Specialised in Start-ups and High-Growth Tech Sectors.

Senior leadership and expert knowledge right into your business, exactly when and where it's needed most.

This approach provides an independent perspective, quickens decision-making, bolsters strategic development, and drives the rollout of effective commercial strategies to lift sales. It's also key in managing risks and ensuring effective and efficient product delivery.

Importantly, you're getting top-tier technology industry experience at a fraction of the cost, but with full impact. Giving your business the best shot at hitting those high-growth targets.

Shona Grundy

Mentor & Fractional COO

Startup & High-Growth Technology Leader

NZ Hi-Tech Awards Judge

Ko Te Atiawa te iwi, Ko Manukorihi te hapū, Ko Owae te marae. Ko Rongowhakaata hoki te iwi, Ko Ngāti Kaipoho te hapū, Ko Mautuke te marae.

Why a Mentor or Fractional COO?

As an adept Technology Leader, I'm convinced that there are individuals with the talent and passion necessary to create outstanding products that can positively impact the world. They simply need the right support and experience.

As a mentor and fractional COO, I offer two distinct yet complementary services tailored to the unique needs of your startup or scale-up in New Zealand and Australia.

Engage me as a mentor for personalised guidance and support, focusing on building high-performing teams, refining strategies, and fostering continuous learning and development. This mentorship is about offering fresh perspectives and steering your business trajectory with data-driven advice.

Alternatively, as a fractional COO, I provide hands-on, strategic leadership on a part-time basis. This flexible approach aligns with your evolving needs and budget, ensuring that you have access to senior leadership for making quicker decisions, strategising effective models, and efficiently navigating growth challenges.

Whether you need mentorship for development or a fractional executive for tactical execution, I adapt to fit your company's specific journey towards success

How it works

The Fractional model differs significantly from an Agency model, where resources are allocated from a pool of personnel.

It's also distinct from an Advisory model, where a consultant might advise multiple clients but then leave the implementation to them. In the Fractional model, it's me personally who will be working alongside you, very hands on. I'll be there as a de facto member of your team, collaborating closely and sharing the journey. Doing the high level strategic work, whilst mentoring and up-skilling your team along the way.

Utilising the Agile framework, we pinpoint your business's actual and immediate needs — those that we anticipate will significantly impact your strategic goals.

This approach is focused on high-impact work. We aim for substantial gains while consistently aligning with your business's priorities.
Learn more about this approach in the Testimonials section of this website.

The mentorship model operates at an elevated level, akin to an advisory board but with a personalised, one-to-one approach. This method is tailored to strategise around your most pressing priorities, targeting areas where you're currently facing challenges in your personal or business objectives.

A mentor acts as a guiding force, offering insights from their extensive experience. They work with you to identify key focus areas, breaking down complex challenges into manageable steps. This includes a thorough analysis of both your broader vision and specific details of your goals.

Moreover, a mentor provides ongoing support and accountability. They offer constructive feedback, help navigate obstacles, and celebrate milestones, ensuring you stay aligned with your objectives.

The mentor-mentee relationship is dynamic and adapts to your evolving needs and goals. Through this partnership, the mentor empowers you to develop skills, gain confidence, and make informed decisions, steering you towards the successful achievement of your aspirations.

What it is

A mentor relationship is specially designed for each individual and will align to the age and stage of your business journey.

Alternatively, from the fractional perspective, a Chief Operations Officer within a startup wears many hats and you may in fact already have a COO, but require leadership support in other areas. You can allocate me to any area within your organisation, as it is required.

The primary goal is to identify the needs of your business and where I can best apply my skills and experience. As a high-growth company your needs will no doubt be constantly evolving. Which is why flexibility is so important.

My flexible expertise ranges across Global Expansion, Executive Leadership, Product leadership, Commercial Leadership, Operational Leadership.

Read more about it here:

Executive Leadership

  • I work alongside Founders, CEOs and Executives to clearly help formulate, then articulate the Strategic Plan. Focusing on Who, Why, How and What. I then help ensure that this is not only articulated to Stakeholders and Shareholders, but also within a format which enables the entire company to operationalise the strategy.

  • I work along side the Founders, CEO and Executives to research and strategise the Business Model. In the early and growth stages we are still in the experimental stages, to try to ensure we are reaching product-market-fit as fast as we can get there. This is done through identifying clear Customer Profiles, Pricing Strategies, and Leverage Points with High, Med and Low scenarios.
    Ensuring these Models are actioned, measured and iterated upon, until we are clear that we are on the right high-growth path to success

  • I work alongside Founders and CEOs to help bring together communication collateral, presentation decks, analytics and data room requirements. With the ability to support by presenting and following up with Venture Capital Managers and Partners

  • I have decades of experience in structuring, writing and negotiating commercial agreements. These include Pilots Agreements, Subscription Agreements, Strategic Partnerships and R&D partnerships.

