Kieran Browning
I'm an operator. I work with founder-led service businesses, mostly agencies, where the work still runs through the founder. I find the one thing holding the business back, get the right person owning it, and stay until it sticks.
60+ founder-led businesses since 2019 · Based in Manila · Working with founders in Australia, the US and Canada
Who it's for
You already have clients, a team and managers. The business works. But too much still needs you:
If I'm not the right person, I'll say so on the first call.
What happens
About 30–45 minutes. We look at where everything in the business still depends on you: decisions, delivery, managers and meetings.
About 45 minutes. I walk you through a plan for fixing it: the main constraint, who should own what, and what to do first. You get both calls whether or not we work together after.
You can run the plan yourself, have me advise you, or have me step in as your fractional COO. Prices are below.
We make clear who owns what, which decisions no longer need you, and set up the weekly meetings and check-ins that keep work on track. Your people own the work.
That's the point. When the change holds without you or me holding it up, we move to the next constraint or stop.
Prices
Prices are per month. USD and CAD figures are approx., rounded to the nearest 100. No minimum term.
Free
Two calls: about 30–45 minutes to find where everything depends on you, then about 45 minutes to walk you through a plan for fixing it. Book the first call.
AUD 1,500–3,000 a month (approx. USD 1,100–2,100 · CAD 1,500–3,000)
Regular working sessions with you, at a cadence that fits the business. For example, weekly, or quarterly planning plus a monthly review and a mid-month check-in. You and your managers make the changes, and I check they're sticking.
From AUD 6,000 a month (approx. USD 4,200 · CAD 5,900)
I take responsibility for agreed operational outcomes, with a clear mandate and the authority to deliver them. Usually that means running the leadership meeting, weekly 1:1s with department heads, and monthly and quarterly plans. You stay the founder; I'm the operator alongside you.
Real work
Paul runs the digital marketing agency Toro Digital. At its peak he was spending at least 20 hours a week in internal meetings. We started with an SOP for writing a brief, so strategy work could be handed off. He calls that "the first domino … the thing that sort of allowed me to do the rest of the stuff." He told the story on the podcast:
"At least 20 a week, like 20 of 40, 50 hour week, I would be in internal meetings … now down to about two hours a week of internal meetings."
Reza is the founder of Rezztown Studios, a creative agency. As it grew, too much still depended on him. We cut his many offers down to one, wrote down what his editor needed from him, and worked on his procedures, workflows and sales process. He said it took a few weeks to learn what he would normally expect to take months. Before, he relied on referrals. Within a month of finishing, he had closed six deals through his own campaigns.
"When I started with you, I had zero sales from my own campaign, my own thing … I closed six deals."
Michael is the founder of Local Health Marketing. "Before I met you, that was this bottleneck," he said of project management. We worked on the client onboarding process, including what happens at 30, 60 and 90 days. After that he hired an assistant, and that work is "now all in someone else's hands, who's a hundred times better than I am at doing that kind of stuff."
"I've just got way more brain capacity."
Podcast
Conversations with founders about the problems that follow growth. Several guests are past clients, talking about what changed in their own words. Start here:
About
I've worked with 60+ founder-led businesses since 2019, mostly agencies and service firms in Australia, the US and Canada. I have a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia.
I work as a fractional COO or advisor to a small number of founders at a time, and I host the Founder Bottlenecks podcast. Founder Bottlenecks is just the name of this site and the show. When you work with me, you work with me.
Next step
Two free calls: we find where everything depends on you, then I walk you through a plan for fixing it. After that, you decide whether you want help. If I'm not the right person, I'll tell you.