34 Comments
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M Editions's avatar

Absolutely soaked up every single word of this. The world needs more of this. Every single day.

Fantastic article.

M.

Katie Barnes's avatar

Appreciate you!

Aditi Priya's avatar

Good operations is empathy at scale.'That line hits. It explains why so many 'genius' founding teams eventually crumble under self-inflicted chaos. They scaled the idea but not the operating system

Hodman Murad's avatar

Founders who bring women into operations early are building in a secret weapon. That ability to spot future chaos and design systems to prevent it is what separates companies that scale from those that burn out.

Kristine's avatar

I SO agree with this and not just because I'm a woman. Companies need a mix of different types of thinking. The easiest way to come by this is to have a healthy mix of men and women. We are operational, empathetic creatures by nature so we're well-suited for Ops roles.

Katie Barnes's avatar

Thanks, Kristine! That healthy mix is the real point here. Let’s get more voices in the rooms they deserve to be in :)

Kirstyn's avatar

Loved this! The data 🤯

Cris Valerio's avatar

Preach! Excellent essay, backed by not only data, but your experience - cherry on top!

Katie Barnes's avatar

Thank you! I wanted to be sure I had the receipts when they came for me. 🤣

Casey Chiligiris's avatar

FAB! Loved this and I will be giving you and this article a shout out during my presentation this week at the Women in Business Conference in Lee’s Summit, MO. Thanks for sharing 💎

Katie Barnes's avatar

🩷🩷 thank you!! Yay MO friend! I’m in St. Louis.

Cristina's avatar

Yes, yes, yes! We need more women in higher positions and more intentional inclusion of their perspectives.

Mia Kiraki 🎭's avatar

Loved this!

Katie Barnes's avatar

Appreciate it!! 🩷

Megan Johnston's avatar

I'm so happy to find that I am not alone in how I think about startup operations and the role of women in Ops. Thank you for your reassurance!

Katie Barnes's avatar

We’re in it together!

nihal | deeptech decoded's avatar

All the data points in the same direction… it’s the reality. Yet it’s a systemic issue and change will only come through consistent efforts like yours. Thanks for shedding light on it! P.S. Coming from a woman who’s usually the only one in the room but not the shy one. ,)

Monali Dambre's avatar

Thank you for writing this Brilliant piece

Katie Barnes's avatar

🥹 thank you for taking time out of your day to read it! So glad it resonated.

Chris Tottman's avatar

Heard about this on LinkedIn & it's not disappointed 👏

Katie Barnes's avatar

Thanks for checking it out :)

Melanie Goodman's avatar

Such a powerful and timely piece. The data speaks volumes, but it’s your storytelling that really lands the point - foresight and empathy aren’t “soft skills,” they’re operational superpowers.

Do you find founders are starting to recognise this earlier, or are most still bringing operational intelligence in too late?

Katie Barnes's avatar

It might be recency bias, since I am relatively new to the fractional space, but I do feel like it's starting to be recognized earlier. I also think that with all the AI out there we have a burning desire for something more human and empathetic. This hopefully is leading teams to seek out someone who can bring that to their org.

Sharyph's avatar

That line, "You’re rebuilding the past, just faster," is a massive takeaway.

It's clear that women founders and leaders often have that essential foresight...the "What happens next if we don't fix this now?" mentality that turns into a clean, scalable structure.

That kind of thinking is a significant advantage.

JoshC's avatar

Let’s just back ourselves since the numbers show we’ve obviously got the skills. Where are the female led VC’s?