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Second in Command: The Chief Behind the Chief with Cameron Herold

Ep. 567 - Contractor Foreman COO Marcus Hantla - How Top COOs Overcome Vulnerable Moments

Second in Command: The Chief Behind the Chief with Cameron Herold

Second in Command with Cameron Herold

Entrepreneurship, Business, Management, Careers

4.9 • 224 Ratings

🗓️ 2 April 2026

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ever secretly wondered if success, early retirement, a big exit, and the CEO chair are as good as it looks? What if the “dream” of ownership leaves you restless, searching for meaning, and itching to build again?

This episode pulls back the curtain on the real journey: Marcus Hantla, a relentless builder who’s seen both sides, reveals the wild emotional highs of exits and the raw, daily grind of COO life inside Contractor Foreman, a fast-growing SMB construction SaaS. He and Sivana get blunt about AI hype, hands-dirty delegation, and the gut-check moments that test even the toughest operators.

The stakes: Stop winging it in your own career, team, or transformation or risk getting left behind. Listen now to confront the myths of growth, find new ways to thrive, and get the gritty, exclusive playbook you won’t hear in sanitized TED Talks.

Timestamped Highlights

03:41 – What no one warns you about early retirement and the uncomfortable truth about waking up “free.”

06:43 – How a random plumber changed Marcus’s entire career (on his very own porch).

09:10 – The COO/CEO “deciding dance” and why true empathy is a secret growth weapon.

14:40 – Real talk: Losing a debate with the CEO (and why not every “brilliant” idea should win).

17:25 – AI sales calls, live demos vs. real humans—what actually works right now.

20:55 – Is the “beautiful” user interface dead? Why the next SaaS war is about simplicity, not design.

26:14 – The dangerous side of AI consensus: Can chasing “truth” kill the next big breakthrough?

35:03 – The sobering math of executive gratitude (and the crisis no leadership manual covers).

About the Guest

Marcus Hantla is the COO of Contractor Foreman, a leading construction management software platform engineered for small and mid-market builders and contractors. With 25+ years in construction and tech—plus multiple exits—Marcus is renowned for his hands-on leadership and hard-won insights at the intersection of trades, SaaS, and rapid growth.

🔗 LinkedIn | Website

Mentioned Resources


About the Co-Host

Sivana Brewer is a Fractional COO for Remote Teams and former COO at Closers.io, where she helped scale the company to multiple eight figures and built over 500+ sales teams in just 2.5 years. She specializes in leadership development, remote operations, and systems that empower teams to grow sustainably.

🔗 Connect with Sivana on LinkedIn

Important Links


The Second in Command Podcast is an original production hosted by Cameron Herold. Brought to you by COO Alliance. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

Sponsored by:

Genius Network - An exclusive community for highly successful entrepreneurs, connecting you with top-tier leaders, strategic insights, and powerful relationships to help you grow your business faster and smarter.

Learn more: https://www.geniusnetwork.com/

Transcript

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0:00.0

Imposter syndrome. That's a great one. I've seen a lot reading through LinkedIn and things like that, how to deal with imposter syndrome and things like that. And I mean, the truth of matter is everybody is an imposter until you do it, you know. And I don't let that be any kind of stumbling block for me approaching something new.

0:21.6

You just acknowledge it.

0:24.2

You see it for what it is.

0:25.5

And then you just move on past it as if it's not even there.

0:28.9

Because if you get stuck in that realm, you're an analysis paralysis, and you're like, you know, well, chips could fall.

0:40.2

Welcome to the Second in Command podcast, produced by the COO Alliance, and brought to you by

0:46.1

its founder, Cameron Harold. In the Second in Command podcast, we talked to top COs who share

0:52.3

the insights, strategies, and tactics that made them the chief behind the chief.

0:57.1

And now here's your co-host, former COO of a multi-eight-figure remote company and alumni member of the COO Alliance, Savannah Brewer.

1:09.2

Today's guest brings more than 25 years of senior leadership across sales, operations, and international

1:15.1

expansion, and he has a track record of driving growth, building high-performing teams, and helping

1:20.1

companies dominate the markets.

1:22.2

He's currently the CEO of Contractor Foreman, a fast-growing construction project management platform, where he's

1:28.5

leading the operational product and people engines behind the company's next stage of scale.

1:33.4

Before stepping into this role, he spent years transforming sales and revenue operations,

1:37.6

including closing enterprise deals at Insir, such as a Fortune 100 win in his first seven months,

1:47.3

and driving a 120% sales surge as director of revenue operations at JV Knowledge. His background also stands global team leadership

1:52.9

across South Africa and Argentina, multiple presidents club level awards, and two successful

1:57.4

exits of his own companies, giving him the rare dual lens of both founder and operator.

2:02.4

In today's conversation, we get into the AI tool

2:04.7

that's completely changing the game for his sales team.

2:07.4

By appreciation and truly senior employees

...

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