The Operating Table: How to take control of your to-do list, Ask Me Anything, and 3 incredible (and free) opportunities.
Milly Barker
Fractional COO at Pay As You Go COO. I can help your growing company get more sh!t done. Serial startup COO. MBA. ex-Amazon.
Hi, I'm Milly and I help startups win.
How has January been so far for you? I cheated a little and went to Spain for a few days last week for sunny highs of a whole 18 degrees and BOY did that help the low-level overwhelm that seems to be a permanent passenger on the Pay As You Go COO growth journey.
I ate a lot of good food, took a lot of long walks, and read an actual book - an actual entire book, a big one.
I love to read, I always have, but in the last few years I’ve felt guilty if I’m reading for fun or for non-business knowledge. I”m responsible for growing both my business and the businesses of the Founders and Operators that make up our client base and, lately, it’s been easy to feel like I always need to be shouldering that and constantly working.
What utter bullshit that is, huh? I feel so much more rested and enthusiastic about my work this week - just because I took a precious second to not think about it. If you’re falling into the trap that I keep getting stuck in, do this one thing for me - go and take a bloody break. Get up, go for a walk, read a book for fun and take a minute to enjoy your one precious, beautiful, unique life. Capitalism will still be here when you get back but you’ll be better equipped to deal with it.
And if you’re looking for something great to read, this is what I powered through over many plates of sliced tomatoes and many bottles of 0% beer.
It’s a beautifully well-researched and surprisingly funny deep dive into mammalian evolution told through the lens of the evolution of the females of a variety of different species. So fascinating and excellent bad date chat fodder. Get it here.
Whilst you’re waiting for your copy to arrive, keep yourself entertained with the rest of this newsletter. Keep scrolling for an amazing partnership with OneTech, tips on how to write a killer to-do list and actually get the right shit done, and some great free resources to keep you sane.
As always, if you’re struggling to feel productive and impactful and want to explore ways around and/or through the overwhelm, give me a shout.
Are you working on the right things?
Would it surprise you to know that the hardest part of executing a Strategy isn’t dreaming up the right audacious goals - it’s writing a good to-do list?
In my experience, it's comparatively easy for a leadership team to set goals (the Exit Plan, Mission Statement, Objectives, and Key Results).
Being able to sit down and thoroughly map out all of the individual steps to achieving those goals, however, requires a completely different skill set that isn't always a priority in the very product- or mission-led founding team.
We're all so very good at being distracted by shiny new things. And it feels so great to be ticking off tasks that we default to starting with what's easy and interesting, which is very often not what's important.
Your Tasks (capital 'T' here because these are the important drivers of your growth that require good focus and planning, not just 'tasks' that make you feel busy but don't take you anywhere) are the smallest building blocks of your entire Strategy; they’re single, individual items that can’t be broken down any further.
When you’re building a Strategy from scratch and you’re starting out by writing the grand, sweeping, world-changing Mission Statement, your Tasks can sometimes seem like they’re insignificant in comparison.
The truth couldn’t be further from that. Your Tasks are the most important part of your Strategy.
If you fail to lay out your Tasks properly you significantly increase the chances that you will fail to complete them in the right way by the right deadline, and you will never finish a Project, you will never hit a Key Result, you will never deliver on an Objective, and you will certainly never live up to your Mission Statement.
If you want to learn how to write good Task lists and get more of the right sh!t done, click the link below for the full version of the latest article in my series on what a COO actually does.
Read the full article here: https://www.payasyougocoo.com/post/what-does-a-chief-operating-officer-coo-do-in-an-early-stage-startup-part-6
Ask me anything.
Is your 2025 to-do list already too full?
Join my exclusive AMA with OneTech to learn the secrets of effective prioritisation so you can get more of the right things done this year.
It this Thursday, 23rd January, at 12:30pm (1.5 hours), online (and free!).
领英推荐
Funded by the UK Government via the Levelling Up Fund and supported by the Mayor of London, OneTech provides underserved communities with the network, skills, and confidence to start and sustain a business.?
Through the landmark Amplify Venture programme, OneTech is helping ambitious founders and business owners to scale and expand their businesses.
This AMA will showcase how OneTech does just that. You’ll learn:
This AMA is exclusively for scaling founders who meet all of the following criteria: trading for at least 18 months, registered in a London borough, at least ￡50k in revenue since trading began (or projected to reach ￡50k by March 2025), and 2+ full-time or part-time staff.
If that sounds like you and you want to learn how to become more efficient and effective in your 2025 plans, register here to reserve your spot for Thursday 23rd January at 12:30pm: https://lu.ma/nazoj1a6?tk=5BdZAS?
Free resources
I’m the ultimate cheerleader for early-stage companies and I’ve got the knowledge you need to?take your brilliant ideas from the drawing board to the board room.?Did you know you can get a lot of this knowledge for free on my website?
Find investors, accelerators, tips, tricks, tools, and more to help you beat the odds and build for success on my?free resources page.
Here are some recent ones:
AccelerateHER are co-hosting a free webinar with Burness Paull LLP on the top 5 things to consider to protect your IP.
On Tuesday 28th January at 10:00am, Amy McSkimming, Solicitor at Burness Paull LLP will share her top five things to be aware of when protecting your Intellectual Property.
AccelerateHER events are designed for female founders.
- Preparing for the year ahead: Top strategies for success
- The evolution of a CFO: How is the role changing?
- Strategy: How are finance teams supporting (and driving) their startup towards sustainable growth?
- Skills set: How to develop talent within your finance team
A ten-week hybrid accelerator programme for Seed to Series A technology startups based in Europe and Israel.
The Accelerator is designed to bring the best of 谷歌 ’s programmes, products, people and technology to women-led tech startups using AI technology across the region. In addition to mentorship and technical project support, the Accelerator also includes deep dives and workshops focused on product design, customer acquisition, and leadership development for founders.
Selected startups will also benefit from dedicated Google AI technical expertise and receive credits via the Google for Startups Cloud Program. Apply by the 24th of January.
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If you’re dreaming of getting more sh!t done in your growing company, why not book a free call to see how I can help?