Most fractional CFO firms have a structural blind spot: they only do finance.
Operations - the systems, the cadence, the execution discipline - is treated as someone else's problem. That model works in Fortune 500 companies, where finance and operations have headcount in the dozens and rarely talk to each other. It is a structural failure in growth-stage companies, where the CFO and COO functions are usually one decision away from each other and frequently in the same head.
This is why Catalyst packages Fractional COO and Interim COO as first-class engagements - not afterthoughts.
The growth-stage reality: finance and operations are joint problems.
A growth-stage company's three biggest decisions in any quarter are almost always:
- How fast can we hire (operations + capital allocation) - What does our pricing do to margin (operations + finance modeling) - Where is the cash going (cash flow + working capital + ops decisions)
Notice none of these are pure finance problems. None are pure ops problems. They sit in the seam between the two functions - which is exactly where most growth-stage companies break, because the seam is unowned.
A double-seat executive owns the seam. That is the whole game.
When a Fractional COO makes more sense than another fractional CFO.
There is a specific scenario where founders engage a fractional CFO and the engagement underperforms: the actual gap was operations, not finance. Reporting was OK. Cash was OK. The bottleneck was execution discipline - the team could not get through the operating cadence, decisions stalled, throughput dropped.
A CFO will fix the financial overhang of that, but cannot fix the underlying issue. A COO can. That is when a Fractional COO is the right next move - and it is more common than founders realize.
Catalyst is built to call that out honestly. We will tell you in the first call whether finance, operations, or both is the actual gap.
When a Fractional CFO/COO double engagement is the right answer.
The double engagement makes sense when:
- The company is in a turnaround or distress and both books and operations need surgery - An exit is in front of you and the buyer will diligence both functions - A founder is preparing to step out of operations and needs both functions covered - You're scaling past $10M and the seams are showing in both functions
When the double engagement is wrong.
Most companies do not need it. Most need a fractional CFO who is operations-aware, or a fractional COO who is financially literate. The double engagement is a real option - not the default. We will tell you which fits.
How we structure CFO/COO double engagements at Catalyst.
Brian's career braided both seats across multiple operating ventures, which is why Catalyst can offer the double engagement as a single relationship rather than two separate consulting hires. The economics typically come in at less than two separate fractional engagements, and the operating coherence is materially better because both functions sit in one head.
If your growth-stage company has finance and operations both showing strain - or if you would like to talk through which fits - schedule a CFO Call. We will tell you on the call which seat (or both) is the right next move.
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