Vision gets the headlines. Execution runs the company.
Conversations with the operators behind the companies you know — with veteran COO host, Michael Koenig.
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AI Agents Need Logins Too: Identity, Security, and the Future of AI | Greg Keller, CTO, JumpCloud
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 of Between Two COOs, Michael Koenig sits down with Greg Keller, co-founder and CTO of JumpCloud, to explore why identity access management is beco
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Arcadia COO, Kate Hennigsen, on Clean Tech and Disrupting the Energy Market, Non-Traditional Backgrounds for Working in Tech (and Ops!), Energy Regulation, M&A, Board, Risk, and Cash Management, & the Power of a Well Written Cold Email
The compelling Kate Hemington, co-founder and COO of Arcadia Power, joins us for a deep dive into the revolutionary world of clean tech and the disruption of the energy market. Her unique insights, stemming from her academic background at the University of Oxford and experience in corporate litigati
Nov 21, 2023
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 deep dive into the critical operations of remote companies, with a spotlight on low context communication. In our discussion, we unpack the signific
Oct 17, 2023
Prisma COO, Nitin Gupta, explains tech to my mom, operationalizing hackathons, the balance of commercializing open-source, planning, and a team psychologist
Prisma COO Nitin Gupta joins to explain Prisma to my mom, how Prisma University educates internally, and technical team members share knowledge. He discusses operationalizing hackathons, remote team issues, all-hands meetings, organization structure, and open-sourcing processes. Learn how Prisma emp
Sep 26, 2023
ZenBusiness COO, Shanaz Hemmati, on building a $1.7B company that thrives in both up and down times, being a technical COO, growing HomeAway through M&A to IPO to more M&A with Expedia, and automating G&A with AI,
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 about how AI will automate G&A, building a $1.7B company that thrives in both up and down times, being a technical COO, and growing HomeAway throug
Sep 11, 2023
Productiv COO, Munish Gandhi on Harnessing AI for Streamlining Contract Renewals and Procurement, Optimizing SaaS Costs, Governance and Risk Management, SVB's Collapse, and more
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 riveting conversation with Munish Gandhi, co-founder and COO of Productiv. Munish's deep insights into SaaS portfolio governance and ways to rational
Aug 1, 2023
Former Workrise COO and current CEO of Gigs, Allen Narcisse on transforming the labor market, building Uber Eats, Lyft, and Gigs, and the impact of AI and automation on jobs
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 than Allen Narcisse, the former COO at Workrise and the brain behind Gigs. Together, we traverse his career landscape, from his initial venture,
Jul 18, 2023
Embracing the Future of Food: The Rise of Sustainable Indoor Urban Farming with Square Roots CEO Tobias Peggs
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 Roots. As climate change threatens traditional agriculture, innovative solutions like Square Roots are making their mark by bringing sustainable, loc
Jun 27, 2023
Cotopaxi COO & cofounder, Stephan Jacob on getting to $100M in revenue, brand building, supply chain, B Corps and ESG, and taking llamas on college campuses
Stephan Jacob, Co-founder and COO of Cotopaxi, joins Michael to talk about building an impact-driven business to $100M in revenue, how sustainability drives Cotopaxi’s product development, managing a CEO transition, the proliferation of certified B Corps, donating revenue to fight poverty in develop
May 2, 2023
Lime COO, Woody Hartman, on micromobility, helping Lyft grow from $100K to $3B in revenue, launching 24 markets in 24 hours, creating joy, how to coach, and summiting Everest
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 company, how Lime’s gained a competitive advantage over other players in the market, and why he chose to summit Mount Everest following his time at Lyf
Apr 10, 2023
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 deep into all things data privacy and GDPR, including: 🔒 what the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is and the impact it’s had upon
Jan 23, 2023
Blinkist Co-Founder & CEO Holger Seim on growing to 21M users, optimizing your information intake, geographic expansion, and experimenting with a 4-day workweek
Holger Seim, co-founder and CEO of Blinkist, speaks with Michael about how Blinkist emerged out of shifting consumption patterns, geographic expansion out of Germany, where the company may be headed, and how to stick to your long-term strategic vision while also incorporating responses to ongoing ch
Jan 16, 2023
Vodafone Qatar COO, Diego Camberos on prepping for 1.4M World Cup visitors, rolling out 5G across Qatar, life as a serial expat, being c-suite at a global juggernaut, and the benefits of radical simplification
Diego Camberos, COO of Vodafone Qatar and former CEO of Tigo Millicom Senegal and Rwanda, joins Michael to share insight into navigating cultural differences in different markets, how “radical simplification” has served as the bedrock of Vodafone’s success, and how to build a corporate culture that
Nov 7, 2022
