Brandon Mason
Chief Advisor
About
The team big firms won't send and freelancers can't staff.
A fractional COO and the team that builds the systems and runs them, instead of only advising on them. Durham, North Carolina, working with clients nationally.
The pattern we kept seeing: the owner knew what was wrong. Sometimes they had paid someone to tell them. What was missing was anyone willing to do the work, train the team, and still be there in month nine when the tool updated and the process broke.
We build the systems that run a company's day to day. And for the firms that would rather build it in-house, we teach their team to do it.
The philosophy
We are builders on the frontier of AI, on the ground with small and mid-sized businesses.
Illustration
Tool ecosystem
We start with what you have.
01What thinks
- Claude
- ChatGPT
- Cursor
- OpenRouter
02What connects
- n8n
- Composio
- MCP
- Browserbase
03Where the work lives
- Notion
- Supabase
- Twenty
- GitHub
And your stack. We connect what you already run, through its API where there is one, through a browser agent where there is not. You keep your tools.
Who you work with
Alejandro Morales
Alejandro has spent over a decade between business operations and technology, and he works with owners directly on every engagement.
He co-hosts RDU SMB, serves as PR Chair at Rotary Club Capital City (Raleigh), and is Board President of XPX Triangle.
- Experience
- Over a decade, operations and technology
- Based
- Downtown Durham, North Carolina
We work with clients across the country. Durham-Chapel Hill-Raleigh, North Carolina.
the people doing the work
The Stoics Behind It
Marcos Morales
Marketing Coordinator
Ysabel Goncalves
Digital Content Manager
Jorge Martí
PPC Manager
Pablo Berti
Tech Manager
Where we show up
Memberships
Exit planning and local chambers. The rooms where owner-led firms and their advisors already meet.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a fractional COO?
A chief operating officer engaged part-time, usually by a business too small to justify the full-time role. They set operating priorities, fix process, and make the business run without the owner in every decision. Most are advisors. STOA pairs the role with the team that builds and runs the systems.
- What does a fractional COO cost?
Market rates run from a few thousand dollars a month for a limited engagement upward. STOA prices the work rather than the seat: a fixed-price system build from $2,000, and ongoing System Care from $800 a month, both published.
- Fractional COO or an operations consultant?
A consultant produces a recommendation. STOA produces a working system and stays to run it. If an engagement ends in a document and nothing is running, it is not STOA's work.
Operations Walkthrough
Leave with a one-page map
90 minutes, free. Three systems in priority order, with prices.
Free 90-minute session
No obligation on either side
Walk out with your map
Free · 90 min · no obligation