Terach Franchi

I was Chief of Staff at Carry1st, a venture-backed mobile games publisher in Africa backed by a16z, Sony and Google, where my remit was strategy, corporate development and strategic finance. I came into the role from the investing side — M&A at Evercore, then fintech investing at IFC and Apis Partners — and left it to found my own company. That arc is the thing most useful to people considering this job. Chief of Staff is one of the least standardised roles in tech. Two people with the same title can be doing completely different work: one is running board and fundraising processes, the other is managing the CEO's calendar. Before you take an offer, you need to know which one you're being hired for, because they lead to different places three years out. I coach on getting into the role and on doing it well. On the way in: how to read a CoS job spec for what the founder actually wants, how to position a banking, consulting or investing background for an operating seat, how to handle case and judgment interviews, and how to negotiate scope and equity when the role has no comparable. On the job: running board meetings and investor reporting, owning fundraising workstreams, building strategic finance, and the harder part — holding influence without headcount, and knowing when the role has stopped compounding and it's time to move into a line role, a fund, or your own thing.