The Operations Room: A Podcast for COO’s

81. The Intentional Organization

The Operations Room: A Podcast for COO’s

Show Notes

In this episode we discuss: The intentional organization. We are joined by Mathias Meyer, The Startup CTO Coach, and Sara Hicks, Product Leader and Founder. Love The Operations Room? Please support us by rating and reviewing it here. We chat about the following: How should leadership roles evolve as a company shifts from startup to scale-up? What’s the real cost of not shipping products regularly, beyond just revenue impact? How can meeting culture be reshaped to truly drive collaboration and outcomes? Where’s the balance between a CEO’s product vision and a COO’s operational priorities? How do you hire quickly for growth without compromising cultural fit?

References https://www.linkedin.com/in/themathiasmeyer/ https://intentionalorganization.com https://intentionalorganization.com/book https://www.linkedin.com/in/saralouhicks/

Biography Mathias Meyer is an executive coach, repeat startup founder, and writer based in Berlin. A former CEO and CTO, he has grown multiple remote teams to successful exits, including Scalarium (Amazon), Travis CI (Idera), and Reaction Commerce (Intuit). Today, through The Intentional Organization, he coaches and advises leaders navigating the challenges of scaling their businesses and themselves. Outside of work, Mathias enjoys nature, cultivating his vegetable garden, and fermenting produce. Sara Hicks is a seasoned product leader and founder, having held senior roles at Yahoo!, Etsy, and Media Temple before launching her own company, Reaction Commerce, where she served as CEO until its acquisition by Mailchimp (later Intuit). Now based in Los Angeles, she partners with Mathias at The Intentional Organization, supporting founders and executives through coaching, mentoring, and facilitation. To learn more about Beth and Brandon or to find out about sponsorship opportunities click here. Summary 00:05:58 – Leadership in growth 00:08:21 – Shipping momentum 00:10:57 – Fixing meeting culture 00:14:47 – Scaling challenges 00:18:12 – Product alignment 00:24:30 – CEO/COO dynamics 00:31:05 – Trust as a leadership asset 00:37:40 – Vision vs. operations 00:41:15 – Hiring for fit 00:44:50 – Final reflections

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