The Role of an Operator with Casey Woo of Operators Guild

Ursa Consultants: Beyond the Balance Sheet

What happens when a Navy SEAL gets put in a leadership position at a company? According to Casey Woo, that is exactly what the operator role is. “They are specialists at being generalists.”

In our most recent episode of Beyond the Balance Sheet, Jace sat down with Casey, the founder and CEO of Operators Guild – an independent, invitation-only group that is home to the world’s top finance and operations leaders.

Casey is a Harvard grad who previously worked as the Global Head of Strategic Finance at WeWork and Chief Financial Officer at Landing, before starting Operators Guild, and his investment firm FOG Ventures.

Jace and Casey talk about the role of an Operator.“We are the Navy SEALs of company building. Navy SEALs have the same tattoo and they're all called SEALs, except they have disciplines. They are brought in because they're specialists at being generalists.”

They discuss the value of engaging with operators and how they deploy vision to ensure the success of the company as a whole. Casey emphasizes the importance of understanding the company’s vision, values, and core objectives in today’s world.

Casey describes how the roles of operator and CFO are changing. Different types of skills are important in the current business environment, and Casey explains what skills you should focus on developing today

The two then go on to discuss the importance of community, and the difficulties that come with building great teams. Casey also shares how he and the operators in his community track success.

It was a pleasure to have Casey on the podcast. Enjoy!