Main product
The 90-Day Scale-Up Operating System is Wayne Fraser's main product for founder-led companies. It runs in three phases: Diagnose (weeks 1–2), Design (weeks 3–4) and Implement (weeks 5–12).
The 90-Day Scale-Up Operating System is my main product. The three-phase method is for turning operational complexity into a scalable operating system in a founder-led company.
A business operating system is the set of routines, roles, metrics and decisions that keep a company running. Its aim is to let the company run without the founder in every decision. You can read more on how a business operating system works.
My positioning is People + Process + Technology + AI. My objective is simple: make the business easier to run, easier to scale and more valuable.
The method suits founder-led companies where the founder is still deeply involved and systems are beginning to break down. My best fit is $2M–$10M in revenue and 15–50 employees.
Diagnose runs in weeks 1–2 and assesses nine areas of the business. The right column gives the question each area generally raises. The areas interact, so a technology problem may turn out to be a process problem.
| Area assessed | The question it generally raises |
|---|---|
| Strategy | Whether the leadership team agrees on where the company is going. |
| Organization | Whether the structure and roles match the size of the company. |
| Leadership | Whether the leadership team can carry decisions without the founder. |
| Processes | Where work stalls, repeats or depends on one person. |
| Technology | Whether systems support how the company works or add manual steps. |
| Revenue operations | How leads, deals and customers move through the business and get reported. |
| KPIs | Whether the company tracks the numbers that show its health. |
| AI opportunities | Where AI or automation could help the business. |
| Founder bottlenecks | Which decisions and tasks still depend on the founder. |
The deliverable of Phase 1 is the Scale-Up Diagnostic, a concise executive assessment. It moves through four questions in order.
The Diagnostic starts by naming what is broken in the business, across the areas assessed.
It then explains why each problem exists. Symptoms such as too many spreadsheets can trace back to a process or an accountability gap.
It shows which of the problems found matter most to the company. Not every problem deserves attention in the same 90 days.
It ends with what to fix first.
The Design phase runs in weeks 3–4 and creates eight things. The right column describes what each one generally is.
| Design output | What it generally is |
|---|---|
| 90-day priorities | The priorities a company sets for a 90-day period. |
| Operating cadence | The recurring meetings and reviews that set the company's rhythm, such as a weekly leadership meeting. |
| KPI dashboard | A view of the key numbers a leadership team tracks. |
| Accountability structure | Who owns which results, and how owners report on them. |
| Process priorities | Which processes to redesign first. |
| Technology priorities | Which systems decisions come first. |
| AI opportunity map | A view of where AI could help the business. |
| Leadership responsibilities | Clear roles for each member of the leadership team. |
Implement runs in weeks 5–12, the longest of the three phases. This is where I help execute the plan.
The work doesn't end with a strategy document. I work alongside the leadership team, then help execute.
The work covers ten areas:
The order of the phases follows the order of the work: understand the business, design the structure, then execute.
A fixed window of 90 days can keep priorities short and results visible. A company can carry only a limited number of initiatives at once. A defined horizon can force choices about which ones come first.
The phases run in weeks 1–2, 3–4 and 5–12. Implementation is the longest phase, at eight weeks.
Each of the three problems I solve relates to parts of the method below.
Decisions are not getting made, managers are not accountable and everything comes back to the CEO. The founder spends too much time managing, growth has created complexity and there is no operating rhythm. The Design phase creates an operating cadence and an accountability structure.
There are too many spreadsheets, the CRM is not used properly and reporting is poor. Handoffs break, meetings are everywhere and there are no clear KPIs. A KPI dashboard and process priorities come out of the Design phase.
AI experimentation is everywhere, employees use random tools and there is no AI strategy or governance. Diagnose assesses AI opportunities. Design produces an AI opportunity map, and Implement helps execute AI pilots and automation.
Wayne offers three monthly engagements. To talk one through, get in touch.
For founders who need me in the room but do not need embedded execution. Read about Scale-Up Advisory.
My primary offer. See the Fractional COO engagement.
The Fractional COO engagement with AI work added. Read about AI transformation.
The case studies show my work on real operating problems. Each one describes a different problem. The common thread is turning strategy into something the organization can actually execute.
Three examples:
The 90-Day Scale-Up Operating System is Wayne Fraser's main product. It is a three-phase method for turning operational complexity into a scalable operating system. The phases are Diagnose in weeks 1–2, Design in weeks 3–4 and Implement in weeks 5–12.
The Scale-Up Diagnostic is the deliverable of Phase 1, a concise executive assessment. It shows what is broken, why, what matters and what to fix first.
Diagnose runs in weeks 1–2 and assesses strategy, organization, leadership, processes, technology, revenue operations, KPIs, AI opportunities and founder bottlenecks. Design runs in weeks 3–4 and creates 90-day priorities, an operating cadence, a KPI dashboard and an accountability structure. It also creates process priorities, technology priorities, an AI opportunity map and leadership responsibilities. Implement runs in weeks 5–12 and helps execute the plan.
A business operating system is the set of routines, roles, metrics and decisions that keep a company running. It is meant to let the company run without the founder in every decision. It is a management system and has nothing to do with computer software.
The method is for founder-led companies where the founder is still deeply involved. Wayne's best fit is $2M–$10M in revenue and 15–50 employees, initially in BC and Canada.
Tell me about your company and where the operating structure is breaking down.
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