Product Leadership

  • The Product Craft is a business function. One that has clear and measurable fundamental practises which must be in place in order to Design, Ship Product, Learn and Iterate, at a high and effective cadence.

    You may be experiencing challenges in bringing your team together to effectively ship and iterate product. Or you may not yet understand why your product has not gained traction within the market.

    I can help you evaluate your team and how they cross functionally work together, in order to nurture Product Excellence within your company.

  • Work alongside your Product and Tech Teams to ensure there is a well considered roadmap which is aligned to the phases of your business, with a vision well into the future.

    This helps everyone to understand what is important today, where they are going and what to future design for.

  • Providing growth and leadership to your team in areas of Product Funnels, Persona Development, Lean UX & UI philosophies, and the importance of human centric design and psychology

Commercial Leadership

  • A business model must be measurable, in order to understand if we are doing all the right things.
    Stakeholder Engagement, clear messaging on Value and Return on Investment, Objection Handling, Setting clear expectations, Closing the deal.
    Then putting in place processes to measure the sales cycle, to ensure we are constantly improving and speeding up sales cycles, with revenue pipelines to ensure we are exceeding targets.

    My processes ensure your teams become data-driven sales experts, which become predictable and measurable.

  • I help to lead, implement and mentor teams to design, create and execute Marketing initiatives against a clearly defined Funnel. Ensuring we understand and deliver against concepts such as Branding, Awareness, Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Recurring and Referrals.
    In order to build a high growth company Product, Sales and Marketing practices must be at all times designing, creating and executing upon measurable actions, to understand how to constantly be automating, optimising and growing their craft.

  • Providing leadership to design Customer Journeys which activate psychological concepts such as autonomy, agency, belonging and admiration. To ensure (and measure) that we know the users (and stakeholders) and using the product, understand its value and couldn’t possibly live without it

Operational Leadership

  • Within a fast growing company it is difficult to protect culture, align and develop teams, whilst continuing to optimise productivity and deliver Company objectives.

    I believe that everyone comes to work everyday, trying to do their best work. But this can get extremely difficult as you grow, and if you do not have a designed process in place.

    The best way to build culture and a happy and productive team is through intentional rituals and functional communication processes.

    By providing leadership to ensure departments and teams are not operating in silos, I can provide clear guidelines and processes. Ensuring everyone is working in an aligned, transparent and priotrised manner.

  • In a fast growing company the Strategy can only be executed if daily tasks are understood by all, and aligned back to the larger objectives.

    I can provide leadership and guidance on how to break down a Strategic Plan into a framework which enables the entire company working in unison.

    “Pulling their oars in the same direction, to make the boat go faster”

  • Founders can often become too busy to invest their time into the development of their senior team, or have not learnt to be leaders themselves.


    Your staff are always your biggest investment. By investing in their their leadership growth, you will be investing in the productivity and outcomes of your entire business.

    I can provide mentorship to your senior team. Helping them to develop a nurturing which delivers high-performing teams

Global Expansion

  • Each market entry is a unique opportunity to understand the fundamentals of each new territory. Product-market-fit, competitive landscape, strategic partnerships, talent availability, tax and legal requirements are all aspects to consider. This is your opportunity to weigh-up the data and create a strategy for success in this market, before entry and fatal mistakes.

  • Through my Global Fractional Community, I work along-side trusted colleagues who reside in these markets.

    Fractional Technology Leaders in Sales, Marketing, Technology, Product and Operations are available to be engaged, from day one.

    Helping to establish your offices, talent, training, strategy and cultural identity. A steady and experienced hand, to set your new team up for success.

  • Expanding offshore can be a mine-field for your expanded teams. Time-zone negotiation, strategic alignment, cultural translation, relationship and trust building.
    When establishing your offshore, I work with your Head Office Team and Senior Executives to establish operational frameworks and rituals to strength your teams communication and shared goals

  • My network of Legal, Financial and Public Relationships span across New Zealand, Australia, California, New York, London and France.

    Trusted and proven professionals, who I can personally vouch for.

How to engage with me?

After an initial discussion, the following steps will most likely be…


Step Two: 2-3 hour “Discovery Workshop with the CEO and/or Founders to get to know each other further, talk through the product, customers, business objectives and challenges. (hourly workshop fee applied)

Step Three: Initial Proposal submitted along with a Mentor or Fractional COO Standard Engagement Terms

Step Four: Engaged as a Mentor or Fractional COO on a monthly basis, with agreed minimum hours engaged or assigned

I also offer 1 or 2 Day workshops for:
Senior Executive Mentorship, Leadership Training and Team building.

Please reach out to learn more.