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Ops or Die!

Ops or Die!

By: Katie Whitcraft and Maria Pienaar
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About this listen

Ops or Die is the no-fluff podcast where ScaleSpark’s Katie Whitcraft and Maria Pienaar get real about the operations chaos that kills startups—and how to fix it. Hear unfiltered takes, practical tips, and interviews with founders, VCs, and ops pros who know what it takes to scale smart and stay alive.

© 2025 ScaleSpark
Economics
Episodes
  • From Chaos to Clarity: The Punk Rock Guide to Business Ops
    May 9 2025

    Business Operations isn’t some boring back-office buzzword—it’s the backbone of your entire company. In this premiere episode, Katie Whitcraft and Maria Pienaar tear into what business ops really means, why most startups are one chaotic spreadsheet away from imploding, and how ops is the not-so-secret weapon behind scale, sanity, and actual success.

    From tech stacks to team workflows, expense policies to culture hacks—we’re breaking it all down with zero fluff, plenty of fire, and stories that prove: if you don’t get your ops together, you’re just winging it.

    💥 Whether you’re a founder, operator, or just someone who’s sick of business BS, this episode will change how you see the unsexy side of scaling. Spoiler alert: It’s the only part that actually works.

    See more on ScaleSpark at www.scalespark.ai

    Katie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiewhitcraft/

    Maria's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariapienaar/

    Images:
    Porter’s Value Chain model image courtesy of GetLucidity.com, from the article ‘Porter’s Value Chain: Your Map to Business Success’ (https://getlucidity.com/strategy-resources/guide-to-porters-value-chain/).

    Value Chain model image courtesy of Inchainge.com, from the article ‘Value Chain’ published June 7, 2023 (https://inchainge.com/knowledge/value-chain/).

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    46 mins

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