HIGH-GROWTH LEADERSHIP
Building a high-growth company is one of the most exhilarating things you can do with your career.
It can be a time of tremendous personal and professional growth.
Are you learning fast enough? Are you ready for the next phase?
It helps to have a guide.
EXECUTIVE COACHING
Who I Am
I’m a leader, a mentor and coach with over twenty years of experience in fast-moving software startups.
I have worked at all phases of growth, from being one of “three guys in a room”, to being an officer of a public company.
I was a key early member of three startups that became successful public companies, and a fourth that was sold for $250M+.
What I Do
I coach founders, CEOS and leaders in high-growth tech companies.
My goal is to massively accelerate the growth and learning that are a natural consequence of the leadership role.
I want my clients to master their current role and be fully ready for the next step up as they, and their organization, scale rapidly.
More about my coaching style here, and my clients here.
Why I Do It
I love the moments when it all clicks.
When leadership, teamwork and creativity come together to build something great. When people are working above the best they could imagine. When a vision suddenly becomes attainable.
I want to help you get there.
EXPERIENCE
COACHING
I came to coaching through my work advising startups in San Francisco. Once I discovered the role, I realized that the coaching relationship is deeper, more personal and more potentially transformative than occasional mentoring conversations.
Since diving into the coaching profession, I have worked with hundreds of leaders in high-growth tech companies.
I greatly enjoy being part of the success and growth of my clients. There’s nothing quite like staying with a client as they go from a new leadership role to VP at a startup to a C-level executive at a newly public company.
My style and approach is informed by both my operational career in startups, and my ongoing fascination with how people grow and change.
A CAREER IN STARTUPS
My entire operational career has been as an early employee in startups.
I have been through exponential growth, public offerings, soaring stock prices, flat spots, downturns, initiated complete company “pivots”, shipped some great products and built multiple organizations from scratch.
VP and SVP Engineering and Products at Macromedia from scrappy startup to successful IPO and beyond. Started shockwave.com, eventually sold to MTV networks for $250M+.
Early engineering and management career at Acorn Computers (IPO, exists now as ARM Ltd), and Frame Technology (IPO).
More recently I have raised a kid in San Francisco, surfed all over the world and advised, mentored and coached dozens of startups
LIFE EXPERIENCE
I have routinely taken time away from the industry, including an almost ten year stint raising a kid, surfing in various parts of the world and creating solo performance theatre. In doing so, I've collected a set of tools that help inform my coaching:
Meditation and Mindfulness: a twenty year practice
Yoga: a fifteen year practice
Improv: a twenty year practice
Writing and Performing: a fifteen year practice
Surfing: a twenty year practice
These tools show up in interesting ways. For example: improv for a perspective on public speaking and leadership presence, mindfulness for clarity in decision making, surfing for patience and persistence in the face of failure.
MY CLIENTS
A few of the terrific companies I have worked with recently, and some recommendations. You can see a longer list of companies and additional recommendations on the clients page.
COACHING NOTES
These notes discuss issues that come up frequently in coaching.
Sign up to receive these, along with links and articles from many writers on leadership and management, in the Tech People Leadership newsletter.
GET IN TOUCH
Get in touch, and let's schedule a phonecall to discuss what you're looking for!