Embedded Operators

The scar tissue of scaling, plugged into your team on demand

Operators who’ve already made the mistakes, so your team doesn’t have to. They join seamlessly with your people and do the work, from GTM execution and revenue to partnerships and market entry.

The expertise and trust of a senior hire, without the time, cost or long-term commitment of making one.

650+ Companies Served

Experienced hands brought in when something’s changing, not only when it’s broken.

Growth and scaling support tends to arrive as advice that’s too distant to change how the business runs, or as intervention that lands too late and with more pressure. There’s a wide gap in between that Embedded Operators fill.

Companies engage Think & Grow for Embedded Operators because…

They have a growth plan but not all the senior hands they need to execute it
They need experience and know-how in a new market fast, without committing to a permanent hire
A key leadership seat is empty and the work can’t wait for a six-month search
They need extra operating capacity and expert judgement in the business now
They need a specific skill (pipeline, product, partnerships) for a defined GTM push, not for forever
Think & Grow knew the market and launched us with the right people to get the business moving. The country manager they placed is the best we’ve hired.
Xavier Collins
Xavier Collins
VP UK at Turo
They guided us on how to expand our market reach, enter new regions and reach new customer segments and gave us the confidence and direction to actually do it.
Keira Lewis
Keira Lewis
GM at Vudoo
We trust Think & Grow, their network as well as their understanding of our business is super strong. They had the right person before I’d even met them! I’d recommend them to any business.
Andrew Malak
Andrew Malak
CPTO at Prospa
About service

What is the Embedded Operators service?

More and more, GTM success is pinned on the quality of decisions, structure and execution. Your success hinges on the leaders in your business and the ground they’re able to cover. Fewer teams have what they need than you’d expect.

We embed people who've already scaled into the markets you're targeting, so you get exactly the expertise you need, for as long as you need it, without the cost, risk and lead time of a permanent executive hire.

Abstract globe illustration with orange circles and connecting lines representing a global network

What you get with Embedded Operators

Access to our global bench of operators across six continents. People who’ve built and scaled inside companies like Google, AWS, PayPal, Microsoft and Qantas. We match the right operator, or a fractional team of them, to your needs. Common ways operators plug in:

Fractional GTM & revenue leadership
In-market launch execution
Partnership & co-sell activation
Product marketing & positioning
Sales team build & enablement
Pipeline generation
Interim leadership cover
Growth-program delivery
Founder & board advisory

The operator advantage

The people in the room with you won’t be consultants. These are highly experienced operators, who’ve scaled some of the world’s most successful companies. They don't just advise growth. They've lived it. We currently have 50+ operators across the world, including:

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Bhumika Arora
Bhumika Arora
NAMER

Toronto-based GTM, revenue and partnerships operator for SaaS and AI companies. Background across Customer Success, Big Four consulting and finance, with executive roles in EdTech, FinTech and CommsTech.

Chris Staines
Chris Staines
B2B SaaS growth operator, APJ

B2B SaaS growth operator who's scaled teams across Australia, the US, UK and Asia. Ex-Managing Director & CSO at Sinch MessageMedia, Head of Field Channel at MYOB, and Country Manager at Zomato.

David Corbin
David Corbin
GTM and market-expansion operator, APJ

Tokyo-based, Japanese-fluent GTM and market-expansion operator. Has led product and GTM at startups and global tech firms across APAC, and supports companies expanding in and out of Japan.

Eric Weiss
Eric Weiss
Growth leader, EMEA

Lisbon-based growth leader who helps organisations accelerate commercial impact and scale, across growth marketing, partnerships and indirect channels, and sales and business development.

Hayley Rose
Hayley Rose
Growth specialist, APJEMEA

Melbourne-based growth specialist blending product, marketing, strategy and partnerships over 18+ years. Experience with L'Oréal, Vogue, General Motors and Accenture; now focused on the health and wellness ecosystem.

Jill Rubin
Jill Rubin
Marketing and strategy executive, NAMER

San Francisco-based marketing and strategy executive with a track record scaling B2B tech and SaaS, including VP Marketing at Occipital and Nextlabs, and CMO at Epiphany Collective, spanning product launches, positioning, communications and GTM.

Julian Baring
Julian Baring
Growth leader , EMEA

Growth leader with 25+ years across sales, BD, ops and strategy, and a founding team member in 8+ ventures. Scaled a $100M+ global adtech business and led US market entry for an ASX-listed company through to acquisition.

Kylie Frazer
Kylie Frazer
Venture investor, APJ

Venture investor and former M&A lawyer; Co-Founding Partner of Flying Fox Ventures. 15 years advising on complex transactions and post-merger integration; Investor-in-Residence at UNSW.

