Ep. 440 - Pay As You Go COO Founder and Fractional COO, Milly Barker

Second in Command: The Chief Behind the Chief

Second in Command with Cameron Herold

Entrepreneurship, Business, Management, Careers

4.5 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

During the conversation, Cameron and Milly dive into the intricate balance of leadership, strategy, and adaptability required to navigate the fast-evolving landscape of modern business.

You'll find a fresh perspective on how dynamic roles can bring order to chaos while preserving the creative spark essential for growth. Through candid insights, Milly shares her approach to designing flexible yet effective systems that allow companies to flourish during critical early stages.

They also explore the delicate interplay between innovation and structure in growing organizations. How much is too much when it comes to planning? How do leaders strike a balance between guiding their teams and fostering autonomy?

Milly also reflects on her unique career path, revealing how unconventional choices shaped their ability to lead and problem-solve. With a focus on people, purpose, and long-term sustainability, she shares how her experiences in philosophy, communication, and creative thinking helped build a foundation for success.

If you've enjoyed this episode of the Second in Command podcast, be sure to leave a review and subscribe today!

Enjoy!

In This Episode You'll Learn:

Milly's role at the London School of Economics and Imperial College London, focusing on entrepreneurship and commercializing IP. (3:11)
The importance of finding something that is both a strength and a passion to productize. (5:39)
The balance between offering cost-effective solutions and delivering value to clients. (16:28)
How Milly matches clients with the right fractional COOs based on experience and personality. (19:24)
And much more...

Resources:

Connect with Milly: Website | LinkedIn

Connect with Cameron: Website | LinkedIn

Get Cameron’s latest book "Second in Command: Unleash the Power of your COO"

Get Cameron’s online course – Invest In Your Leaders

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Cameron Harold, the host of the Second Command podcast. Before we dive in, there's something you need to know.
0:05.5	If you're a C-O-O-V-P operations or you're in any role where you're the second-in-command to the CEO,
0:12.1	the C-O Alliance is the place for you. If you're the integrator to the visionary, you're going to want to join us.
0:18.4	The C-O Alliance is the world's leading community for the second command.
0:22.4	We've had over 500 members like you join from 17 countries to grow their skills,
0:27.6	connections, and confidence.
0:29.1	You'll get the tools, friendships, and a 10x guarantee to ensure that you get your
0:33.6	money's worth.
0:34.6	Go to COOalliance.com to learn more and see if you qualify. You can even
0:39.4	book a free call with our team to ask questions. Now let's jump into this week's episode.
0:44.1	So fractional COO for me via pay-as-go COO was an opportunity to work with a different range of
0:49.7	businesses than I had been working with when I was working either as a full-time or an interim COO.
0:54.8	I feel like if you are, and my experience is very much in the UK, so this is where my bias comes
1:00.2	from. But I feel like in my experience, if you're able to raise enough money to be able to afford
1:05.2	an early stage COO at the earliest stage of your company growth, and I'm very passionate about
1:09.8	that pre-seed through to maybe the end of Series A stage. If you've raised enough money to be able to afford
1:15.3	a full-time COO, you probably have quite a narrow set of demographics in the UK. A lot of funding
1:20.2	goes to a set group of people. But then also, you know, a lot of businesses aren't suitable for funding.
1:25.5	A lot of businesses, service businesses,
1:27.6	for example, are better being bootstrapped than they ever are for funding. But for me,
1:32.3	wanting to work with a more diverse range of founders was what drove me to want to set up this
1:36.7	business. So I see being a fractional COO is really no different to being a full-time CEO. It's just
	...

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