Cameron Kinloch

True Vantage Partners

I work with CEOs, founders, executive teams and Boards to accelerate growth and strengthen governance during critical inflection points - fundraising, scale up, IPO prep, and M&A. 

My expertise spans Finance, Biz Ops, HR, Legal, and RevOps across a wide range of industries.

Key Projects:
• M&A Advisory: Led diligence, buyer negotiations, and Board updates for a fintech company exploring strategic alternatives.
• PE Portfolio Company Scale-Up: Built Finance, HR, and Legal functions from scratch for a PE-backed company to enable scale under new ownership.
• Fundraising & Forecasting: Developed 5-year models and investor decks that supported successful Seed and Series A raises.
• Liquidity Planning: Designed cash flow and scenario models to guide capital planning and lender alignment for high-growth businesses.
• Operating Discipline: Introduced OKRs and operating "rhythm of business" that improved alignment and accountability across teams.
• Biz Ops & RevOps: Helped establish forecasting, GTM analytics, and cross-functional planning processes.

I advise, support, and execute, bringing C-suite and Board-level perspective while helping companies build the financial and operational foundations to reach key milestones.

Board, CEO & CFO Advisor

EROAD

EROAD is a public telematics company, dual listed on the NZX/ASX exchanges. Member of the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee and the Nominations Committee.

Independent Board Director, Audit & Nom Gov Committees

Copper Cow Coffee

Independent Board Director

Weights & Biases

Successful exit to CoreWeave in May 2025.  W&B is building the best in-class, enterprise grade tools for AI developers. 

I am incredibly proud of our achievements at W&B. To highlight a few:

• Significant company scaling with 10x ARR growth and headcount growth from 90 to 270
• Built Finance & Legal teams from 0 to 15 + staff; supported scaling of People, Rev Ops and Deal Desk
• Launched first long-range model, AOP, and board reporting
• Forecast accuracy >97 %
• Closed $50M Series C-2 and managed investor relations
• Implemented treasury program
• Completed clean Deloitte first-year audit with no audit adjustments
• Deployed NetSuite, Pigment, Airbase; cut close to 8 days
• Opened Japan entity

Chief Financial Officer

Guided Board and CEO through M&A exit to private equity. Chair of Strategic Planning Committee. Finance Committee.

Independent Board Director, Audit & Strategic Planning Committees

Dynamic Signal

Led successful M&A exit to private equity for enterprise SaaS company with 30% of the Fortune 100 as customers. 

Led all M&A workstreams for the company (banker selection, diligence, negotiation of deal terms, closing of the transaction and integration) while also leading Finance, Legal and Revenue Operations.

Bulletproof 360

Joined as CFO of Bulletproof.  Promoted to COO and added to the Board of Directors within 6 weeks of joining.  The full executive team reported into me.

• Full operational responsibility across Sales, Marketing, e-Commerce, Supply Chain, R&D, Finance, Legal, HR, and Customer Service
• Restructured operations and cost structure to achieve profitability within 6 months
• Led creation of Compensation and Audit Committees and refinement of corporate governance policies and practices

Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Board Director

Ripple Foods

Full CFO responsibilities. Recruited to lead all Finance functions reporting to the CEO.

• Board: Led Board discussions on financials.  Managed Board agenda and resolutions
• Financings: $65mm Series C announced January 2018; led upsize of large debt facilities
• Audit: Managed successful completion of first year audit
• Team: Built out Accounting and FP&A team from 2 to 8 in ten months

SVP, Finance

Ripple

Full CFO responsibilities for global enterprise software and payments company, reporting to CEO.

Recruited to lead all Finance and Facilities functions.  Finance responsibilities spanned FP&A, Accounting, Business Intelligence, Investor Relations, Revenue Operations, Treasury, and Tax.