Leandro Bark
Leandro Bark
B2B tech sales leader, APJ

Buenos Aires-based (14 years in Singapore) B2B tech sales leader. Combines commercial science, global frameworks and AI to design predictable revenue systems that drive Profitable Efficient Growth.

Who we are

Our global footprint

Our Work 

Case studies

Operators embedded to launch a market

Stripe was launching into Australia without a local network or brand. Our operators embedded with the international expansion team to build the launch plan, run six founder events across Sydney and Melbourne, and activate local hiring.

ANZ new market launch

Compete arrived in ANZ with no local base. Our operators ran founder-led roadshows across three cities and built the team behind the demand: 1,000+ ecosystem connections and 86+ customers in six months.

Operator-led expertise

Our team hasn’t just studied growth, they’ve done it.

The people we embed aren’t consultants or juniors. They’ve held leadership positions in companies like Google, PayPal, Microsoft, and AWS, and scaled markets, so they add value from week one. And they don’t come alone: one embedded operator brings our collective expertise behind them.

Because Embedded Operators sits inside our full Growth Stack, you can pull in market intelligence, GTM playbook or even an AI Audit Workshop, so execution against your growth objectives never stalls waiting on another vendor.

Jonathan Jeffries (JJ)

Co-Founder of Think & Grow and co-creator of AWS's Global Passport Program (27 cities, 200+ firms). Has helped Stripe, Square, Peloton and Dropbox enter Australia and scaled Envato, Redbubble and Harrison.ai globally; LaunchVic Ecosystem Hero.

Jonathan Jeffries (JJ)
Founder & CEO
Simon Robinson

Growth Partner and operator who helped build companies including Groupon from an early stage, now scaling tech companies through GTM, hiring and digital transformation.

Simon Robinson
Growth Partner & Operator
Jacqui Rowlands

Global Strategy and Program Lead with 20 years across AWS, Bain and Telstra, spearheading initiatives like the AWS Passport Program to boost tech exports.

Jacqui Rowlands
Global Strategy and Program Lead
Anneliese Urquhart

A senior digital, product, and AI leader with over 20 years of experience helping tech businesses grow using practical, customer-centred digital and AI solutions.

Anneliese Urquhart
AI Practice Lead
Taryn Williams

Multi-exit, award-winning founder (theright.fit, Wink Models, #Gifted). Has raised VC in Australia and internationally and helped 50+ founders scale, raise and exit. AICD graduate and Harvard alum; board roles at Fishburners and Next25.

Taryn Williams
Growth Operator
Get started

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

An experienced operator from Think & Grow’s global bench who embeds directly into your team to execute a GTM initiative, like pipeline, partnerships or product, doing the work alongside your people, not just advising from the outside.

Consultants usually do one of two things: advise from afar or hand you a strategy to play out on your own. An embedded operator has built and scaled companies themselves and does the work with you — owning the outcome, then handing it over when it’s running. It’s the difference between advice about how a business should run and someone who helps run it.

You’re not recruiting anyone. You’re borrowing a proven operator, or a fractional team, for as long as you need — no search, no lead time, no long-term commitment — with the whole Growth Stack behind them. When you do want to build the permanent team, our People Services can place the hire.

We currently have 50+ operators across five continents, spanning GTM, operations, partnerships, sales and marketing, market entry and more. People who’ve operated inside companies like Google, AWS, PayPal, Microsoft and Qantas. We match the right one to your needs and market.

As long as the work needs, from a focused few-month push to an interim leadership stint, scoped up front and flexible as things change.

Book a call. We’ll talk through the gap you’re filling and match the right operator to it.

Intelligence hub

Discover in-depth reports, practical guides, and first-hand advice from our expert operators and team

The 20% People Problem Capping Your Growth, featuring JJ, CEO & Founder of Think & Grow
Articles
People & Leadership
6
 min read

The 20% People Problem Capping Your Growth

How to identify the drifters, plodders, and disruptors in your team, potentially blocking growth.
Think & Grow banner for "Shadow AI: What Every Board Needs to Own," featuring JJ, CEO
Articles
GTM & Growth
5
 min read

Shadow AI: What Every Board Needs to Own Before It Owns Them

Shadow AI isn't a staff problem - it's a board problem. Here's what directors need to own before governance falls further behind adoption.
Stuart Kelly, Managing Director NAMER at Think & Grow
Articles
GTM & Growth
6
 min read

Revenue Share, Co-Sell, or Embed: Which Partnership Model is Right for your Business?

Decide which partnership model is right for your stage and your goals.

Ready to scale into your next market?