The Operator Network
The Operator Network (OpNet) is a private San Francisco collective of eight C-level executives — drawn from Okta, Slack, Wiz, Microsoft, and Salesforce — that invests personal capital alongside hands-on operating mentorship into early-stage founders, with a portfolio exceeding 100 companies.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What The Operator Network does
The Operator Network (OpNet) is a private, San Francisco-based collective founded in 2019 that pairs C-level executive operators with early-stage startup founders, providing hands-on operating mentorship alongside personal investment capital from each team member. The firm is not a fund or registered syndicate; its eight core members — Frederic Kerrest (Okta co-founder), Brad Armstrong (SVP at Rippling, former SVP at Slack), Ryan Carlson (President of Chainguard, former CMO of Wiz and Okta), Charles Dietrich (former Corporate VP at Microsoft, two-time private-company CEO), Jacques Kerrest (six-time public-company CFO), Avid Larizadeh Duggan (NED at Barclays UK), David Schellhase (former General Counsel of Slack, Groupon, and Salesforce), and Jake Randall (Partner at Windproof Partners) — invest individually and collaborate as a network rather than via pooled capital.
OpNet's underlying offering is unstructured advisory paired with personal-check investment: founders gain on-call access to operators with demonstrated GTM, G&A, legal, and finance expertise, plus introductions to potential customers, hires, and follow-on investors. The firm does not sell software, does not publish pricing, does not maintain a traditional sales motion, and relies entirely on portfolio-founder referrals and VC network introductions for deal sourcing. The portfolio exceeds 100 companies spanning cybersecurity (Abnormal Security, Chainguard), B2B SaaS (Pilot, Ironclad, Vendr, People.ai, Quantum Metric), healthcare AI (Modern Health, Ambience Healthcare, Iterative Scopes), design and collaboration (Figma, Guru, Canvas), aerospace (SpaceX, Zipline), and consumer/learning (MasterClass, Byju's).
Economically, OpNet generates no entity-level revenue from management fees or carry; financial returns accrue to individual members through equity appreciation and exits on their personal portfolio investments. Operating scale is intentionally minimal — the core team numbers fewer than ten — and the value proposition rests on the operating caliber of the eight named members rather than on capital scale, platform tooling, or external product surface.
The Operator Network firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Operator Network
- Website
- https://theoperatornetwork.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- The Operator Network (OpNet) is a private San Francisco collective of eight C-level executives — drawn from Okta, Slack, Wiz, Microsoft, and Salesforce — that invests personal capital alongside hands-on operating mentorship into early-stage founders, with a portfolio exceeding 100 companies.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where The Operator Network is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
The Operator Network business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Investment Returns from Portfolio Companies: The company generates returns through personal investment capital deployed into portfolio companies. As individual investors rather than a fund, returns come from equity appreciation and exits from their portfolio investments.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels2 records
The Operator Network product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Operator Network (OpNet) is a collective of public company C-level and SVP-level executives who invest personal capital into early-stage startup founders and provide hands-on operational mentorship in go-to-market, sales, finance, legal, and general management. The team members invest as individuals rather than operating as a traditional fund or syndicate, offering founders access to on-call subject matter experts drawn from companies such as Okta, Slack, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Wiz.
Product overview
The Operator Network (OpNet) is an investment and mentorship platform connecting C-level executive operators with early-stage founders. Rather than a traditional software product company, OpNet provides a single unified service offering: pairing experienced executives (from companies such as Okta, Slack, Wiz, Microsoft, and Salesforce) with entrepreneurs seeking operational expertise, go-to-market guidance, and personal investment capital. The team consists of eight core members: Frederic Kerrest (Vice Chairman & Co-Founder at Okta, Managing Partner at 515 Ventures & Windproof Partners), Brad Armstrong (SVP at Rippling, Former SVP at Slack), Ryan Carlson (President of Chainguard, Former CMO of Wiz and Okta), Charles Dietrich (Former Corporate VP at Microsoft and 2x CEO/co-founder), Jacques Kerrest (6-time public company CFO), Avid Larizadeh Duggan (Entrepreneur, Investor, Non Executive Director at Barclays UK), David Schellhase (Former General Counsel of Slack, Groupon, and Salesforce), and Jake Randall (Partner at Windproof Partners). OpNet is not a fund or syndicate; its members invest as individuals. The portfolio includes over 100 companies including Abnormal Security, Pilot.com, Modern Health, Figma, Okta, SpaceX, Guru, People.ai, Ironclad, and others.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Operator Mentorship and Personal Capital Investment A service for early-stage startup founders pairing them with C-level and SVP-level executive operators who invest personal capital alongside providing on-call operational mentorship covering go-to-market strategy, sales organization scaling, hiring, fundraising coaching, and general administration. Members invest as individuals rather than as a fund.
Companies that use The Operator Network
Customer profileNamed customers11 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
The Operator Network technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
The Operator Network partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
The Operator Network competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Competitive moat3 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
The Operator Network social profiles
Digital presenceThe Operator Network financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Operator Network leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
The Operator Network funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Operator Network M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments2 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Operator Network
What does The Operator Network do?
The Operator Network (OpNet) is a collective of public company C-level and SVP-level executives who invest personal capital into early-stage startup founders and provide hands-on operational mentorship in go-to-market, sales, finance, legal, and general management. The team members invest as individuals rather than operating as a traditional fund or syndicate, offering founders access to on-call subject matter experts drawn from companies such as Okta, Slack, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Wiz.
Is The Operator Network a public or private company?
The Operator Network is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was The Operator Network founded?
The Operator Network was founded in 2019. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is The Operator Network based?
The Operator Network is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does The Operator Network make money?
One revenue line is on record: investment Returns from Portfolio Companies.
Does The Operator Network have an API?
No public API is recorded for The Operator Network.