• Strategy: Developed framework to refine and drive alignment to long-term company strategy 
• Finance: $55mm Series B announced September 2016. Transformed Finance into a strategic partnering function across entire business and built out key finance functions from scratch
• Operations: Drove operational maturity and excellence as the company rapidly scaled its enterprise sales. Scoped, established and helped hire key roles across the company
• Metrics: Created company goal setting process and responsible for cascading goals throughout the organization. Defined key company metrics
• Tax: Led initiatives to optimize company's global tax structure
• Investor Relations: Established IR function for digital asset and equity investors
• Facilities: Led global facilities function and full build-out of 30,000 sq. ft new HQ

VP of Finance

Box, Sunrun

Recruited to establish and scale critical finance functions and the FP&A organization at several incredible companies.  Built teams and established finance functions from scratch through hyper-growth, international expansion, multiple acquisitions and IPO.  

Took Box through the S-1 process and Sunrun through IPO. Took on progressively larger and more senior roles culminating in VP, FP&A role.

VP of FP&A

As a CFO, COO and 4x Board Director, I bring over 20 years of experience leading companies through pivotal transitions and driving strategic growth. 

Here's how I've helped some of the most prominent startups on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley scale:

↳ Led companies to triple-digit growth and profitability within six months.
↳ Spearheaded numerous eight-digit debt, equity, and convertible fundraises.  Achieved 100% direct sales growth while reducing costs by 20%.
↳ Advised CEOs and companies ranging from $2M to $450M+ in revenue through multiple funding rounds, IPOs and M&A exits. 
↳ Served on 4 boards, both private and public, guiding CEOs and management teams.
    
I grew up in LA where grit and education were non-negotiable. That drive took me from a public school to Harvard—and eventually to Wall Street.

My time on Wall Street was a wild ride. While I loved the fast-paced world of finance, I found my true passion in Silicon Valley, helping tech companies grow and succeed.

I’ve enjoyed combining my financial expertise with the innovative spirit of startups, guiding them through growth, IPOs, and successful exits. In the past decade, I've had the chance to work with visionary founders, helping them scale while setting them up for long-term success.

Now, I’m on a mission to help companies grow, using everything I’ve learned.

Here’s how I can help you:

1) Speak at your event on leadership, finance, or scaling startups.
2) Advise your company on navigating growth challenges, preparing for an IPO, or improving financial performance.

Shoot me a DM or email me at cameron.kinloch@gmail.com, and we’ll chat more.

We are building the best in-class, enterprise grade tools for AI developers. Our vision is to be the single system of records for all things AI within an organization.

Used by teams at NVIDIA, OpenAI, Lyft, Blue River Technology, Toyota, and MILA, W&B is part of the new standard of best practices for AI.

Early in my career as a CFO, I opened a 60-slide board deck to present in our quarterly meeting.

By slide 4, the Chair stopped me and asked, “Cameron, what do you want from us?”

That question stung and it changed how I run boards forever. 💡

Board meetings aren’t report-outs.
They’re decision forums.

It’s not about reciting metrics or proving effort.
It’s about getting clarity on what moves next. 🎯

Here’s the 3-step formula I now follow to make that happen:

1) Start with the ask.

Before you open your deck, be clear on what you need from the board.
A decision? A green light? A perspective?

If you can’t summarize your ask in one sentence, you’re not ready to present.

2) Simplify the narrative.

Most CFOs think the board wants everything. They don’t.

They want the why and the so what. Cut the noise, connect the dots, and frame every slide around what truly matters to the business.

3) Tie every metric to a story.

Don’t stop at “what happened.” Explain “why it matters” and “what we’ll do next.”

Every metric should lead somewhere, otherwise, it’s trivia.

Once I reframed meetings around action, everything changed.
Our discussions became faster, decisions clearer, and execution sharper. ⚡

That shift also supercharged trust.

The board began seeing finance not as a function but as a strategic partner that keeps the business moving forward.

If you’re a CFO still measuring success by how much you present → flip it.

Measure it by how clearly the board moves after you’re done.

P.S. I advise CFOs and VPs of Finance on building decision clarity, tighter narratives, and leadership rhythms that move the business forward. Reach out if you want to strengthen how your team shows up in the boardroom.

