Transform into the leader your startup needs you to be
Executive coaching to help startup founders scale into high-performance leaders
Hi! I'm Brian.
I'm an executive coach for early stage founders who've proven they can build product but are now learning to build the machine. You know the patterns: decision-making slows to a crawl, standards slip, your best people get frustrated, and you're still the bottleneck in your own company. I work with founders who are ready to move from hero mode to actual leadership - which means facing the hard conversations, managing their own reactivity, and building teams that perform without constant intervention. I previously founded and sold Fitocracy, one of the largest fitness social networks of its time. I later led product initiatives at Credit Karma and Eaze as they were scaling. I've been the bottleneck CEO and the scaling leader, now I help founders make that shift intentionally instead of painfully.
“Working with Brian is one of the best choices we’ve made.”
Here’s how I can help
Build a team that actually performs
You've hired smart people, but the team isn't gelling. People aren't taking real ownership. You're not sure who's truly bought in versus just going through the motions.
We'll work together to: Get clear on what high performance actually looks like for your team and your stage. Build the muscle to give direct feedback early and often. Turn implicit standards into shared culture that scales beyond you.
Make better, faster decisions
You oscillate between authoritarianism and democracy. You’re waffling on decisions while your team gets frustrated waiting for direction. You're stuck being the bottleneck in your own company and you’re sure how to get out.
We'll work together to: Shift from approval-seeking to clear ownership. Build frameworks for who makes what decisions and when. Help you lead from strategy instead of staying stuck in execution mode where only you can move things forward.
Master the inner game
The board grills you and you spiral for two days. Your A Player seems unhappy and suddenly you're questioning everything. You toggle between overconfidence and imposter syndrome. The emotional whiplash is exhausting and it's leaking into how you show up with your team.
We'll work together to: Recognize your patterns when you're triggered. Build practices that help you stay grounded in the chaos. Shape the role so that you help the company succeed while also enjoying the process.
Testimonials
Pim de Witte, Medal
Brian coached me through two important times of leadership in the company - first and foremost a time where I needed to develop as a leader and clearly identify a leadership profile, being more deliberate about how I lead, and learn to analyze how I show up as a leader vs just analyzing the output. This made me more confident in my leadership style and ability to identify areas of growth. Secondly, Brian coached me throughout the uncertainty of the pandemic and some big decisions that needed to be made, ranging from shifting to remote work, to setting up a new management team that could thrive in a remote structure. Overall my time with Brian left me with 1 major win - my ability to be deliberate about my leadership style and pick and choose how I show up depending on the situation.
Kevin Lee, immi
The first session was groundbreaking. Brian is an excellent listener, and I'm always impressed with how he's able to guide the conversation. He asks all the right questions and helped me identify patterns in my thinking that were symptoms of deeper-rooted issues that I wasn't even aware of.
Over these months, I found myself becoming a significantly more capable leader in the workplace, which allowed me to perform at an even higher level. These effects compounded because I found that those improved behaviors and mindsets transferred into my personal life as well.
Brian, thank you so much for being such an amazing coach and, most importantly, thank you for believing in me when I didn't believe in myself and for helping to hold me to a higher standard so that I can grow as a leader and as an individual.
Anthony Zhang, VinoVest
Nina Iordanova, FutureFit AI
"I knew Brian would be an awesome coach after our first consultation call, and was still blown away by the amount of growth we were able to achieve in 6 months. As someone working in an executive position at a fast-growing startup, I wanted help taking ownership in situations where not a lot of information or direction was available. Brian was incredibly skilled at helping me get to the root of what was keeping me stuck and finding ways to work through it. I feel a lot more comfortable making decisions in uncertainty, and pushing my ideas through. Not only were sessions with Brian impactful, they were a lot of fun too! Highly recommend Brian to anyone who wants to experience targeted and effective growth on the issues that matter to them, with a lot of laughs along the way."
Sarah Park, Elicit
It's so valuable for every business leader to find an impartial, non-judgmental person who can reflect back to you the impact you're having on your business and team... and even more so if that person is Brian!
Working with Brian has helped me stay accountable to my commitments both to my company and to myself. He's not afraid to call me out when I'm acting against my values or the needs of my team/stakeholders, and he does so in a way that's compassionate and results-oriented.
If you're looking for a business coach, I highly recommend contacting Brian. He brings a lot of his own experience and perspective to the table and will challenge you to grow right away.
Steven Zhou, Moov
Brian is an incredibly talented and natural coach. He is flexible, caring, and a highly pragmatic. Within our first few months together, Brian has helped clarify, validate, or debunk various thought patterns, as well as offer invaluable insights in a non-prescriptive yet guiding manner. I would highly recommend Brian as both a personal and executive coach - in fact they often go hand-in-hand.
Nathan Bashaw, Lex
Brian is extremely helpful.
In the past I've been interested in coaching (it's definitely therapeutic to talk about problems with an objective third party) but a little skeptical of how much improvement it would actually make in the quality of my life and work. Brian does an amazing job translating ideas in conversations to tactical improvements you can make to be a better collaborator, leader, and friend. I'd definitely recommend him to anyone seeking coaching.
César Salazar, Revolt
This testimonial will sound a little corny, but I mean every word. When I first reached out to Brian, I was 18 years into my professional career, having led a venture fund and several companies, and yet, secretly afraid, anxious, and frustrated about my leadership. Brian listened and listened again, always pushing me to grow in a way nobody had achieved before. Today, my relationships with coworkers and clients are stronger and more enjoyable than ever, leading to incredible business results.
Justin McLoughlin, AirCFO
As a finance professional, I measure things in terms of ROI and I can say hiring Brian as my executive coach has been the best investment I have made in the last year. Brian is an excellent listener who offers the tools and ideas I need to help me do the deep work of becoming a better leader. I find myself using these lessons often in my role as CEO. Since working with Brian, our revenue is up 89% YoY and our team has doubled in size.
Calum Forsyth, Seed Haus
Brian’s experience as a founder, operator, and VC investor is of huge value in the context of coaching. Brian is able to help unpack challenges and examine situations through a suite of lenses. Working with Brian has really helped me level up in a leadership capacity, we have unlocked fundamental insights about myself and how I can best serve our portfolio founders. I’m thrilled to be working together and often find myself looking forward to our sessions.
Select Clients
Recent Blog Posts
Schedule a consultation
If you’re interested in learning more about how coaching can help you reach your goals as a leader, reach out to schedule a call. We’ll spend the time to discuss your primary challenges and create a roadmap for how to overcome them through coaching.
Coaching engagements generally start at $2,000-$4,000 per month.
Send me a text if you want to get in touch faster.
Hello, World!
This is a guide for you, the fundraising founder, on how to get through a difficult fundraise. It’s split across three sections: taking care of yourself, working with investors, and leading the team. My hope is that this guide helps make your fundraise more likely to succeed while staying healthy throughout the process.