Executive-level services, precisely scoped to your needs.
Ascendis offers two core service lines — Fractional COO and Fractional CGO — along with targeted advisory and interim leadership engagements for businesses navigating specific moments of challenge or change.
Fractional Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Your operations are the engine of your business. A fractional COO builds, optimizes, and leads that engine — so your organization can scale without breaking. We bring the systems, the structure, and the accountability framework your business needs to grow with confidence.
What We Do
- Design and implement operational systems, processes, and workflows
- Build and lead cross-functional teams and management structures
- Develop KPIs, dashboards, and company-wide accountability systems
- Lead quarterly and annual planning (OKR, EOS, and similar frameworks)
- Optimize cash flow, capacity utilization, and resource allocation
- Manage vendor, partner, and supplier relationships
- Build the organizational infrastructure required for sustainable scale
- Prepare the business for investment, acquisition, or ownership transition
Best For
- Founders who need to step out of day-to-day operations and lead strategically
- Companies experiencing rapid growth and operational strain
- Businesses implementing EOS, OKRs, or other operating frameworks
- Organizations recovering from operational dysfunction or rapid turnover
- Companies preparing for acquisition, investment, or ownership change
Engagement Structure
Typically 10–20 hours per week over a minimum 6-month engagement. Begins with a 30-day diagnostic period to establish baseline performance, identify priorities, and capture quick wins. Structured as a flat monthly retainer — no hourly billing, no surprise invoices.
Fractional Chief Growth Officer (CGO)
Growth is not an accident — it is a discipline. A fractional CGO builds and leads the commercial engine of your business, aligning your sales, marketing, and customer success functions around a coherent, repeatable growth strategy. We help you find the revenue you’re leaving on the table and build the systems to capture it.
What We Do
- Develop market entry and revenue growth strategies
- Build or rebuild sales processes, pipelines, and conversion frameworks
- Lead go-to-market planning and execution for new offerings or markets
- Identify and develop strategic partnerships, channels, and referral networks
- Align marketing, sales, and customer success into a unified revenue team
- Drive customer acquisition, retention, and lifetime value improvement
- Build brand positioning and market differentiation strategy
- Establish revenue metrics, forecasting, and performance dashboards
Best For
- Companies whose revenue growth has stalled or plateaued
- Businesses entering new markets or launching new products or services
- Organizations with misaligned or underperforming sales and marketing functions
- PE-backed firms needing aggressive, accountable growth leadership
- Companies building a formalized revenue engine for the first time
Engagement Structure
Typically 10–15 hours per week. Ideal engagement length is 9–12 months, allowing sufficient time to build and prove a repeatable growth motion. Scoped to your revenue targets and go-to-market milestones.
Strategic Advisory
Not every business is ready for a full fractional engagement — and not every challenge requires one. Our strategic advisory service gives you access to senior executive thinking on a lighter-touch basis, providing the outside perspective and structured guidance that helps leadership teams make better decisions.
What We Do
- Strategic planning facilitation (annual and quarterly)
- Business model analysis and profitability review
- Organizational design and restructuring guidance
- Board-level and investor presentation support
- M&A readiness and integration planning
- Leadership team coaching and development
- Serving as an ongoing trusted sounding board for owners and CEOs
Best For
- Business owners who need a trusted sounding board but aren’t ready for a full engagement
- Companies facing a critical inflection point, decision, or transition
- Leadership teams that benefit from structured outside perspective
- Organizations exploring whether a fractional engagement is the right next step
Engagement Structure
Available as monthly advisory retainers (4–6 hours/month) or as structured project engagements with defined deliverables and timelines. This is our most flexible offering and a natural entry point for new clients.
Interim Leadership
Leadership transitions don’t wait for convenient timing. Whether you’ve experienced an unexpected departure, are navigating an acquisition, or are managing a planned succession, Ascendis can step in immediately to stabilize operations, maintain momentum, and bridge the gap to your next permanent leader.
What We Do
- Serve as interim COO or CGO during planned or unplanned leadership transitions
- Stabilize operations following unexpected executive departure
- Lead through mergers, acquisitions, and ownership transitions
- Bridge the gap while a permanent hire is identified and onboarded
- Document critical processes and transfer knowledge to incoming leadership
- Maintain team morale, alignment, and performance during periods of uncertainty
Best For
- Companies facing sudden or planned executive departures
- Organizations mid-acquisition, integration, or restructuring
- Businesses that need immediate, senior-level stability
- Founders stepping back from day-to-day leadership or transitioning ownership
Engagement Structure
Interim engagements are scoped to the transition timeline — typically 3–9 months at higher weekly hour commitments (20–30 hours/week). These engagements prioritize speed, stability, and a clean, well-documented handoff to incoming permanent leadership.
Not sure which service is right for you?
Every engagement starts with a no-pressure discovery conversation. We’ll learn about your business, your goals, and your challenges — and tell you honestly whether and how we can help. No obligation, no hard sell.