Building Better Leaders and Companies

Why I’m Coaching & Advising

I resisted being a coach and advising for years. Having built and sold my company to a publicly traded one, I still thought I was a quarterback even though I had no team to lead. So why coach or advise, especially if I don’t need the money?

Well, it’s hard to ignore the signal of hundreds of CEO friends and strangers knocking on my door these past few years for all manner of support. It became impossible to ignore their feedback that I have a valuable skillset and experience - and that it would be beneficial to share as much as possible.

• I’ve been through the fire of founding and building a company from scratch

• I’ve worked with 35 of the Fortune 500 and high growth startups alike

• I’ve experienced the joy and pain of selling the business to a public company

• I’ve rebuilt myself post-exit and allowed a more authentic self to come through

• I’ve found practices that work for leaders in the trenches and those transitioning

So, after dropping my resistance, I said yes to a fellow YPO friend when they asked me to help them deal with their challenges leading a multibillion-dollar company through to its eventual sale. Along the way, I’ve coached and advised other unicorn founders and smaller startups. I don’t care about the business size - I care about whether or not I can help leaders have breakthroughs week after week as we work on their priorities.

What’s My Approach

My coaching and advisory practice reflects my years as a CEO hiring 100+ engineers, designers, and strategists to work on $75m+ of projects for companies big and small. I know how to hire, fire, scale, sell and exit. I’ve created brands, products, massive events and media sensations. I’ve turned over the reigns to a successor. I know what matters and what doesn’t to a business, to a leader, to a team and their customers.

Aside from my founder/CEO experience, my coaching is grounded in Zen and heavily influenced by Contemplative Care, NLP, and IFS. This means I show up as required each moment to serve what’s needed and have a toolkit that helps us get deep into how your mind works for or against you. My sessions are invariably therapeutic even though it’s not therapy, and while you may not care about zen or mindfulness — through our work, you will become a more conscious leader capable of more than you imagine. You will also become less stressed, more focused, and more capable of meeting any challenge. This I promise. In advisory work - it’s much the same, except we work much more on deliverables (business models, product concepts, pitch decks etc.).

Nothing I do in coaching or advisory is prescriptive. Nothing is canned. That means my approach is entirely fluid. I cannot write out a method for others to follow. If that’s something you need, please do go get it. To truly be in service to you, I have to show up in the right way at the right time, not in some fixed manner.

Sometimes show up as:

• a sales guru that’s going to help you to grow revenue

• a marketing maven who’s created massive campaigns and micro-content

• a marketing and tech-savvy creative collaborator to help you craft a new product or service offering

• a mindfulness teacher who can show you how to slow down so you can execute more effectively

• a shoulder to cry on as you face the greatest challenges in business (and life)

• an accountability partner for business, personal, and family interests

The need for these approaches can occur in the same call!

What Do You Get

At all times, I am at your service as a coach, consultant, collaborator, advisor, and peer. When we work together, my full network of thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, consultants, and counselors is available to you. My networks span YPO, WEF, Summit, Sandbox, Hampton, and many more. I’ve coached, advised and mentored in 40+ counties and dozens of accelerators like Techstars and 500 Startups.

During our engagement, you become someone I’m constantly scanning the horizon for to route opportunities and insights to. The result is that I end up becoming part of your biz dev team, your right hand, and as well as your executive coach.

If we work together, we’ll work to still the rush and come through with more clarity, presence, and purpose. Things could get experiential, and by that, I mean I may ask you to do breathwork, cold exposure, solo hikes in the wilderness, sit with a shaman or sensei on retreats, and more.  At this point, I’ve done it all (or most of it), so I’m intimate with the menu. 

You will change, and people will notice. You will get what you want.

To get started, we’ll talk (schedule an exploratory zoom here), so we can see if we should work together and how. Reach out when you’re ready.