What startups should think about when hiring a COO
- 14 hours ago
- 4 min read
Hiring a Chief Operating Officer (COO) is something many startups find tricky. The position can be ambiguous, as it lacks a universally defined scope. In some companies, the COO runs internal operations. In others, they act as the CEO’s closest strategic partner, overseeing everything from execution to organisational scaling.
Yet, the right COO can be a game-changer; facilitating and accelerating scale-up by dramatically improving efficiencies, reducing costs, and removing the bottlenecks and barriers to growth.
It is a pivotal, impactful role - so what should startups think about before making this appointment?
Be clear about why you need a COO
The first question to ask is simple: What problem are we trying to solve by hiring a COO?
Often, this role emerges when the CEO becomes too thinly stretched across operational responsibilities. Alternatively, it can be triggered by a significant milestone or fundraising event that enables the startup to begin scaling at pace.
Other common triggers include:
Rapid team growth
Increasing organisational complexity
The need to improve execution and internal coordination
Expanding operations across multiple markets
The CEO wanting to focus more on product, fundraising, or external relationships
Whatever prompts the hire, a COO should solve a specific problem. Recruiting one simply because “every company has one” often leads to overlapping responsibilities with other leaders.
What does a startup COO do?
The position can vary significantly between companies. In some startups, the COO oversees:
Operations
HR and internal processes
Finance and legal functions
Internal systems and organisational efficiency
In others, the role may extend to:
Commercial/revenue operations
Product and pricing
Customer success
Strategy execution
International expansion
Because the role is so flexible, it is essential to define the scope before hiring to ensure the COO has a clear mandate.
Software vs hardware COOs
In software and SaaS companies, the COO often focuses on organisational alignment and execution across functions such as:
Go-to-market operations
Customer success and service delivery
Internal processes and systems
Scaling teams as the business grows
Operational complexity in software companies tends to come from rapid organisational growth and cross-functional coordination.
In hardware or deep-tech companies, however, the COO role can look quite different. Here, operational leadership often involves managing complex physical operations such as:
Supply chains and manufacturing partners
Hardware production and scaling
Logistics and distribution
Quality control and regulatory requirements
Because these companies must move from prototype to production, the COO may play a critical role in ensuring alignment across engineering, manufacturing, and commercial teams.
For startups building physical products, operational expertise in manufacturing and supply chain scaling can be just as important as organisational leadership.
Understanding these differences helps the company to hire a COO with the right experience for the challenges ahead.
Different stages require different types of COO
The stage of business also determines the type of COO required. Some common archetypes include:
The Operator
A hands-on leader who builds internal processes, systems and operational discipline – usually from scratch. This kind of COO is often valuable at an early stage, when companies are transitioning from startup chaos into a more structured entity.
The Execution Partner
A leader focused on turning strategy into action, ensuring projects are delivered and teams stay aligned. This type of COO is often found in fast-scaling companies where coordination across teams becomes critical.
The Scaling Specialist
An executive with experience helping companies grow from startup to large organisations. They focus on building leadership structures, operational frameworks and organisational processes that support long-term scale.
Understanding which type of COO the company needs is crucial to making the right hire.
The value of scaling experience
The most effective COOs bring experience from previous scaling journeys. They’ve seen:
How organisations evolve as they grow
Where operational bottlenecks typically emerge
How leadership structures need to change over time
This pattern recognition can help startups avoid common scaling problems. A great COO can be a multiplier for the rest of the leadership team, enabling faster and more reliable execution.
The CEO-COO relationship is critical
In many organisations, the COO effectively acts as the CEO’s operational counterpart. While the CEO focuses on vision, strategy, investors and external relationships, the COO ensures the company executes effectively.
This partnership requires strong alignment and trust.
If the relationship works well, the COO can significantly increase the company’s operational effectiveness. If it doesn’t, leadership tensions can quickly emerge.
Strong COOs are hard to find
The best operational leaders tend to be deeply embedded in successful organisations and committed to their companies’ growth journey. As such, it’s unlikely they will be actively looking for new opportunities.
Often, startups need to take a more proactive approach to finding and engaging this kind of talent. They also need to ensure they have a compelling proposition. Strong COO candidates are highly sought-after, so attracting them requires a combination of:
Meaningful leadership scope
Equity upside
The opportunity to shape the company’s growth
Trust from the CEO
Startups should avoid the temptation to hide any issues in the business. This is true of any hire, but especially so in this case. COOs are problem solvers, so giving them a clear understanding of where the company needs to improve will be important in gaining their interest.
Final thought
Hiring a COO is less about filling a standard role and more about solving a specific organisational challenge.
The right COO can help companies scale by improving execution, aligning teams and building the operational foundations for growth. But the key is clarity: understanding exactly what the company needs from the role before beginning the search.
If you’re thinking about appointing a COO, we’re always happy to share perspectives and insights from our work supporting startups and scaleups through these appointments.
Feel free to get in touch: contact@upscalepartners.com
