The Operational Debt That Kills Series A Rounds

Investors aren't just looking at growth; they're looking at scalability. If your back office is held together by duct tape and Zapier zaps, you have "operational debt." And it will kill your Series A round.

What is Operational Debt?

Just like technical debt, operational debt accumulates when you choose quick fixes over scalable systems. It looks like manual onboarding processes, messy CRM data, and founder-dependent decision making. At Seed stage, this is fine. At Series A, it's a red flag.

The "Bus Factor"

If you (the founder) got hit by a bus tomorrow, would the company survive? If the answer is no, you have a systems problem. Series A investors invest in machines, not just people. They need to know the business runs without you.

Fixing the Foundation

• Document every core process (SOPs).
• Automate low-value, repetitive tasks.
• Hire for "process ownership," not just task execution.