Operations Nation
Operations Nation is a London-based, bootstrapped community and education platform serving 800+ COOs and operations leaders at startups and scaleups, offering paid memberships, a £2,499 14-week COO Course, workshops, and a COO Survival Guide book, delivered entirely on third-party SaaS tooling.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Operations Nation does
Operations Nation (legal entity: Operations Nation LTD, registered in the United Kingdom and headquartered in London) is a community-powered knowledge hub serving Chief Operating Officers, VPs, Directors, and Heads of Operations at startups and scaleups. The company curates a membership community of 800+ operations leaders globally, providing peer connection through an application-based community platform (powered by Disco) and Slack discussions, supplemented by 35+ yearly events including the annual cONference and local meetups concentrated in London.
The commercial product portfolio spans four streams: (1) subscription community memberships priced at £19/month, £190/year, or £250/year under a pay-it-forward model, with PPP-based regional pricing, a 60% non-profit discount, and free community-funded memberships for those between roles; (2) the flagship 14-week COO Course at £2,499+VAT covering strategic planning, organizational design, finance, comms, and leadership, with 146 participants across 7 cohorts at a 9.1/10 average rating; (3) half-day COO Workshops on scaling and AI integration at £290-390 per session; and (4) the COO Survival Guide, billed as the world's first book for startup COOs written by COOs, distributed in chapters via Airtable.
The platform itself is built entirely on third-party SaaS (Disco, Slack, Airtable, Notion, Mailchimp) with no proprietary technology; the company's defensibility sits in its curated community, 15+ trusted community partnerships (Capsule, Donut, Oyster, Wilson Sonsini, LegalEdge, Trust Keith, etc.), content library, and the credibility of 100+ expert contributors. The company is bootstrapped, co-founded by Charlene Chen (former COO of AZA Finance and Lantum) and Aušrinė Keršanskaitė (Head of Operations at Reframe Technologies), with an advisory board including Ben Gateley, James Mayes, and Kelsey Traher, and appears to operate on a capital-efficient, organically grown model.
Operations Nation firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Operations Nation
- Legal name
- Operations Nation LTD
- Website
- https://operationsnation.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Operations Nation is a London-based, bootstrapped community and education platform serving 800+ COOs and operations leaders at startups and scaleups, offering paid memberships, a £2,499 14-week COO Course, workshops, and a COO Survival Guide book, delivered entirely on third-party SaaS tooling.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Operations Nation industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Professional Education and Community
- NAICS
- Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Knowledge Management & Wikis (BPAMAMAH)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Executive Summits & Invitation-Only Forums (MPAGAGAK)
Keywords
Where Operations Nation is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Operations Nation business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Community Membership: Monthly and annual subscription memberships providing access to the ON Community platform, Slack discussions, resources library, events, and exclusive partner perks. Memberships are auto-renewing subscriptions with monthly (£19) or annual (£190) billing. Pay-it-forward option at £250/year supports another member's access.
- COO Course: 14-week online course for COOs and senior ops leaders priced at £2,499 + VAT. The course includes live sessions with experienced COOs, accountability groups, pre-recorded videos, 1:1 office hours, digital workbook, and private cohort group. Participants who complete 80%+ attendance receive an official COO Course certificate.
- COO Workshops: Half-day workshops on scaling in the age of AI, limited to 8-10 COOs per session. In-person workshops priced at £390, virtual sessions at £290. Workshops are standalone offerings with no commitment beyond attendance.
- COO Survival Guide (Book): The world's first book for startup COOs, written by COOs. Currently 5 chapters available (Chapters 1-5) covering the role of startup COO, how to become a COO, first 90 days, team positioning, and strategy execution. Additional chapters in development.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Monthly Community Membership |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual Community Membership |
| Subscription | Annual | Pay-it-forward Community Membership |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | COO Course (14-week program) |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | COO Workshop - In-person |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | COO Workshop - Virtual |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Operations Nation product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Operations Nation is a community-powered knowledge hub for operations leaders at startups and scaleups. It sells access to a curated community platform (ON Community), a 14-week online COO Course priced at £2,499 + VAT, half-day in-person and virtual COO Workshops, a multi-chapter COO Survival Guide book, and runs 35+ yearly events including an annual cONference.
Product overview
Operations Nation is a community-powered knowledge hub for operations leaders, offering a platform of interconnected learning and networking products. The core offering is the ON Community (membership platform with Slack discussions, resources, events, and perks), supplemented by structured learning products including the COO Course (14-week online programme at £2,499 + VAT), COO Survival Guide (a multi-chapter book written by COOs for COOs), and COO Workshops (half-day in-person/virtual sessions at £290-390). The platform also provides Events programming and a Partner Resources library. All products are designed specifically for startup and scaleup operations leaders at Series A-C stages.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- COO Course: A 14-week online course for COOs and senior ops leaders at startups and scaleups, covering core competencies including strategic planning, organizational design, finance, communications, and leadership skills.
- COO Survival Guide
- COO Workshops
- cONference
Products and services
- ON Community Membership Subscription membership granting access to the ON Community platform, private Slack workspace, resources library, events, and exclusive partner perks for individual operations leaders.
- COO Course
Quantifiable outcome
- 20-30% increase in confidence reported by COO Course participants (measured by Operations Leadership Competency Scorecard)
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Operations Nation
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Operations Nation technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Operations Nation partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- CapsulecoreInsurance partner providing value to operations professionals through exclusive discounts and resources on business insurance for growing companies.
