for owner-led businesses ready to scale
A CTO and a COO
at your table.
Until your team can run it.
Plenty of owner-led businesses grow for years without senior tech or operations help. I've done both jobs. I'll work alongside you, part-time, on the systems, numbers, people and AI that let the business scale without everything running through you, then hand it over.
Lee BooyFormer CTO, The Missing Link. Former COO and co-owner, The ID Crowd.
Where Lee has led, before antics:amaysim, through its 2015 ASX listingThe Missing Link, $120m IT servicesThe ID Crowd, which joined Deloitte in 2022Deloitte, COO & Principal HCaaS
sound familiar?
The business grew.
Everything still lands on you.
You're selling, delivering and running the place, and the big calls get made alone at 9pm. The business needs systems, reporting and a second senior head, often before it can comfortably pay for them.
Greg Crabtree calls one version of this the black hole: the stretch between $1m and $5m where a lot of good businesses get stuck. The pattern isn't tied to a number, though. It turns up whenever a business outgrows the way it's run.
The black hole, explainedThe black hole: Greg Crabtree, Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits!
- You find out a job lost money after it's invoiced.
- Hiring calls get made without a view of the next six months.
- The systems grew one app at a time, and nobody's sure what's backed up.
- You bought the AI seats. A couple of people fly, most don't.
- You're the best salesperson you've got, and the admin keeps you from selling.
- That one task that eats half your Tuesday.
what I work on
The work a CTO and a COO would do,
a day or two a month.
01
the CTO half
Time back
I hunt down the jobs eating your week and your team's, and give the hours back to selling and the work: simpler process, better tools, and AI where it earns its place.
- Expenses that file themselves into Xero
- Proposals that start from a solid first draft
- AI your team actually uses, with a person checking the output
02
the COO half
The compass
Your 12-month operating plan, held loosely, and a team shaped to match.
- Hiring triggers: hit this revenue, add this person
- Roles and owners, so it isn't all you
- Built on the numbers your accountant or CFO already keeps
03
the calls in between
Tech and tool calls
A CTO's eye on what to buy, build, secure or leave alone.
- Build or buy, decided on the numbers
- Security and backups that would survive a bad day
- IT contracts and vendor quotes checked before you sign
Every change gets an owner, a date and a check a month later, so it sticks.
The COO and CTO work, in detailthe way through
Senior help while you grow.
Then I hand it over.
The usual path I plan for: start at two days a month, settle at one, then step down to the monthly rhythm. Success is the month you don't need me.
01 · First 90 days
Get steady
Your 12-month plan drafted, the monthly rhythm running, security basics checked, the IT and software bills reviewed, and the first fixes done.
Usually two days a month02 · Months 4 to 12
Build
Systems joined up, roles and owners set, the next hire made, and a few AI jobs owned by your own team.
One or two days a month03 · When your team can run it
Hand over
Your people run the monthly meeting and keep the numbers current. If you need a hire to take over, I help find them.
The rhythm, then stophow it runs and what it costs
A monthly rhythm, hands-on days,
and a pack to match.
01.
The report
02.
The meeting
03.
The sounding board
04.
Hands-on days
That's the rhythm, and it's in every pack. We meet for an hour; the rest happens around it: the prep, the plan kept current, the follow-up.
Packs from $1,000 a month, ex GST.See the packs and prices
Or start with two days under the hood: a day in your business, a day on the numbers, then a one-page read-out. $4,000 fixed, ex GST.
Book a 30-min chatwho you're working with
Lee Booy
Founder, /antics. Former CTO and COO.
I've sat in both chairs.
25 years in tech and operations. The chapter that matters most here is The ID Crowd, a business of 16 people, where I was COO and co-owner. We grew 50% a year, cut invoicing from six weeks after the work to one, and the team joined Deloitte in 2022.
More about Lee, and NicBefore antics · The ID Crowd, 2019-2022
Invoiced in one week instead of six.
COO and co-owner. The whole team saw the runway and margins every month, and cash runway went from weeks to months.
Before antics · The Missing Link, 2017-2019
Customer satisfaction from under 50% to 98%.
First CTO of a $120m IT services business, leading 60 engineers, architects and project managers.
Before antics · Deloitte, 2022-2024
A timesheet bot deployed to 15,000 people.
The nudges and the comms did the work. AI adoption is a behaviour problem more than a tech one.
Before antics: results from Lee's employed and owner roles. These businesses aren't antics clients. Roles confirmed by techpartner.news (2017) and Deloitte (2022); figures from Lee's records.
get started
Got a big call you're making alone?
- 1A 30-minute chat. No prep, no pitch deck.
- 2A one-page plan with a pack and a price. Or two days under the hood first, if you'd rather see it properly before committing.
- 3Start month to month.
Not sure you're the right size or stage? That's what the chat is for.
Or start with one job from your week. A 90-minute AI working session for you and your team, $500 ex GST.