Board Director | CFO & COO | 4 Exits, 2 IPOs | Advisor to High-Growth CEOs and CFOs

After 15 years in the C-suite and 4 board seats, I’ve noticed the same mistakes that quietly stop talented finance leaders from becoming CFO:

1) They think like controllers, not operators.

CFOs don’t just report numbers - they shape decisions.

If you never talk about customers, product, competitive pressure, or revenue levers, you’re signaling you’re a functional expert… not an enterprise leader.

2) They build relationships up, not across.

Great CFOs aren’t just trusted by the CEO and board.

They’re trusted by GTM, Product, Ops, and People because they show up early, listen, and help solve real problems.

3) They can model a forecast but not tell the story.

The CFOs who earn board confidence connect everything in one clean thread: what’s happening, why it matters, what options exist, and the trade-offs behind each path.

Boards remember the narrative - not the spreadsheet.

4) They wait to be invited in.

Future CFOs don’t sit back. They initiate scenario plans, pressure-test strategy, and surface risks before anyone asks.

5) They stay stuck in precision mode.

Perfect accuracy slows companies down.

Standout CFOs set decision thresholds, embrace scenario ranges, and call out the unknowns so the business can move faster.

6) They solve today’s problem, not the next stage.

Boards choose the leader who can scale the company from $20M → $50M, $50M → $200M, or pre-IPO → public.

Your mindset must shift with the stage.

7) They underestimate how much the CFO role is leadership.

Most misses aren’t technical - they’re about influence.
CFOs lead rooms, drive alignment, and bring clarity in moments where ambiguity is high.

The difference between a great finance leader and a CFO isn’t technical skill.
It’s how you think, how you lead, and how you show up.

PS: I coach finance leaders on strategic storytelling, board communication, and executive presence. If you’d like to explore working together, send me a DM.

Starbucks’ new CFO, Cathy Smith, turned heads this year with a $5 million cash signing bonus and a $6.4 million equity grant.

But the real headline isn’t the pay.

It’s why she was hired.

Smith stepped in at a moment when Starbucks was facing:

☕ Multiple quarters of declining same-store sales
☕ A weakening emotional connection with customers
☕ A culture and operating model that needed a reset

This wasn’t a “steady state” CFO hire.

It was a turnaround hire paired intentionally with CEO Brian Niccol.

Because today’s CFO mandate has changed.

It’s not just a finance problem.
It’s a leadership problem.

And that’s exactly why she was chosen.

Boards today don’t want CFOs who just balance books.
They want CFOs who can lead the business forward.

It’s no longer about reporting what happened, it’s about shaping what happens next.

1) From finance leader → enterprise leader

Cathy Smith wasn’t hired to oversee accounting.
She was hired to rebuild momentum - Using finance as the lens for execution, culture, and customer experience

2) From data → narrative building

Financial Precision matters, but it doesn’t move people
The CFO who can extract meaning behind earnings, costs, and forecasts, and turn it into a clear story, inspires belief across investors, employees, and the board.

3) From siloed thinking → cross-functional leadership

Turnarounds don’t happen from one department.
The most effective CFOs align teams, re-energize culture, and enable faster, better decisions across the entire business.

Starbucks didn’t hire Cathy Smith for where the company is.

They hired her for where it needs to go.

And they placed a bet that finance leadership can help drive that shift.

Lesson:

The CFOs who shape the future - not just report the past - are the ones defining the next era of leadership.

PS: If you’re a CFO or VP of Finance preparing for that next step, I coach leaders on the real levers of the role: strategic narrative, board communication, and enterprise leadership. DM me if you want to explore working together.

Forbes called her the most powerful and influential CFO of the last decade…

But when Google hired Ruth Porat in 2015, most analysts doubted she was the right fit.

A Wall Street operator at an innovation-driven tech giant? 
Many assumed her discipline would slow Google down.

