If you’ve ever hired an OBM to save your launch, but felt like the entire thing still landed on your shoulders, this one’s just for you.
Let’s get one thing clear right off the bat: I started out as an OBM and have so much respect for OBMs. I know firsthand how hard the work is and how much skill it takes to do it well. But I’ve also worked with more than 75 CEOs and have heard them say how frustrated they were with their OBM before KDC.
The problem? It’s not the OBM or that the CEO hired wrong.
It’s that there are unrealistic expectations on the OBMs role, and it’s creating a structural gap that leaves CEOs holding the bag (erm, launch).
The OBM role has become a bit of a catch-all that means different things to different people. So CEOs hire an OBM thinking they’re the solution to every one of their launch ops problems, but the reality is OBMs aren’t trained to strategically own the launch backend from top to bottom.
Can they execute? Keep your business ops running? Manage your team? Hell yes.
But building the plan, owning the decision-making structure, designing the launch systems, and leading the ops strategy? That’s a totally different role with a different skillset and mindset than OBMs.
In today’s episode, we’re naming that difference, what OBMs actually is, what that next-level ops leadership looks like, and how you can finally stop holding the launch together on your own. (Oh, and OBMs? I’m breaking down the growth path you’ve been craving.)
Pop in your earbuds and hit PLAY to hear…
- The difference between what most OBMs are trained to do & what a CEO actually needs to have a launch run without them
- What it means to “hold the thinking” of a launch & why this is the layer most CEOs are STILL carrying without realizing it
- The exact moment in launch week when the gap shows up (you’ve felt this one)
- The real reason CEOs keep feeling the gap even after they make the hire
- OBMs, this one’s for you! How to tell if you’re managing the work or architecting it
- What fractional COO-level ops leadership actually looks & feels like inside a launch
