Florida VC Fund Taps Dragonfly Operating Partners to Embed Across Its Startup Portfolio

Every startup founder has heard it all before: Get a mentor. Build a board. Talk to advisors. But here’s the harsh truth:

Advice doesn’t scale. Execution does.

That’s the core belief behind Dragonfly Operating Partners (DragonflyOP) – a new breed of advisors that embeds seasoned operators who go beyond advising from the sidelines. They jump into the game, help founders do the actual work, and push companies past critical inflection points. DragonflyOP isn’t a traditional consulting firm. It’s not a talent agency. It’s not a mentor network. DragonflyOP is a force multiplier: an elite team of startup veterans with the scars, skills, and speed to build value who join the team and get their hands dirty – not sit on the sidelines and coach.

With the announcement of a strategic partnership with Florida Funders (FLF), one of the Southeast’s most active venture capital firms, DragonflyOP is bringing its operator-first philosophy to more than 100 venture-backed startups in the FLF portfolio. Founders are no longer flying solo with vague advice. They’re flying with embedded execution partners who deliver on KPIs – not PowerPoint slides.

Now, DragonflyOP is rewriting the rules of venture growth by placing execution-oriented operators experts inside startups.

From Founder Fatigue to Operator Firepower

Jim Barnish’s Pattern Recognition

Before launching DragonflyOP, Jim Barnish had spent over a decade scaling and fixing startups. As the founder of Startup Solutions, he helped early-stage companies define go-to-market strategy and ready themselves for capital. Then, as founder of Orchid Black (formerly Morgan Hill Partners), Barnish refined a repeatable playbook for scaling software and tech-enabled businesses and creating value for acquirers.

The common thread through both companies? Founders were overwhelmed and under-supported. They didn’t need another advisor. They needed a battle-tested operator who could jump into the GTM motion, clean up pricing, refactor the product roadmap, and get stuff done. And they needed it yesterday.

James Burnes: Nation-Scale Ecosystem Builder

Across the world, James Burnes was rewriting the rules for startup support in New Zealand. As the CEO of the country’s largest startup incubator, Burnes worked hand-in-hand with founders, VCs, and government agencies to craft an entrepreneur-led support model for global tech ventures. His focus? Executional infrastructure – helping companies operationalize their vision, through the guidance of entrepreneurs-in-residence and a focus on outcomes, not activity

When Barnish and Burnes finally teamed up, it was a convergence of minds that shared the same frustration: Founders were drowning in strategy but starving for results.

The DragonflyOP Model: Precision Embedded Execution

DragonflyOP was built around a simple but radical idea: Startups don’t need more frameworks – they need operators who execute with precision.

Every DragonflyOP engagement starts with a 6–12 week Value Creation Blueprint™, a high-intensity diagnostic series of sprints that dives into:

GTM strategy
Product management and strategy
Operational bottlenecks
Revenue model optimization
Growth milestones tied to value creation

From there, DragonflyOP embeds fractional operating partners – exited founders, GTM experts, RevOps leaders, or AI-enhanced growth hackers – into the business. These aren’t passive consultants. They’re hands-on doers working alongside the team to hit aggressive KPIs.

There’s no theory. No endless decks. Just sprints, stand ups, dashboards, and outcomes.

Core Tenets of the DragonflyOP Model:

KPI-Driven Engagements: Clear metrics or bust.
Fractional Operators: Embedded into the company – part-time, full-impact.
Two-Week Sprints: Structured. Transparent. Measurable.
Revenue-Centric Mandate: Growth, valuation, and run-rate matter.
Alignment Through Equity: DragonflyOP often shares the upside.

The Florida Funders Partnership: A VC Power Move

Earlier this year, FLF made a bold decision: it wasn’t going to just advise its portfolio anymore – it was going to equip them with operators. By partnering with DragonflyOP, FLF gave over 100 founders access to experienced leaders who could hit the ground running.

“We’re arming our founders with some of the most battle-tested operators in the startup world,” noted Saxon Baum, Partner, Florida Funders. “DragonflyOP helps our teams move faster, execute smarter, and reach their next inflection point with precision. It’s not advice – it’s execution.”

And the model is working since it launched – fast:

$55M in follow-on capital accelerated
250% growth velocity in key sprints
$5M pipeline unlocked via AI-enhanced GTM redesigns
30% burn reduction, giving startups more room to scale
Sales cycles cut in half, thanks to restructured revenue operations

What are FLF Portfolio Founders Saying?

“Their operators don’t just advise; they partnered with us on our go-to-market overhaul, from ICP validation to demand generation to ARR. As a result, we increased pipeline by 350%+, slashed our CAC and are now accelerating revenue,” comments Jim Schimpf, CEO, Chattr.

Another FLF portfolio company CEO agreed. “Dragonfly’s hands-on, results-focused approach made a huge difference for us,” said Donny White, CEO, Satisfi Labs. “Their Operating Partners helped us rethink how we ran our strategic projects and pulled together a strong execution story that was key to our fundraising.”

The Future of Execution-Led Venture Growth

DragonflyOP is proving what many founders have felt for years: Startups need less coaching and more doing.

The old playbook of pitch decks, passive advisors, and high-level frameworks is being replaced with embedded execution and metric ownership.

And the ripple effects are just beginning. The FLF partnership is now a blueprint other VC firms are watching closely. By embedding operators, they’re reducing portfolio risk, unlocking new growth, and turning capital into outcomes – faster.

“At the end of the day, our goal is simple: Turn every dollar of investment into tangible results. We align with founders as co-builders, not consultants, to ensure great ideas don’t just survive – they scale and thrive,” Burnes said.