Coaching for co-founders
Building any new venture is challenging. Being co-founders should make it easier, but partnerships come with their own difficulties. Let me help you pull in the same direction so you can get there faster.
my journey
I’ve been the co-founder of two venture-backed startups. Working in partnership with people I didn’t always agree with helped me achieve some of the most rewarding experiences of my career. At the same time, I often found it challenging, stressful, and lonely, with little room for what I knew to be true about myself.
I was surrounded by advisors who held their own self-interest and stake in the business above the well-being of the people building it. Or they simply didn’t have the awareness and training to help me in the areas I needed it most.
New ventures are high stakes, with your reputation, investment capital, and the livelihood of employees on the line. Not to mention your friends and family, who may be investors too, and customers who rely on your product or service. Partnerships are particularly fraught because all these factors weigh heavily on the vital professional relationship that makes the business possible in the first place.
I know what it’s like to be burnt out and feel like there’s no choice but to continue overworking, contributing toxicity to a partnership that grows more dysfunctional by the day. To feel helpless as rejection from investors, potential customers, and granting bodies erodes morale. To sweep red flags and bad behaviour under the rug because something more urgent always interrupts accountability.
It doesn’t have to be like this.
Your well-being as founders is the solid foundation atop which your company will succeed in the long term. Not the other way around. You need some neutral ground on which to regroup, level up, and recommit in the face of external and internal pressures. I believe that’s why these challenges present themselves.
I provide co-founders a space to breathe and the counsel I wish I had back then. You have lots of advisors guiding your business. Let me help you guide yourselves so you can thrive building your company together.
is this you?
- Just starting out — you’ve heard the horror stories and want to avoid the worst of it
- Functional yet frazzled — you’re making it happen, but wonder how to sustain the pace as stress fractures start to show
- Barely talking but succeeding — everything looks good outside, but it’s getting lonely on the inside
- Getting along great! And going nowhere — you’ve managed to prioritize your relationship, but your business is falling behind
- Productively hating each other — unresolved conflict is blocking your success, and it’s all the other person’s fault
working together transforms us
I deeply appreciate the founder journey and the courage it takes to forge your own path, having twice lived startup life myself as a technical co-founder to CEOs focused on the business side.
In large part because of my experiences in these professional partnerships, I’ve spent a decade learning about human psychology, self-development, and healthy ways of relating. I help non-technical founders understand their technical counterparts, and I bring been-there reassurance to technical partners confounded by the other side of the equation.
I’m also conscious of the unique challenges underrepresented founders face (whether racialized, queer, gender diverse, and/or disabled), and I love working with founders of non-profits and alternative corporate structures like co-ops.
Most important, I don’t have a vested interest in your venture. That allows me to prioritize your well-being. In this work, I’m impartial and invested in your professional partnership. I’m here to help you thrive in your life through a professional lens, as a complement to your other trusted advisors who prioritize the business.
It’s not about changing other people so they relate to us better. Rather, our relationships to others automatically transform as we change and develop ourselves.
what does it look like?
I offer two forms of coaching: a structured three month package or hourly sessions booked as needed. Depending on the challenges you’re facing with your co-founder(s), sessions will be done as a group or one-on-one.
Some clients come seeking support with pressures external to their partnership, like managing power dynamics with investors, employees, or customers. Others need urgent help negotiating differences in ways of working or relating within the partnership. In all cases, my role is to empower and resource each individual with the tools they need to thrive in professional relationships. That means greater awareness of needs, clarity of communication, and conscious action.