.
- Allocating people, money, and attention across competing priorities.
The situation
A major customer is escalating, a team is missing its targets, and the CEO wants a new initiative started immediately. You cannot do everything. What do you investigate, what gets resources, and what do you stop?Your development
Build a business diagnosis and defend a priority decision using evidence and explicit tradeoffs.WEEK 3Get people moving.
Turn strategy into execution when ownership, incentives, and personalities collide.
What we’ll cover
- Translating strategy into priorities, owners, milestones, and measures.
- Establishing decision rights and accountability.
- Building meetings and an operating cadence that surface problems.
- Understanding the incentives behind resistance.
- Handling strong personalities and disagreement.
- Knowing when to influence, intervene, or use authority.
The situation
Two executives each have a defensible position. Their disagreement is blocking something the business needs, and neither reports to you. How do you get the decision made and the work moving?Your development
Build an execution plan that addresses ownership, dependencies, resistance, and stalled decisions.WEEK 4Partner with the CEO.
Establish trust, clarify authority, and handle disagreement and changing priorities.
What we’ll cover
- Understanding what the CEO needs from you.
- Clarifying expectations, responsibilities, and decision rights.
- Raising concerns and making disagreement productive.
- Responding to changing priorities.
- Deciding what needs the CEO’s attention and what you should resolve.
- Recognizing when the partnership or role is a poor fit.
The situation
The CEO commits the company to something you believe it cannot deliver. The team looks to you to make it happen. What do you say privately, what do you say publicly, and what happens next?Your development
Prepare an approach to establishing the partnership and navigating a difficult conversation.WEEK 5Lead through difficult decisions.
Work through organizational change, confidential information, and the consequences for your team.
What we’ll cover
- Assessing whether the organization has the right roles, capabilities, and capacity.
- Handling performance problems and difficult personnel decisions.
- Preparing with the CEO, People team, and other advisers.
- Communicating within the limits of what you can disclose.
- Avoiding promises you may not be able to keep.
- Leading through change and rebuilding clarity and trust afterward.
The situation
The board has mandated a workforce reduction. Before it is announced, your team asks about the company’s future. Afterward, the remaining team is unsettled and the work still needs to get done. How do you handle each stage?Your development
Build a decision and communication plan for a difficult organizational change, including where you need advice and support.WEEK 6Build your path.
Identify the experience you need for your first COO role, broader responsibility, or a different company stage, and demonstrate your readiness.
What we’ll cover
- Reassessing the gaps identified in week one.
- Seeking experiences that build judgment and readiness.
- Demonstrating business impact and explaining your contribution.
- Evaluating opportunities: the CEO, mandate, authority, and company stage.
- Recognizing when a title comes with responsibility you cannot effectively exercise.
- For current COOs, preparing for broader responsibility or a different company stage.
The situation
A CEO asks, “Why are you ready to help run this business?” How do you answer with evidence? What do you need to ask them to determine whether this is the right opportunity?Your development
Leave with a development and positioning plan, plus a clear explanation of the responsibility you’re ready to take on and the experience you need next.Someone asks in the all-hands
“Should we be worried about our jobs?”
What do you say? What do you avoid promising?
Who’s pulling up
a chair?
I’ll draw on my network to invite leaders around what the cohort wants to learn. Your application helps shape the invitations.
Examples of the kinds of executives who might join: a public company COO, a product leader at an AI company, a Series D CFO, a CEO who has worked with several COOs, and other operators. The chairs on this page rotate through example profiles; none are confirmed speakers.
The COO
Public consumer packaged goods company
The product leader
AI company
The CFO
Series D business
The CEO
Has worked with several COOs
Or someone else entirely.
Who gets invited depends on what the cohort wants to learn.
Illustrative profiles. Guests to be announced.
Learn it. Make the call.
Compare approaches.
Six weekly themes, taught live on video over six consecutive weeks. Each week has up to four one-hour sessions, Tuesday to Friday (proposed), and every session is recorded. Structured teaching, practical decisions, and a small peer group you can continue learning alongside.
One week, proposed
- Tuesday ProposedLessonThe concepts and decisions behind the week’s theme.
- Wednesday ProposedRoundtableWork through scenarios and questions with your peers.
- Thursday ProposedOffice hoursTest your thinking and apply the material to your work.
- Friday ProposedGuest conversationExamine how another experienced leader approaches it.
The same rhythm repeats for six weeks. Sessions are one hour. Every session is recorded, and you don’t need to attend all four live. Final days and frequency will be confirmed before enrollment.
Before you pull up
a chair.
Do I need to be a COO already?
No. The course is for aspiring COOs and current COOs who want to develop further.
Is it online, and how is the time spread out?
Entirely online, live on video. The course runs six consecutive weeks with one theme per week and up to four one-hour sessions per week. Every session is recorded, so you don’t need to attend all of them live.
Is this a course or a coaching group?
A structured course. Each week has a theme, a lesson, and decisions to work through, with roundtables and office hours to connect it to your work.
Will this apply to my company?
We’ll examine how the role changes across company stages and operating environments. Your application tells me your context, so I can judge fit.
Will this get me a COO job?
No course can promise a COO title. This one gives you teaching, practice, feedback, and a deliberate plan for preparing for the responsibility.
When does it start?
Dates and the final schedule are being finalized. You’ll receive them, with the detailed curriculum, before deciding whether to enroll.
Does applying commit me to anything?
No. Applying does not commit you to payment or guarantee a place.
Apply to
COO in Practice.
Tell me about your experience, goals, and what you want to learn. I’ll use your answers to assess fit and shape where we go deeper.
You’ll receive the detailed curriculum and final schedule before deciding whether to enroll.
I’m discounting it because this is the founding cohort. You’ll be helping me shape the course as we run it.
- Apply
- Review the details
- Decide whether to enroll
Applying does not commit you to payment or guarantee a place.
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