The opposite happened:

📈 Alphabet’s market value grew past $3 trillion during her tenure
🚀 The stock jumped after her early earnings calls
💡 The company consistently beat revenue and profit expectations

Here’s what she actually changed - and what today’s CFOs can learn from her:

1) Anchor decisions in data.

Porat was famous for saying, “The answer is a number.”
Data over opinions. Signal over noise. It cut through politics fast.

2) Replace passion projects with real frameworks.

She introduced structure to how Google funded big bets.
Teams had to prove why they deserved capital - not just ask for it.

3) Challenge the status quo.

She pushed back on excess, tightened spend, and reset expectations.
Not to clip innovation - but to fuel the right innovation.

4) Think in decades, not quarters.

Her support for AI and Cloud was grounded in long-term value creation.
CFOs don’t just protect the present. They underwrite the future.

5) Earn investor trust through transparency.

By separating core results from “Other Bets,” she gave investors clarity.
Clarity → confidence → multiple expansion.

Porat didn’t shrink Google. She sharpened it.

That’s the new era of finance leadership:

CFOs don’t just keep companies healthy. 

They shape strategy.
They influence product priorities. 
They build investor conviction. 
And they make the long term impossible to ignore. 💪

PS: If you’re a CFO or VP of Finance preparing for that next step, I coach leaders on the real levers of the role: strategic narrative, board communication, and enterprise leadership. 

DM me if you want to explore working together.

At 25, my boss called me into her office...

"You're making great progress, but we're holding off on the promotion..."

I didn’t get it.

Now that I’m in the C-suite, I see why that promotion never came.

I was the hardest worker in the room.
Answering emails at midnight.
Taking every project.
Saying 'yes' to everything.

But here’s what I didn’t understand then:
Hard work isn’t the same as visible impact. 💡

I kept my head down. 
I never talked about my wins. 
I never connected my work to the bigger business story.

20 years later, I still see employees being misled.

❌ The hardest worker doesn’t get promoted.
❌ The smartest worker doesn’t get promoted.

✅ The person who shows their value gets promoted.

Your work won't speak for itself.
You have to.

Make your value impossible to miss.

- Pitch your ideas in meetings
- Talk about your career goals during 1:1s
- Tie your wins to business objectives
- Bring solutions, not just problems
- Celebrate milestones through internal channels

Quiet mouths don’t get fed.

And in your career, visibility is a skill - not a personality trait.

Early in my tenure as a board director, I emailed a question about an assumption in the financial model.

Within hours...

- The Chair acknowledged the question
- A fellow director asked for clarification
- Management responded with context the next day
- The item was added to the next meeting agenda

That simple exchange told me everything → this board values transparency, accountability, and speed.

And I realized you can learn a lot about a board’s culture from something small: how they respond when a director raises a concern over email.

On less mature boards, the same note is met with silence, defensiveness, or deferral.

And the truth is, concerns don’t disappear.

 They just reappear later as bigger, more expensive problems.

Governance reveals itself in small moments.

A healthy board:

✅ Acknowledges
✅ Clarifies
✅ Discusses
✅ Acts

An unhealthy board avoids all four.

We talk a lot about culture in the boardroom, but you can usually see it long before the meeting starts.

In 2003, Michael Fiddelke joined Target as a finance intern.
In 2019, he became CFO.
In 2026, he’s set to become the CEO of the $106 billion giant.

Here’s a big lesson if you’re a finance professional and you want to scale your career:
🎯 Think beyond finance.

Fiddelke didn’t rise to the top just by mastering accounting entries or delivering perfect forecasts.

He rotated through merchandising, operations, supply chain, and strategy.
He learned how the business actually works.

That’s the part most finance professionals miss.
Here’s what thinking beyond finance actually looks like:

1) Understand how money moves. 

Go beyond the P&L. Learn where value is created, where it leaks, what slows revenue down, and what accelerates it.

2) Speak the language of operators.

Talk in customer impact, velocity, margin, and growth. When you translate numbers into business outcomes, influence goes up.

3) Build cross-functional trust. 

The best insights live with the people closest to the work. When they trust you, they’ll tell you what the spreadsheet never will.