Silent Discos with Penguins in Antarctica - Founder of the COO Alliance, and former 1-800-GOT-JUNK? COO, Cameron Herold opens up
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 process implementation, and what a strong relationship between a COO and CEO should look like. They also touch on how to attract “A” players to your t
Oct 27, 2022
Return Path Chief People Officer, Co-Author of Startup CxO, & Bolster Co-Founder, Cathy Hawley shares the secret ingredients to build a fantastic company culture
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 an agile mindset in building a remote company culture, how people operations grew out of traditional human resources, and why employers should fo
Oct 18, 2022
Goodworld CEO, Dale Pfeifer on scaling social impact via tech, Mastercard, Citi, & BlackRock's leadership in corporate social responsibility, pandemic's impact on accelerating CSR, pitching President Obama, & more
Dale Pfeifer, CEO of Goodworld, chats on scaling social impact through tech, the evolution of CSR (corporate social responsibility) from consumer targeted to greater corporate involvement, Mastercard, Citi, and BlackRock's leadership in CSR, the impact of the pandemic on accelerating CSR, the challe
Aug 2, 2022
Bolster EVP, fmr Makerbot CEO & Techstars COO&CIO, Jenny Lawton on Makerbot's $400M exit, running one of the world's most successful seed fund & accelerator, Montessori framework in business, her advice to my daughters & more
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 LittleBits (BB8's learning division), to running Techstars, one of the world's most prolific and successful seed funds and accelerators, Jenny has a
Jun 14, 2022
Handshake COO, Jonathan Stull on democratizing access to opportunity, the journey to $100M ARR & a $3.5B valuation, building a three-sided marketplace, timing, global expansion, adding independent board members, the move to hiring specialists, and more
Handshake COO, Jonathan Stull, joins to talk about the journey of building a three-sided marketplace to $100M ARR at a $3.5B valuation with over 500 employees. We touch on the role of COO at Handshake; Jonathan's path from waiting tables to Capital Hill to PE to tech; compromising on tactics but not
Jun 1, 2022
GoGuardian COO, Cyrus Mistry, on joining at the same time as $200M in new funding, switching from Google to a startup, how SaaS ops are different than Disney ops, bringing millions of bricked Chromebooks back to life from a cruise ship
GoGuardian COO, Cyrus Mistry, spent 14 years at Google as the Director of Product Management for Chromebooks bringing computers to schools, before joining GoGaurdian as COO right when they raised $200M in new funding from Tiger Global Management. Cyrus has a wealth of knowledge not only stemming fro
May 2, 2022
People.ai COO, Art Harding, on Supporting Ukrainian Team Members, E2T: Driving Efficiency, Effectiveness, & Transformation, Translating Chaos & Ambiguity into Structure, How Great Operating Leaders Think Like Project Managers, & More
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 to inspect performance and provide timely and meaningful feedback, the operational mandate of E2T: driving efficiency, effectiveness, and transfor
Apr 11, 2022
Uplight COO & fmr Symantec CSO, Angela Tucci on Reaching a $1.5B Valuation in 3 Years, Business as a Force for Good, B Corps, Reducing Carbon Emissions, Merging 6 Companies, and How Diversity Creates Safety
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 the workforce, finding an inspiring CEO, working with utility companies to reduce their carbon footprint, taking private equity vs. VC funding, in
Mar 17, 2022
Hotjar COO, Ken Weary on Remote-First with 220 Employees, Creating Remote Culture, Why Hybrid Work will Fail, Being a Digital Nomad Family, M&A and Doing Diligence on the Buyer
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 with a family, going through M&A and diligence on the buyer, always having a just cause as the "why" behind what you do, and BYOR, Bring Your Own R
Mar 9, 2022
From the White House to a $20B IPO, Hiptrain COO & fmr Lyft Exec, Steve Taylor, on Managing a $500M P&L, the Why Behind the Pink Mustaches, Making the Analog Digital, Global Labor Arbitrage, & 3 Exits
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, taking analog experiences and making them digital, and his latest work on HipTrain, an at-home fitness app that connects personal trainers with c
Mar 3, 2022
ExecThread CEO, Joe Meyer on Accessing Hidden Exec Retained Searches & How to Land Them, Exiting to Apple & AOL, Organic Supply/Demand Creation & Growth, the Motivation of Failure, & How to Overcome Any Challenge
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 Joe has been a successful start-up CEO and operating executive at high-growth tech companies including HopStop (acquired by Apple), Quigo (acqui
Feb 23, 2022
Kettle COO, & White House Innovation, Nathaniel Manning on Balancing Risk In A Changing Climate, Structure Without Bureaucracy, Evolution By Design, Good Decision Making, the Social Contract of Insurance, and Sitting on a Monastery Cushion for 3 Months
Kettle COO, Nathaniel Manning, talks about balancing risk in a changing climate, structure without bureaucracy, evolution by design, good decision making, the social contract of insurance, and sitting on a monastery cushion for 3 months. He also talks about old guard vs new guard, building the plane
Feb 15, 2022
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