- DonutcoreEmployee experience platform partner helping automate and scale people programs. Provides resources and exclusive access for ON community members.
- Foundation PartnerscoreAdvisory, fractional, or fully embedded People & Talent team partner supporting operations professionals with HR and talent expertise.
- Irwin MitchellminorUK Immigration solicitors providing legal resources and support for operations leaders navigating immigration matters for global teams.
- ISO SeriousminorISO 27001 implementation support partner helping operations leaders achieve security compliance and certification.
- LegalEdgecoreFractional legal counsel services providing startup operations legal resources, brand protection guidance, and navigating legal matters.
- Onside AccountingcoreAccounting and tax services for startups providing financial guidance, spending tips, and accounting resources for operations leaders.
- OystercoreGlobal employment platform partner providing hiring guides, hybrid work resources, global talent resources, and employment tools for ON members building global teams.
- RORAcoreFractional FinOps teams for startups and beyond providing financial operations expertise and resources for operations leaders.
- SeedlingminorCarbon accounting platform helping companies get on the path to Net Zero. Provides sustainability resources including carbon reduction guides and carbon accounting tutorials.
- SunbayminorRevenue automation framework for B2B finance teams providing resources for operations and finance alignment.
- Trust KeithcoreData protection experts with dedicated team backed up by software. Provides free office hours and case studies for ON community members.
- Wilson SonsiniminorLaw firm focused on US launch, expansion, fundraising, partnerships, M&As, and IPOs providing legal resources for growth-stage companies.
- Work.LifeminorB Corp certified flexible workspace provider offering resources on offsites and flexible workspace solutions for operations leaders.
- YuLifeminorAll-in-one insurance and wellbeing benefit partner providing employee benefits resources for ON community members.
- Crafty CounselminorCommunity partner where in-house legal professionals can grow their network, nurture their career, and cultivate resources.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Operations Nation competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Reforge: A premium, cohort-based learning community and course series for product, growth, and engineering leaders at tech companies — same high-touch cohort-course + vetted-community operating model as the COO Course, but at much larger venture-backed scale.
- Pavilion: A private membership community for revenue leaders (Sales, Marketing, RevOps, Ops) at high-growth companies — closest analog to Operations Nation's vetted-community + paid-course model, just targeted at revenue leaders instead of operations/COO leaders.
- Mind the Product: A global community and event/conference series for product managers, founded by James Mayes (who sits on the Operations Nation advisory board). Highly analogous event-driven + content-driven community model applied to product management rather than operations.
Emerging players
- RevOps Coop: A community-driven membership organization for revenue operations professionals — closest adjacency to operations leaders, with overlapping pain points (cross-functional alignment, tooling, scaling), though narrower RevOps scope than ON's broader COO remit.
- Lenny's Newsletter / Lenny Rachitsky: A subscription-based knowledge community for product management leaders via newsletter and Slack — analogous knowledge-sharing + community monetization model at single-creator scale rather than team-led like ON.
Broad incumbents
- OnDeck: A community and fellowship program for founders, operators, and investors, with paid programs, events, and peer groups. Comparable community-plus-program model at broader scope across the startup ecosystem.
- First Round Review / First Round Network: First Round Capital's operator- and founder-focused content network and community for early-stage startups; overlaps in audience (startup COOs and ops leaders) and program model though tied to a VC ecosystem rather than independent.
- Chief: A vetted, invitation-based private membership network for C-suite and senior executive women, with events, peer groups, and content. Direct analog in the curated-executive-community model though broader in scope than ON's COO focus.
- Product-Led Alliance: A large community and education platform for product-led growth practitioners, founded by Wes Bush. Operates a similar subscription-plus-events-plus-content model but for product/growth rather than operations leaders.
Regional players
- Crafty Counsel: A community for in-house legal professionals — listed as an Operations Nation community partner. Analogous horizontal professional community model (skill/career development, peer network) but for legal rather than operations roles, and primarily UK/EU-leaning.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Operations Nation social profiles
Digital presenceOperations Nation financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Operations Nation leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Operations Nation funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Operations Nation M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Operations Nation
What does Operations Nation do?
Operations Nation is a community-powered knowledge hub for operations leaders at startups and scaleups. It sells access to a curated community platform (ON Community), a 14-week online COO Course priced at £2,499 + VAT, half-day in-person and virtual COO Workshops, a multi-chapter COO Survival Guide book, and runs 35+ yearly events including an annual cONference.
Is Operations Nation a public or private company?
Operations Nation is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Operations Nation founded?
Operations Nation was founded in 2013. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Operations Nation based?
Operations Nation is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Operations Nation make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Community Membership is the primary driver. The others are COO Course, COO Workshops and COO Survival Guide (Book).
Who are Operations Nation's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Reforge, Pavilion and Mind the Product. Emerging players are RevOps Coop and Lenny's Newsletter / Lenny Rachitsky. Broad incumbents are OnDeck, First Round Review / First Round Network, Chief and Product-Led Alliance. Crafty Counsel is listed as a regional player.
Does Operations Nation have an API?
No public API is recorded for Operations Nation.
What industry is Operations Nation in?
Operations Nation's product category is Professional Education and Community. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAMAH, Knowledge Management & Wikis, with a secondary code of MPAGAGAK, Executive Summits & Invitation-Only Forums. Its NAICS code is 561920 and its SIC code is 8600.