Fractional COO for Early-Stage Startups

From Seed
to Series.

Your startup deserves the operational leadership that gets you to the next stage — pre-seed to seed, seed to Series A, and beyond. Especially built for hardware startups navigating the full product lifecycle. Systems, process, and AI-powered automation without the full-time COO cost.

Christopher Kennedy — Founder & Fractional COO, SeriesOps
Startup COO· Company OS· Hardware Startups· Financial Modeling· AI-Powered Automation· HW NPI & Manufacturing· Pitch Development· FP&A· Operations Strategy· Tech Stack· Board Reporting· Product Lifecycle· Corporate Governance· KPI's & Dashboards· Fractional COO· Process Automation· Compliance & Legal· Customer Support Operations· Business Model· OKR's· Field Operations· Board Engagement· Startup COO· Company OS· Hardware Startups· Financial Modeling· AI-Powered Automation· HW NPI & Manufacturing· Pitch Development· FP&A· Operations Strategy· Tech Stack· Board Reporting· Product Lifecycle· Corporate Governance· KPI's & Dashboards· Fractional COO· Process Automation· Compliance & Legal· Customer Support Operations· Business Model· OKR's· Field Operations· Board Engagement·

You're Ready to Build.
Operations Shouldn't Slow You Down.

Most early-stage founders are great at product and vision. But as you scale past your first hires, you run into the same walls: broken processes, the wrong tools, teams misaligned, and cash you can't track. For hardware startups, the stakes are even higher — product management, engineering, NPI, manufacturing, fulfillment, and field support all have to work in lockstep.

SeriesOps is your startup's second-in-command — a fractional COO who brings C-level execution experience, a bias for automation, and a track record building companies from zero to acquisition.

Turn Operations into your hidden super power.

Explore Services →

Built by a Founder.
Backed by Results.

COO
Alcatraz AI — Cupertino, CA
Second-in-command to the CEO. Owned Finance, Legal, Compliance, Engineering, Manufacturing, Customer Support, Field Operations & the PMO (Project Management Office). Trusted voice in the Board room.
Founder
NanOasis Technologies — Richmond, CA
Kleiner Perkins-funded nanotechnology startup at the nexus of energy, water scarcity, and climate change — the technology was a huge swing for the fence that is still being worked on today.
Venture Capital
X/Seed Capital Management — Portola Valley, CA
I’ve been on both sides of the table — a Founder who raised money, and a VC who vetted early stage startups. I know exactly what investors expect.
Founder
ETHR Medical Technology — San Jose, CA & Halifax, NS
Stealth mode biomedical device startup.
Founder
SeriesOps — San Jose, CA
Fractional COO services to maximize the probability of success for early stage startups.
IPO & Acquisition
ONI Systems (acq. Ciena) — San Jose, CA
Joined at 30 people, grew to 850 through IPO and acquisition. Owned all of Engineering post-acquisition and consolidation at Ciena.

You Build the Product.
I'll Build the Machine.

Three decades of building companies, matched with a passion for modern tools and AI-powered automation. Most fractional COOs bring playbooks from the last decade. I build your operations with today's best tools at the core — so your team runs leaner, moves faster, and scales without proportional headcount growth.

From intelligent workflow automation to AI-assisted financial modeling and reporting, I engineer the operational stack your startup will actually use — and that will still be relevant at Series B.

A specialty in hardware. I've lived the full product lifecycle — Product Management → Engineering → NPI → Manufacturing → Fulfillment → Installation & Commissioning → Customer Support — and I bring that end-to-end experience on top of serving as second-in-command, trusted voice in the board room, head of FP&A, part-time GC, and part-time CFO.

The Right Operations.
Right Now.

Every stage demands an evolution of process, tools and focus. Let’s talk about where you are and what’s getting in your way.

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30+
Years in Tech
6
Startups Founded or Early Employee
2
Big Exits — Acquired by Ciena & Verizon