Who does what

Clear roles.
Fewer dropped balls.

A small core team runs the work. Local operations keeps the site safe. Specialists join for legal, land, water, building, education, astronomy, and insurance work.

Direction & major approvalsFounder / Executive Sponsor

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One accountable operating leaderProgram Director / COO

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Land & visitsStory & growthMoney & controlsPrograms & partnersLocal operations

The core team

Each role has one clear job.

Job titles may change. The work and decision rights still need a named person.

Founder / Executive Sponsor

Sets direction, approves major spending, and removes roadblocks.

First 90-day focus: Choose the Program Director and approve the 90-day limit.
How we know it works: Faster decisions and fewer founder bottlenecks.

Program Director / COO

Keeps the whole plan connected and makes sure work has an owner.

First 90-day focus: Build the master plan, weekly rhythm, scorecard, and risk list.
How we know it works: Work finishes on time and problems get closed.

Local Operations & Community

Runs safe, respectful visits and daily work on the land.

First 90-day focus: Check site readiness, vendors, emergencies, and local communication.
How we know it works: Safe visits, clear capacity, and quick issue response.

Growth & Brand

Explains the Rancho clearly and turns interest into useful next steps.

First 90-day focus: Approve the story, website paths, campaign plan, and tracking.
How we know it works: Qualified leads and clear conversion.

Content / Field Producer

Shows honest progress through film, photos, and stories.

First 90-day focus: Create the first main story and a reusable media library.
How we know it works: Useful stories delivered on time and reused well.

Sales & Visit Concierge

Guides serious buyers from first question to visit and paperwork.

First 90-day focus: Set up questions, tours, follow-up, and the buyer fact room.
How we know it works: Fast replies, good visits, and steady next steps.

Finance Controller

Shows where money is, what it may be used for, and what is already promised.

First 90-day focus: Set project codes, a 13-week cash view, approvals, and monthly reports.
How we know it works: Clean records and no misuse of restricted money.

Partnerships & Fundraising

Finds partners, sponsors, grants, and campaign support tied to real projects.

First 90-day focus: Build the 50-account list and the dark-sky funding plan.
How we know it works: Serious meetings, proposals, and committed support.

Operations Coordinator

Keeps tasks, files, meetings, and follow-up from falling through the cracks.

First 90-day focus: Open the action list, decision log, document index, and buying log.
How we know it works: Fewer overdue actions and clear records.

Simple meeting rhythm

Meet to decide, not just to talk.

Daily · 10–15 min

Site huddle

Safety, weather, visitors, active work, and anything that must stop.

Weekly · 60 min

Operating review

Important results, overdue jobs, decisions, risks, and the next seven days.

Weekly · 45 min

Commercial review

Buyer questions, visits, pricing exceptions, documents, and expected cash.

Monthly · 90 min

Finance & portfolio

Cash, budget, restricted money, project gates, and what gets more or less attention.

Working rules

Keep the team focused.

Every person has one main manager.
No person carries more than three top outcomes in one month.
Every project has an owner, budget, stage, next check, and stop condition.
Outside specialists give defined work; they do not make internal decisions by default.
The local team may stop a visit or program for safety, weather, community, or capacity.
Founder requests use the same priority list unless the matter is truly urgent.

Source: Organization and People, pages 42–46; Operating System, pages 46–50.

Read the original roles ↗