The First Operator: Manifesto
Introducing this newsletter and who it's for
Hey, I’m Bobby, cofounder of Equals, an all-in-one GTM Analytics platform backed by A16Z, Craft, and many others. I’m also on the Board at Intercom, where I ran Finance and Analytics from < $1M to nearly $200M in ARR.
Why this newsletter?
I recently stepped out of the CEO role at Equals and into Exec Chairman, mostly because of family commitments. But I’m still in the trenches helping us build the company we always intended: one designed for people like me when I was Intercom’s first numbers hire.
Those first numbers hires… I call them ‘the first operator.’
They’re the person who joins before the outcome is obvious. They thrive in chaos. They find joy in cleaning up messy data, building frameworks from scratch, and influencing the direction of the business.
Sometimes they’re in Finance. Sometimes BizOps. Sometimes they’re a data analyst, rev ops lead, or ex-consultant or banker. No matter the title, they’re doing the same job: they make sense of the numbers. They define the metrics. They help everyone see what matters.
And GTM is usually their home turf—where measurement meets money. From how traffic converts, to what a healthy funnel looks like, to how ARR actually comes to be. They connect it all.
This role is critical. But it’s also weird. A little amorphous. A little generalist. And most people outside of it don’t fully get it.
That’s why I’m writing this. To find those people and to help them.
If you’ve read WrapText (our original Equals blog), you know the vibe. These posts will be similar, with two key differences:
No product pitches. No funding announcements. No direct promotions.
It’s all me. My voice. My experience. Occasionally an interview, but mostly: letters to my younger self.
What’s coming next:
You can expect to hear from me twice a week. Every Tuesday and Friday. Here’s a preview of what to expect over the next couple of weeks:
→ Defining the First Operator and why it’s the most underrated early hire in a startup
→ Why finance is the best background for that role
→ How to set out hiring for your first operator
→ How to actually measure your sales team
Subscribe & get in touch
If this resonates, subscribe. Follow me on LinkedIn where I post daily on related topics. And if there’s something you want me to write about, shoot me a note: bobby@equals.com.
Ok that’s all, thanks so much for following along!
Looking forward ✨