How Carson Vasquez Helps Founders Scale with Fractional COO Systems

In high-growth companies, it’s not the lack of ideas that stalls progress—it’s the lack of operational structure to keep up with them.

Carson Vasquez knows that firsthand.

As the fourth hire—and first stateside employee—at Stratus Financial, Carson helped transform a startup with big ambitions into a national lending platform. Now, as co-founder of Luminary Augmenters, he helps other founders and executive teams build the same kind of scalable operational backbone that allowed Stratus to grow fast, stay lean, and operate with confidence.

How Fractional COO Systems Scaled Stratus Financial

When Carson joined Stratus, the business was in its earliest stages. The aviation industry was facing massive disruption, and the company’s founders had a vision: make career training loans accessible to aspiring pilots—without relying on the slow-moving, risk-averse world of traditional finance.

While the leadership team focused on growth, partnerships, and capital, Carson focused on what would make that scale sustainable:

- Automating loan origination and servicing workflows

- Designing internal systems and SOPs to reduce friction

- Implementing tools that aligned the customer experience with operational capacity

He didn’t just help build processes—he built a foundation. One that enabled rapid growth without burning out teams, breaking tech stacks, or relying on constant manual intervention.

Stratus now operates with a lean U.S. team and a scaled virtual workforce, serving hundreds of students and managing tens of millions in capital—all while maintaining clarity and control behind the scenes.

Founders Hit the Same Walls—That’s Why Luminary Exists

What Carson saw at Stratus—and what he sees in almost every client today—is that most growth-stage companies eventually hit the same pain points:

- Operations that lag behind the pace of sales or product

- Founders and execs stuck in the weeds, doing too much themselves

- Chaos disguised as “entrepreneurial energy”

- No visibility into real performance drivers

So, together with Brandon Martini, Carson launched Luminary Augmenters—a fractional COO and systems consulting firm that embeds into fast-moving companies and builds the operational structure they’re missing.

Not advice. Not templates. Real systems—built custom, from the inside out.

What Luminary Delivers for Founders and Executive Teams

Luminary helps companies install the infrastructure needed to scale without the chaos. The team works hands-on with founders, COOs, and department heads to build:

- Operating systems that actually reflect how the business runs

- SOPs, org charts, and scorecards for clarity and accountability

- Leadership pipelines that reduce dependency on any one person

- Automation and data visibility tools that eliminate guesswork

Most importantly, Luminary gives founders back their time and their sanity—while creating the structure needed for their teams to thrive without them in every decision.

Why Execs and Investors Trust Carson’s Approach

- It’s been tested. The systems behind Stratus Financial didn’t come from theory—they came from necessity.

- It’s embedded. Carson and his team don’t just advise; they work inside the business as operators.

- It’s pragmatic. Every recommendation comes with execution. No fluff. No buzzwords. No decks gathering dust.

If you’re leading a growing business and feel the weight of operations slowing you down, Luminary Augmenters is built for you.

Book a discovery call to see how Carson and the Luminary team can help you install the systems that will scale with you.