The Age of the Operator

Mark Rampolla — May 20, 2025

The Age of the Oper­a­tor was the theme of our Investor Day last month, and the con­ver­sa­tions that fol­lowed rein­forced why it mat­ters more than ever.

We called it The Age of the Oper­a­tor not as a dec­la­ra­tion, but as a recog­ni­tion: in today’s envi­ron­ment, hav­ing the right per­son at the helm can make or break a busi­ness. It’s lone­ly at the top and we want­ed to rec­og­nize and sup­port our lead­ers. Even the best lead­ers can’t do it alone. So we asked:

What kind of sup­port sys­tem do they need?
Who can they turn to for real, unvar­nished insight?

One thing we’ve learned at Ground­Force Cap­i­tal is the val­ue of get­ting oper­a­tors in the same room. Founders, CEOs, and builders. To com­pare notes, ask the hard ques­tions, and learn from each other’s mis­takes.

The ener­gy and hon­esty in those dis­cus­sions are unmatched. We’ve also been inten­tion­al about bring­ing in addi­tion­al oper­at­ing advi­sors who have lived it. Peo­ple who have scaled busi­ness­es through com­plex­i­ty and still know how to roll up their sleeves.

Three recent addi­tions for us include:

• Adam Eskin, Founder & Exec­u­tive Chair­man of DIG.
• Shawn Bushouse, for­mer COO and CFO of Vital Pro­teins.
• Erin Dwyer, for­mer dig­i­tal lead at Drunk Ele­phant (acquired by Shi­sei­do) & OUAI (acquired by Proc­ter & Gam­ble).

They are not with us to run com­pa­nies, but they’re here to lis­ten, chal­lenge, and offer real-time advice to our port­fo­lio com­pa­ny oper­a­tors nav­i­gat­ing growth today.

None of us have all the answers, but togeth­er, we might just ask bet­ter ques­tions.

If you’re an oper­a­tor, founder, or investor, let us know what kind of sup­port has made the biggest dif­fer­ence for you.