Hiring a COO isn’t easy at the early-stage and is wrought with more danger than potential success. Make sure you take the time to understand if you are ready for this hire. When it is done right, the impact on you and the company is tremendous.
Find out their wins above replacement. Through the stories they tell, look to see if the end result of the thing they did would have been significantly worse without their involvement. Try to separate their actions from those of their team or the circumstance. This quality should both highlight their talents and their sense of agency and