Founder Coach® · 1-1 CEO coaching
Everyone's betting on you. Back yourself.
You've just raised. You're thinking in years, not weeks. And you already know the next stage will ask more of you than the last one did. You're exactly the CEO I built this for.
"I'm a better CEO thanks to Dave. The feedback I get from my family, investors, and team says it all."
Paul Ebert · CEO of Tabeo, raised $750M
Founder leadership is its own discipline.
Most coaching is built for executives: professional managers with a boss, a budget and a well-defined role. You have none of those things. You invented your role, and it reinvents itself every time the company doubles.
The founder-CEO job has its own rules, and many of them are counterintuitive. Most leadership advice was written for managers, and it rarely survives contact with the founder job.
I've spent my career on one question: what makes founder-CEOs succeed at scale? The answer became the Founder Leadership System™: more than 500 visual frameworks, built through thousands of sessions with 250+ venture-backed CEOs, covering every part of the job.
Whatever you're facing, I've coached a CEO through it.
I've coached the good parts too. One CEO grew from Series A to a valuation approaching $10 billion during our work together. Another tripled their growth rate on the way to $100M in revenue.
And I've done the job myself. I founded three venture-backed companies. One failed, one was acquired, and one, Delivery Hero, became a unicorn.
One rule I never break: I coach the CEO, not the team. The moment a coach steps into the middle of your leadership team, you give away ownership. You stay in charge. I make you better at it.
In the last decade, I've coached CEOs through:
How it works
The CEO Review™ · our first meeting
Apply for a free CEO Review™. In 30 minutes together, we identify your #1 priority right now, what it's worth to solve, and whether I can help you move it. You leave with clarity either way. If I'm not the right coach for you, I'll say so.
The First Domino™ · your first month
We start with a structured 90-minute session to define where you want to be in a year. Then we build your CEO Game Plan and get to work, 1-1, on your biggest lever: your First Domino. Knock it over, and momentum starts to build. My goal is for you to solve problems in 30 days that you didn't know could be solved that fast. The month is covered by a money-back guarantee: if it doesn't deliver, you pay nothing.
The partnership · 12 months
If you love the first month, you commit to the year. Unlimited 1-1 coaching, on demand, whenever the stakes are high. The full Founder Leadership System™. Live workshops every month. A private community of CEOs I've selected one by one. Member-only events, including our annual intensive. And accountability: you report progress to me, and I make sure you follow through.
It starts with you. The impact is company-wide.
Here's what most CEOs miss when they weigh up coaching: you're not the only one who benefits.
I teach through visual frameworks. When a framework lands, you don't just see the answer. You finally have a simple way to show your team what you've been trying to explain for months. So you teach it. And now the whole company thinks more clearly.
The cascade, in practice
"Founder Coach gives me frameworks I can use with my team… it feels like cheating, but it's incredibly effective."
No standing meetings. Just outcomes.
Every quarter, we agree what you need to achieve. Then we use whatever gets you there fastest:
- A 1-1 when you need me, unlimited and on demand
- A workshop that solves the problem directly
- A mastermind with CEOs who've faced it before
- A framework you can apply the same day
When something big is moving, a fundraise, a hard conversation, a one-way decision, I'm there. What I won't do is fill your calendar with another recurring meeting. You have enough of those.
This month at Founder Coach
The Genius Practice™
Are you spending enough time in your zone of genius?
The AI Exchange™
Leave with AI ideas you can steal at your company.
Next in-person intensive
In-personThe Rome Intensive™
Our flagship CEO coaching event this September.
What CEOs get out of it
Their time back
“It feels like I just upgraded my operating system. I freed up 2.5 days per week to focus on real impact.”
“From the first month, I radically freed up my time, and that's had a multiplier effect.”
Faster, better decisions
“Since working with Dave, I am making smart decisions, faster.”
“I no longer waste energy figuring out how to approach something. I just follow Dave's frameworks.”
Confidence at the top
“Founder Coach gave me the language and clarity I needed to articulate our entire business vision and strategy.”
“Founder Coach gives me the strategic clarity to nail board meetings and high-stakes conversations.”
A room of equals
“The community is incredibly supportive, and it reminded me I'm not alone at the top.”
“You don't know what you don't know. Founder Coach is a shortcut to broader thinking.”
Who I work with
- You're the founder-CEO of a venture-backed company, usually Series A to C, with a team of 15 or more.
- You've recently raised, or you're growing fast, and you're thinking in years.
- You want structure and accountability, and you're allergic to hand-holding.
- You take full ownership, and you leave things better than you found them.
One hard line: I don't work with teams under 15 people or pre-revenue. At that stage, your job is to stay lean and build something great. Once you raise your Series A, come back.
Frequently asked questions
How much time does this take?
How is this different from executive coaching?
What if I don't like group programmes?
How quickly can I expect results?
What does it cost?
How do you decide who to work with?
How many CEOs do you take on?
Ready when you are.
Apply for a free CEO Review™. We'll find your #1 priority right now, and whether I can help you move it. If the answer is no, I'll tell you that too.
I take on a small number of new CEOs each month. To start in September, apply by Friday 28 August.
