Built around your real operation.
Ratio maps where work breaks, configures the agreed workflows, and puts Conjuro to work around your live projects and people.
Hiring a COO? · Project-based service businesses · 25–75 people
Before you hire a $250k COO,
consider a $150k operator with an operating system behind them.
You need someone to take the chaos off your plate. A seasoned COO still needs systems to work with. A sharp operator ready to step up, backed by Conjuro and Ratio, gives you a different way to get there.
Hire for judgment, drive, and cultural fit. We put an AI-powered operating system around that person—with implementation, training, and one year of Conjuro for up to 10 active projects. The Ratio package is $35,000. You hire or promote the leader.
See the $35,000 packageIllustrative salary comparison · Project-based service businesses with 25–75 employees.
The Ratio offer · $35,000
Conjuro. Implementation. Training.
An operating system for your business, put to work by Ratio around the leader you hire or promote. We equip your operations team; you choose and employ the person who leads it.
The operating system underneath them.
A shared home for project work and AI-assisted coordination. One year of Conjuro for up to 10 active projects is included in the $35,000 package.
Help your leader take charge.
Hands-on training for your operations leader and team, with a management rhythm for priorities, ownership, and follow-through.
The hiring economics / an illustrative scenario
A strong operator. A whole operating system. $65k less in this scenario.
Consider a capable operations leader supported by a system and implementation team. Here’s what that investment could look like.
$150k+$35k<$250k
Experienced COO / example budget
Your executive hire
Annual base salary$250,000
Salary budget$250,000
The operating system and its implementation still need to be addressed.
Capable leader + Conjuro + Ratio
Your leader, with a foundation
Illustrative annual base salary$150,000
Conjuro + implementation + training$35,000
Combined illustrative investment$185,000
A person to lead, plus a system and support around them.
$65,000
Difference in this first-year scenario.
More room to invest in the business.
Illustrative comparison, not a salary benchmark or guaranteed saving. Both salaries are annual base pay; bonuses, benefits, employer taxes, and recruiting costs are excluded. The $35,000 package includes implementation, training, and one year of Conjuro for up to 10 active projects. Additional project capacity, renewal after year one, and any ongoing support are priced separately; implementation scope is agreed in your proposal. The right leadership experience depends on your business.
Your illustrative budget difference
Your salary budget minus $150,000 salary and the $35,000 package, including one year of Conjuro for up to 10 active projects. Exclusions above apply.
The real reason you opened that job search
The business has grown.
The way it runs hasn’t caught up.
Everyone’s busy.
Work still gets stuck.
Projects move between people and tools. Somewhere in the middle, an approval, a promise, or a next step disappears.
You can’t get a straight picture.
A simple question about delivery turns into a meeting, three messages, and a spreadsheet that’s already out of date.
Your name is on every escalation.
You want to lead the company. You’re spending your days reminding, reconciling, and rescuing instead.
Your next COO shouldn’t have to build the operating system while trying to stop the chaos.
A leader. A system. A team to put it to work.
Give your operations leader a full-time Project Meister.
Conjuro is the AI-powered operating system around your leader. Its Project Meister helps turn scattered project information into a readable picture of the work: what’s happening, what needs attention, and what comes next.
Your leader brings judgment, manages people, and makes decisions. Ratio implements the system and trains them to use it in the day-to-day business.
- Make the business readable.
Bring project context, tasks, meetings, and client work into a shared operating picture.
- Start closing the cracks.
Make missed commitments, unclear ownership, and stalled work visible so your team can act.
- Keep the next move clear.
Give your leader a way to review priorities, follow through on decisions, and keep responsibility visible.
- Build around your culture.
Support a capable hire or internal candidate with workflows shaped around how your business actually works.
ILLUSTRATIVE HANDOFF / BEFORE“The client approved it. Did anyone tell delivery?”
The approval is in an email. The task is elsewhere. The project stalls until someone notices.
THE OPERATING PICTURE YOU NEEDApproval recorded. Next action owned. Blocker visible.
Your leader can see what needs to move and who needs to act, without reconstructing the story.
From firefighting to an operating rhythm
Start with where the work breaks.
We work with your leader and the people doing the work. The first priority is a useful operating picture of real projects.
Find the pressure points.
Map the handoffs, decisions, and recurring problems behind your COO search. Agree what your leader needs to own.
Put the system around live work.
Configure the agreed Conjuro workflows around your projects, responsibilities, and existing ways of working.
Help your leader take charge.
Train the leader and team, establish a review rhythm, and surface the gaps that need their attention.
Before you put the system to work
A few fair questions.
Do we still need an experienced leader?
You need someone with the judgment and management ability the role requires. Some businesses need a seasoned COO. Others can support a strong operations manager, director, or internal candidate stepping up. We explore that fit with you; the system supports leadership rather than replacing it.
Do you recruit the COO for us?
You hire or promote the leader. Ratio provides the Conjuro implementation and training around them. Recruitment is not included in this offer.
What does the $35,000 cover?
The $35,000 package includes operational discovery, agreed Conjuro configuration, implementation and training, plus one year of Conjuro for up to 10 active projects. Your proposal defines the deliverables and timeline. Additional project capacity, renewal after year one, and any ongoing support are priced separately.
Can we use this with someone already on the team?
Yes. A capable internal operator who understands your customers and culture may be a strong starting point. The conversation is about the responsibilities they can realistically own and the structure needed to support them.
Is this right for our business?
This offer is designed for project-based service businesses with 25–75 employees, recurring coordination problems, and an owner hiring or promoting an operations leader. We start by understanding your work and the role you need to fill.
Put the system around your operations leader
Let’s talk about the work you need off your plate.
Tell us what keeps breaking, what you need your next leader to own, and the hiring budget you’re considering. We’ll explore whether a capable operator, Conjuro, and Ratio are the right combination.