The operational rigor of scale-ups, for the founders building them.
Growing companies outgrow how they operate before they outgrow the market. I install the operating cadence, financial discipline, and performance systems that early-stage founders need before a full executive bench is affordable — and that growth-stage CEOs need to keep scaling without breaking what they built.
Twenty years turning ambitious strategy into operating systems that hold under pressure.
I'm Ignacio (Nacho) Morillas. I help founders and CEOs build companies that can keep growing without breaking. I'm brought in at two moments: when an early-stage team needs senior operating muscle before a full executive bench is affordable, and when a fast-growing company has outgrown its operating model and needs it rebuilt.
I started at McKinsey, where I spent six years and made Associate Partner in the Operations practice, leading transformations for Fortune 500 clients in consumer goods, pharma, and technology. I then spent a decade as an operator: SVP and General Manager at Gilt Groupe, COO of Care/of, COO and CFO of Hammerhead, and Head of Operations and Platform at Redesign Health, a 250-person healthcare venture studio. Three of those companies, Care/of, Hammerhead, and Gilt Groupe, exited to Bayer, SRAM, and Hudson's Bay Company.
Today I run Morsen Growth Partners, a fractional and advisory practice for founders in consumer, digital health, and AI-native businesses, from the seed round through the scale phase. I work AI-native in my own practice across modeling, analysis, and operating cadence. I help client teams adopt AI tools where they earn their place. I'm based in Boston, work with clients globally, and operate in English, Spanish, and French.
“Tell me your idea, and I will tell you the 20 things we need to do to get there, the 10 things that may go wrong, and the mitigation plans to make sure they don't. That partnership, where we challenge each other, is where the best work happens.” — Nacho Morillas
Three ways to work together.
- Consumer
- Digital Health
- Marketplaces
- Connected Fitness
- AI-Native
Every engagement starts with the same question: what does this business actually need right now? The model below follows from the answer, not the other way around.
Fractional COO / CFO
An embedded operating leader for founders who need senior C-suite capability before a full-time hire makes sense, typically at seed and Series A. I run the operating cadence, financial planning, and cross-functional execution so the founding team can stay focused on product and customers.
- Operating cadence: OKRs, weekly accountability reviews, KPI dashboards
- Financial planning, modeling, and unit-economics work
- Fundraising preparation and investor narrative
- Org design and team scaling
- Cross-functional alignment on the few things that matter most
Strategic Consulting
A bounded engagement built around one outcome. I diagnose the real problem, design the change with the team, and stay through implementation so the new operating model holds after I leave.
- Operating-model design and implementation
- Transformation and turnaround
- Pre-acquisition diligence and integration planning
- Regulatory readiness (FDA, quality systems, audit)
- Automation and modern tooling, applied where they earn their place
Advisory & Board
An ongoing thinking-partner relationship for CEOs and founders who want pattern recognition on call: two decades of operating across consumer, digital health, and marketplace businesses, applied to the decision in front of you.
- Strategic counsel on scaling, fundraising, and exit
- Board preparation and governance design
- Operating-cadence and metrics frameworks
- Leadership-team alignment and founder coaching
- Independent board or advisory seat
Two decades of operating leadership across consumer, digital health, and marketplaces.
Executive-team member overseeing strategy, operations, and customer support for a 250-person studio supporting 65+ early-stage digital health ventures.
- Built the venture-creation operating system that enabled 15 to 20 new company launches a year; improved efficiency 25% and founder satisfaction 4x
- Stood up company-wide cadence (OKRs, leadership reviews, KPI systems) across 30+ concurrent workstreams
- Led the org-wide AI transformation initiative across knowledge management and workflow automation
- Served on the Portfolio Governance Committee; board member of portfolio company Stitch PEO
Led the end-to-end launch of Hammerhead's flagship cycling computer through global supply-chain disruption, then steered the business through fundraising and a strategic exit to SRAM.
- Beat three-month sales projections within three weeks; reached $12M annualized revenue in five months
- Raised a Series A extension and multi-million-dollar debt financing; supported the Series B process that led to the SRAM acquisition
- Led acquisition diligence and integration with SRAM
Joined as the first senior operating hire after Series A and owned end-to-end operations through hyperscale: supply chain, fulfillment, customer experience, and unit economics.
- Drove contribution margin from negative to 45%+ by reimagining each element of the operating model
- Scaled revenue ~$10M to $40M+ (350% growth) and the team from 70 to 350 people
- Built FDA-compliant fulfillment through audit risk; partnered with the CEO and Board on $70M Series B and C through to Bayer's acquisition
Owned $50M+ P&L for Gilt City, a two-sided local marketplace connecting national brands and independent businesses with consumers across 13 U.S. markets.
- Cut new-deal launch time from 7 days down to 2; turned the business profitable within the first 9 months
- Improved sales productivity 25% and customer experience 30% through dashboards, incentive design, and prioritization
- Sustained 20% YoY growth for three years; prepared a cleaner P&L for the HBC acquisition
Led strategic transformations for Fortune 500 clients across consumer goods, pharma, and technology.
- End-to-end supply-chain turnaround for a $9B CPG client: 20% inventory savings
- Growth strategy for a consumer client: 30%+ growth through retail-partner collaboration
- Five-year transformation for a $20B pharma client across manufacturing, product development, and supply chain
Twenty years, three exits, real numbers.
How I think about operating partnership.
Listen first.
The people closest to the work know it best, and know its problems best. The first days are a listening tour, not a directive: watching how the work actually happens, while identifying both the long-term priorities and the immediate actions to take.
Every doubling is a redesign.
Every time the team doubles, you have to rethink how the company operates. What worked at 15 people quietly breaks at 50. The talent and the systems for zero-to-one are not the talent and systems for one-to-100.
Visibility before accountability.
A culture of accountability is built on shared visibility: clear goals, clean metrics, named owners. People cannot hit a target they cannot see.
The leadership team is your first team.
Not your direct reports. The C-suite has to row in one direction, even when that means one function trading a short-term win to protect another, because that is what the business needs.
Execution is a strategic advantage.
Strategy without operating capability is just hope. The operator's job is to close that gap with disciplined cadence, rigorous metrics, and the willingness to surface what isn't working before it becomes expensive.
AI where it earns its place.
I use the tools the work calls for, including modern AI where it earns its place across modeling, analysis, and operating work. I help client teams do the same: deliberately, not for show.
Let's talk about where your business is going.
If you're a founder or CEO at an inflection point, scaling fast, working through a transformation, or preparing for a fundraise or a transaction, I'd like to hear what you're building.
The first conversation is a 30-minute call to understand your situation and decide together whether there's a fit. No charge, no commitment.
I read every message and reply within two business days.