Samantha Yancich
Operations generalist, scaling startups from 0 to 1000
Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Artifacts
NuvoAir Medical · President & COOI inherited a company on the brink of collapse, with the Board having set a 90-day deadline to show improvement or vote to shut down operations entirely. We were burning through cash with no path to profitability, unable to make payroll, and just one day away from the Board's shutdown decision. Morale was devastated, key customers were nervous about our viability, and our CEO was incapable of making the hard decisions needed to save the company. We had multiple unprofitable lines of business, overly complex operations, and a team that was far too large and expensive for our revenue. We were trying to be everything to everyone—and failing at all of it. I immediately took decisive action, starting by redefining our value proposition to focus on where we provided unique value and where clients were actually flocking to us. I conducted a line-by-line financial audit to identify exactly where we were hemorrhaging cash, then executed a comprehensive restructuring: cutting 45% of headcount, divesting three entire lines of business and two go-to-market strategies, renegotiating vendor contracts, and personally securing our top client to ensure revenue stability. I presented a complete turnaround plan to the Board, secured their buy-in, and executed with precision. As part of this transformation, I orchestrated leadership changes including the Board firing our CEO and my decision to replace our CFO with a fractional CFO to rebuild our finance and accounting function. By day 90, we had reduced our monthly burn rate to -$120k, regained control of our bank accounts, achieved zero unwanted employee attrition during the transition, successfully divested all three non-core business lines, and secured the Board's unanimous vote to continue operations. Over the following six months, the results accelerated: we achieved +13.5% year-over-year revenue growth, +14% increase in active members, and +46% growth in care management billing. The Board chair—drawing on his 20-year career—called this the most impressive operational turnaround he had ever witnessed. What had been a company one day from closure became a growing, focused, financially sustainable organization with a clear path forward.
NuvoAir Medical · People and Culture LeadWhen I joined NuvoAir as the first people operations leader, the company had approximately 25 employees distributed across six countries with no formal HR infrastructure. There were no standardized onboarding processes, employment contracts were inconsistent across jurisdictions, and the founder was making all people decisions on an ad-hoc basis. With a Series A fundraise on the immediate horizon, the lack of compliance frameworks and talent strategy posed both legal risk and due diligence concerns that could derail investor confidence. I prioritized compliance and legal exposure first, conducting a comprehensive audit of all existing employment agreements and partnering with local counsel in each of our six operating countries to develop standardized contract templates that met country-specific requirements. With that foundation secured, I built out structured onboarding and performance management frameworks over the following six months, knowing our growth strategy called for 50% headcount expansion in the near term. The impact was significant and measurable. We successfully closed our Series A three months after I started, with zero HR-related flags raised during investor due diligence—our lead investor even specifically highlighted our people infrastructure in their investment memo. Over the next year, we scaled from 25 to 40 employees across eight countries with zero employment disputes or compliance issues. Employee satisfaction with onboarding, which had been unmeasured before my arrival, reached 4.2 out of 5 in our first formal survey, and the frameworks I established became daily tools for managers and new hires across the organization.
Testimonials
Founder & CEO at Trove
Work history
Mar 2021 - Present · 5.7 years · President & COO, Chief of Staff & VP, People Operations, Director of People Operations and Special Projects, People and Culture Lead
Feb 2019 - Mar 2021 · 2.2 years · PeopleOps, Talent Acquisition
Sep 2015 - Feb 2019 · 3.5 years · Manager, Recruiting & Business Development - Division of Contract Technology, Recruiting Manager - Direct Hire Administrative & HR Division
Apr 2014 - Sep 2015 · 1.5 years · Associate Director of Government Relations
Jan 2012 - Apr 2014 · 2.3 years · Research Director, Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development, Legislative Aide, Policy Intern
Apr 2011 - May 2012 · 1.2 years · Research Assistant to the Associate Provost, President, Student Government Association
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