Discover how to hire a COO in 8 steps to drive your business forward. Learn key hiring strategies and red flags to avoid to ensure a perfect fit.
Brian Kaplowitz
Senior Operations Leader. Helping companies organize, optimize, and scale.
I specialize in steering diverse organizations towards operational excellence.
My expertise spans operational management, strategic planning, business development, and cultivating high-performance teams.
I thrive as a strategic partner to leaders, enabling them to focus on what they do best and where they add the most value by managing areas they shouldn’t, can’t, or don’t have time for.
How I'm positioned to help:
- Strategic Operations & Process Optimization: Enhancing efficiency and effective…
Testimonials
Brian is an extremely influential and empathetic leader. When joining the team at Fueled, it was clear that the growth and planned potential of the company was intertwined with his leadership. Brian has a unique ability to manage the day to day while directing the company forward at a strategic level. One of his superpowers is his humility and trust in and from his team which created a safe environment for rigorous innovation that ultimately drove the success for the agency during his tenure.
Colleen Wolfson
Senior Account Manager, FueledBrian is an incredible and efficient operations master whom I have had the pleasure of working with for ten years. He is expert at creating process and organization inside of growing companies that lead to fast scaling and increasing margins.
Aaron Cohen
Director, StudioBrian came onboard our team during a tumultuous time, and within months had steadied the boat, and then charted us into new territories over the following years. Through his leadership, confidence was regained in the direction of the company, and talent blossomed through a highly empathetic approach in managing his staff. Under Brian's tutelage I've taken learnings from him into my own role of directing creative teams and aligning with business strategy. I couldn't recommend him highly enough.
Glenn Hitchcock
Lead Product Designer, Fueled"I wouldn't be the leader I am today without Brian; he showed me how to be an effective and compassionate manager. He steered the day-to-day operations of our business and ensured the leadership team was aligned and had the resources they needed to meet our business objectives. Brian also struck the right balance of empowering his direct reports while holding them accountable."
Julien Veneziano
Director of Android Engineering, Fueled
Work
Atomic Health
https://www.atomic.health/Challenges: The client, a boutique digital agency, was struggling with resource forecasting, project resourcing, and capacity planning. The existing process lacked consistency and data-driven insights, leaving the leadership team unable to make informed decisions about resource allocation, new projects, and hiring needs. While the project management tools were in place, they were underutilized by the team, complicating the alignment between project timelines and budgets, ultimately affecting profitability.
Action: We began by reviewing the agency’s operations, including their project management software, P&L, client contracts, and internal processes. Collaborating with leadership and key producers, we identified gaps in how resource data was tracked. We conducted training to ensure team alignment on tool usage, set up weekly resourcing meetings, and developed a comprehensive SOP for consistent and scalable project tracking and resource management, allowing for more structured decision-making.
Result: The agency’s leadership gained better visibility into resource availability, enabling them to make informed decisions about project resourcing, hiring, and client negotiations. The SOP provided a clear framework for future team members, and the regular resourcing meetings improved internal communication and operational efficiency. The team was better equipped to manage existing projects while planning for future growth.
High Tide
https://hightidenyc.com/High Tide is a full service creative studio. I engaged with them as their fractional COO for 6 months.
Challenges: the studio grappled with four key issues: 1) balancing service quality with rising work volume and team expansion, 2) absence of prompt reporting dashboards, impeding daily/weekly business performance insights and affecting crucial decisions like hiring, and 3) an impending operations lead exit with no transition plan.
Action: Engaged with stakeholders, previous clients, and key personnel to draft an assessment report encompassing: leadership, organizational layout, decision-making, talent, processes, and culture. Transitioned accountants for improved reporting (e.g., revenue recognition, receivables), devised operating budget and KPI dashboards, set meeting rhythms and ceremonies, delineated roles for a new MD position, eventually rendering my role redundant.
Results: My collaboration with the agency catalyzed transformative changes, marked by enhanced clarity, confidence, and team unity. Key achievements included improved service quality and team morale, operational advancements through real-time dashboards, a seamless leadership transition, and the profound growth of founders in trusting their instincts. These changes laid a foundation for sustained success, instilling a renewed sense of purpose and direction in both leadership and team.
Experience
Studio
Cofounder
May 2019 - Sep 2023
Studio helps startups and enterprise clients accelerate their product development plans with innovative strategy, beautiful design, world-class engineering, and product-led growth.
- Business Development & Growth: Spearheaded business development, achieving a 40% average annual revenue growth, culminating in $5M in 2022. Clients included venture-backed startups like Mustard and Gemini Sports Analytics as well as Fortune 500s like QVC.
- Partnership Development: Cultivated a robust partnership network, significantly enhancing growth opportunities and market presence.
- Financial Operations Optimization: Streamlined financial operations to achieve an annual EBITDA of $2M in 2022.
- Global Team Building: Led talent acquisition, expanding the team from 2 to 40 across multiple regions, leveraging global talent for enhanced capabilities and a more cost-efficient organizational structure.
Fueled
Managing Director
May 2014 - Sep 2018
Fueled is a technology consultancy that transforms businesses by generating ideas, building products, & accelerating growth.
- Revenue & Profit Growth: Oversaw agency operations, growing annual revenues and profits during my tenure from $6m to $15m and $1.2m to $5m, respectively. Clients included venture-backed startups and Fortune 500s alike.
- Strategic Talent Acquisition: Established an in-house talent acquisition team, reducing hiring time by 40% and saving over $100K in recruiting expenses.
- Decision-Making Enhancement: Transformed decision-making processes by establishing a structured organizational rhythm, streamlining leadership team ceremonies, and implementing real-time KPI reporting.
- Operational Efficiency & OKR Implementation: Implemented OKRs, aligning individual and organizational goals for enhanced performance.
- Employee Retention & Experience: Enhanced employee retention from 41% in 2014 to 85% in 2018 through strategic HR initiatives and employee experience programs.
Summit Series
Chief of Staff
Jan 2013 - Jan 2014
Summit designs experiences that connect, educate and inspire today's brightest leaders.
- Strategic Vision Execution: Collaborated with the founders to turn their vision into executable strategies.
- Organizational Structure Optimization: Managed all department heads, streamlined communication, and implemented a new organizational structure.
- Real Estate Project Success: Enabled the sale of $40 million worth of real estate for the acquisition of Powder Mountain.
- Financial Transparency Improvement: Developed financial reporting tools and budgets, leading to profitability in key events and increased financial transparency.
Liquidity Services
Senior Client Services Manager
Apr 2011 - Jan 2013
Liquidity Services (NASDAQ: LQDT) is a leading global surplus goods marketplace with completed sales of over $10 billion of surplus assets in over 600 product categories.
- Client Relationship Expansion: Initiated and managed relationships with key Fortune 500 clients, including Costco and Sam’s Club, leading to significant account expansion.
- Process Optimization for Client Value: Revamped the receiving process for returned items by integrating new data streams, which provided valuable information to buyers, making lots more attractive and increasing sales.
- Business Intelligence Enhancement: Developed comprehensive dashboards and reports, enhancing internal and client-facing data presentation, and improving decision-making.
- Strategic Client Onboarding: Led multiple client onboarding projects, including new technology integration and UAT planning.
- 3PL Partnership & Integration: Spearheaded integration with a 3PL partner, aligning their processes with ours and creating a real-time inventory visibility system.
- Client Revenue Impact: Increased a key client's bottom line by over $1 million through refined sales strategies.
- Note: Served as Sr. Channel Optimization Manager January 2010 - March 2011, Global Accounts Manager April 2007 - December 2009, and Global Accounts Specialist July 2006 - April 2007.
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