Aces Payments scaled from a two person startup into a compliant, investor ready fintech operating across 30 plus states. I built the operational foundation that removed founder dependency and supported funding, growth, and leadership transition.
Aces Payments is a B2B fintech company serving small businesses in the conscious commerce space. The vision was clear and demand was building, but the business launched with no operational infrastructure.
Growth depended entirely on the founder.
The company needed to scale quickly while becoming compliant, fundable, and durable.
• No entity structure or legal frameworks
• No financial systems or reporting
• No HR infrastructure or employment model
• Sales team operating as 1099 contractors with high churn
• Expansion planned across 30 plus states
• Founder carrying every operational decision
The risk was not growth.
The risk was scaling without structure and breaking under it.
I embedded as the strategic advisor and operational right hand to the founder, owning execution across brand posiitoning, finance, HR, compliance, systems, and team infrastructure.
This was hands on operational leadership, not advisory support.
We started with foundational structure.
Entity formation and legal frameworks were established to support multi state operations. A clear operational roadmap was built to guide growth, compliance, and future due diligence.
Financial visibility followed.
QuickBooks was implemented with a full chart of accounts, budgeting systems, cash flow tracking, and reporting designed for investor review. Vendor contracts were renegotiated, reducing operating costs by over 40K annually.
People and compliance systems were built from zero.
The sales organization transitioned from a 1099 model to W2 employment. HR infrastructure was created including policies, offer structures, onboarding, and performance frameworks. Multi state compliance was managed across 30 plus states. Rippling was deployed to automate payroll, benefits, onboarding, and expense management.
Ramp time for new hires dropped by 80 percent.
Technology and communication systems were integrated.
Slack, HR, payroll, and financial systems were connected to reduce manual overhead and decision friction. Systems were designed to operate without constant founder involvement.
Brand and culture were aligned with operations.
Messaging and positioning were refined to reflect conscious commerce values and support investor presentations. Ethical principles were embedded into operational frameworks, not treated as a layer on top.
• Built compliant operations across 30 plus states
• Reduced new hire ramp time by 80 percent
• Transitioned the entire sales team from 1099 to W2
• Reduced operating costs by over 40K annually
• Built investor ready infrastructure supporting successful funding
• Enabled leadership transition through founder independent systems
Aces Payments moved from fragile momentum to durable growth.
The founder was no longer the bottleneck.
The business could scale, fundraise, and transition leadership without embedded operational support.
This is fractional COO work done correctly.
Build what the business needs.
Design for independence.
We embed within founder-led businesses to build the operational backbone that frees you from running the company and empowers you to start leading it.