Fractional COO · $1M–$15M organizations

Your business has grown.
The systems haven't.

The team is capable. But everyone is wearing too many hats — someone doing finance who shouldn't be, someone managing HR who never signed up for it, operations work that stops and starts and never quite gets finished.

This is the moment most founders either hire wrong, wait too long, or try to fix it themselves. I built a practice for this exact moment.

I'm Christina Peña Brower. I've spent twenty years building organizations from the inside — not advising from above. I know what this moment costs, and what it takes to keep growing.

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Christina Peña Brower

Christina Peña Brower

Founder · VERSO

What VERSO is

A senior operational partner.

Verso is a fractional COO practice for founders of $1M–$15M organizations who need a senior operational partner — not a project manager, not a consultant, not another vendor.

I work inside your business. I attend your meetings, review your financials, and know your people.

I hold the operational side of the house — so you can focus on what only you can do.
Financial systems and reporting rhythm Budget development P&L oversight Scenario planning Vendor accountability
Hiring process and decision support Role design and onboarding Performance management Compensation structure Contractor and vendor accountability
Entity structure and governance Contract and policy infrastructure Compliance frameworks Risk management
Process design and documentation Tech stack selection Management rhythm and meeting cadence Decision rights and accountability structure
Org structure and design Leadership alignment Board and funder materials Strategic narrative and positioning
When founders call

Two moments where a fractional COO changes the trajectory.

§ 01

When the founder is carrying too much.

You built this. That means you figured out finance, HR, operations, systems, and strategy — often all at once, often without a roadmap. Most founders at this stage are still in the middle of all of it, even as the organization has grown around them.

The work is building the operational infrastructure that lets the business grow into what it's capable of — with you leading it, not holding it together.

§ 02

When the organization has hit its ceiling.

What worked at ten people doesn't work at thirty. What held together at $1M starts breaking at $5M. The systems, the team, and the processes that got you here are now the thing standing between you and the next stage of growth.

The work is understanding where the business is trying to go, and rebuilding the operational infrastructure to get there — so the organization can scale without the wheels coming off.

How it works

Calibrated to what the work requires.

Every engagement starts with a diagnostic: what's actually happening, what the next stage requires, and what needs to change to get there. You get a clear picture and a roadmap before any work begins.

From there, I calibrate my involvement to what the work actually requires. Some founders need a thinking partner a few hours a month. Most need something more substantial — a real operational partner with a defined presence in the business. A small number need someone deeply embedded through a critical transition.

Engagements run a minimum of three months. Most run longer. The scope is always defined up front — no open-ended commitments or ambiguity about what you're getting.

The approach

I build for the organization you're becoming — not the one you used to need.

That means every system, every role, every process gets designed with how work actually gets done today: leaner teams, smarter tools, AI-integrated workflows that let a small organization punch well above its weight. The companies that will scale successfully in the next decade aren't the ones with the most headcount — they're the ones that figured out how to build more capability into fewer, better-resourced people.

This is what I build toward. From day one.

Christina Peña Brower
About

Twenty years building organizations from the inside — not advising from above.

I co-founded a digital media company and built it from two people to fifty, managing every function along the way — finance, HR, legal, technology, operations — through multiple phases of rapid growth. I joined a global management consultancy as an early employee and helped scale it from startup through acquisition. I built a new practice at one of New York's top communications firms from zero to significant revenue in under fifteen months.

I've been in the room when it mattered — across startups, agencies, mission-driven organizations, and growth-stage businesses. I know what it costs to build something from nothing, and what it actually takes to make it run.

My background is multi-faceted: deep operational experience combined with the strategic and narrative instincts of someone who has also spent twenty years thinking about how organizations tell their story and make their case — to clients, to funders, to the people they're trying to reach. Most fractional COOs can build systems. I can hold the inside and the outside simultaneously. At this stage of growth, that combination matters.

Full background and prior work →
Who this is for

If you're not sure whether this is the right moment — it probably is.

Founders and executives of $1M–$15M organizations who have something real and know they need help running it.

Typically
5 to 30 people. Founder still in the middle of everything. No full-time COO in place. Ready to build the infrastructure for what comes next.
Sectors
Startups, small businesses, and mission-driven organizations.
Start here

Is this the right moment?

Most founders who reach out already know the answer. They've been carrying it for a while.

Share what's going on. A few sentences is enough. If it sounds like a fit, we'll schedule a call.