Fractional CEO/COO & interim
A Fractional CEO or COO brings senior executive leadership into the business for a critical phase, on a time-boxed basis: growth, transition, reorganisation, entry into a new market. Not a consultant who recommends, but a leader who decides, aligns the team and delivers results. Operational within weeks, not months.
The challenge
There are moments when a company needs CEO or COO-level leadership but not a permanent hire. A founder who has to hand over the operating engine, a fund that has acquired a portfolio company with no number one, a generational transition, a crisis that demands experienced hands now. Searching for and onboarding a full-time executive takes months and locks in heavy fixed cost. Relying on advisers who produce slides but do not execute leaves the problem where it was. Meanwhile the critical phase keeps moving: every week without clear direction erodes margins, trust and market windows.
Our approach
We enter with a mandate defined by time and by results. First 2-3 weeks: rapid diagnosis, taking hold of the operating levers and the numbers, alignment with founder or board on priorities and metrics. Then execution: we take direct ownership of the function, not a supporting role. We work inside the company's real perimeter, decide with data, install weekly control cadences and governance that lasts. The difference is simple: we answer for the outcome, not for the activity. Direction, not theory, with the Swiss rigour that defines us.
Why Krymax
Krymax is a founder-led boutique: the people at the table have run real companies, not only studied cases. We bring operating seniority with the discipline of a Swiss structure and a network across Lugano, Milano and Ancona. We do not sell hours: we sell a phase handled well. We work for founders, funds and structured mid-market companies that expect executive direction, transfer of method to the internal team and an orderly exit once the mandate is complete. Independent, discreet, focused on a single goal: leaving the company stronger and more self-reliant than we found it.
Operating diagnosis in the first 2-3 weeks: levers, numbers, people, priorities, with a shared action plan
Direct assumption of the interim CEO or COO role, with real accountability for the function's results
Weekly governance cadence: metrics, decisions, control of execution with founder or board
Redesign of the operating engine: processes, organisational structure, clear roles and responsibilities
Development and coaching of the internal management, to transfer method and reduce external dependence
Orderly exit plan: documented handover and continuity of leadership beyond the mandate
- — The founder has become the bottleneck and every operating decision goes through them
- — A fund has acquired or is integrating a portfolio company that lacks a credible number one
- — A phase of strong growth, reorganisation or new-market entry needs experienced hands at once
- — You need CEO or COO-level leadership for months, not a permanent hire nor yet another consulting report
How is a Fractional different from a consultant?
A consultant analyses and recommends, then leaves execution to you. A Fractional CEO or COO takes the role and answers for it: makes decisions, leads the team, is measured on the function's results. We stay inside the company, with real operating accountability, until the critical phase is over.
How quickly are you operational and how long is a mandate?
We are operational within weeks: in the first 14-21 days we complete the diagnosis and take hold of the levers. Duration depends on the objective, typically from a few months to over a year, with presence calibrated to need. Every mandate begins with a clear end date and exit plan.
What remains in the company when the mandate ends?
A stronger operating engine remains: redesigned processes and roles, active control cadences, a developed internal management and governance that keeps working without us. The goal is not to create dependence, but to leave the company stronger and self-reliant, with a documented handover.