4) Drive decisions.

Executives don’t need more data, they need clarity. Frame trade-offs, recommend a path, make decisions easy to act on. Then you’re a strategic partner, not just a reporting function.

5) Solve problems outside finance

Fixing bottlenecks in GTM, product, or ops grows your impact far faster than polishing another report.

The truth is simple:

You don’t grow your career just by getting better at finance.
You accelerate when you become more valuable to the business. 💡

That’s the shift Fiddelke made early.

And it’s exactly the shift high-growth finance professionals need to make now.

P.S. After 15+ years in the C-suite, 4 exits, and 2 IPOs, I now coach finance leaders on strategic storytelling, board communication, and executive leadership. If you’d like to explore working together, send me a DM.

12 career principles I’ve learned as a C-suite leader and 4x Board Director that I wish I knew on day one:

👇

1) Become the go-to person for hard problems. Solve what others avoid and you become impossible to replace. 💡

2) The best communicator wins.
It’s not the idea - it’s your ability to get others to believe in it.

3) You don’t get what you deserve. You get what you negotiate. Closed mouths don’t get promoted.

4) No one gets promoted for “doing their job.” Growth comes from stretching beyond your job description.

5) Make other people look good. If you help them win, they’ll pull you up with them. 🤝

6) Soft skills pay the highest ROI. Selling, influencing, navigating tough conversations - that’s leverage.

7) Speed matters. Fast movers get more opportunities because they create momentum.

8) Grow by being the least experienced person in the room. If you’re always the expert, you’re not learning anymore.

9) Being right isn’t enough. If you can’t persuade, you can’t lead.

10) Your first decade is about skills, not salary. Chase learning. The comp follows competence. 🎯

11) Reputation compounds. Every action builds or erodes your future opportunities. Protect it.

12) People don’t follow titles. They follow value. Become someone worth listening to.

What’s one lesson you wish you knew earlier?
Let me know in the comments.

My CEO once said in frustration, “Cameron, can’t we just agree for once?”

We were prepping board materials, and I kept pushing back on his assumptions.

Early in my career, I saw moments like this as conflict.
Now, I see them for what they really are - trust being tested. 🤝

The best CEO–CFO relationships aren’t built on harmony.
They’re built on truth.

My job isn’t to match the CEO’s optimism or nod along.
It’s to protect clarity.

Here’s what great partnership actually looks like:

🧩 Challenge privately, align publicly It builds credibility in both directions.

🎯 Speak in tradeoffs, not turf wars “What’s the cost?” and “What’s the upside?” are the real questions.

📊 Push for facts, even when it’s uncomfortable

Respect grows when you bring precision, not politics.

A good CFO manages numbers.
A great CFO manages tension.

Alignment doesn’t mean agreement.

It means friction delivered with respect - and clarity that elevates the whole company.

P.S. If you’re a finance or operations leader trying to build this kind of trust with your CEO, I coach leaders through exactly that shift. DM me if that’s where you want to grow.

If you’re a CFO getting labeled “too cautious” or “too tough,” here’s the real story:

You’re doing exactly what the business needs.

Here’s why:

1) You protect the company from bad spending

When the world expected Apple to chase splashy acquisitions, CFO Luca Maestri stayed disciplined. No wasteful M&A. No undisciplined expansion.

A focus on efficiency, capital returns, and precision in R&D.
Instead, he doubled down on operational efficiency, capital returns, and precision in R&D spending.

✅ Result: Apple’s stock value grew approximately 800%, and its cash reserves now exceed $160 billion giving it the freedom to innovate that no competitor can match.

2) You ask the questions no one wants to answer.

When Ruth Porat joined Google as CFO in 2015, she immediately started asking uncomfortable questions about spending priorities and accountability.

She cut unnecessary moonshot projects and demanded clarity on ROI for each initiative.
Critics said she was “too strict” for Google’s free-spending culture.

✅ Result: Google’s market capitalization soared from $384 billion to nearly $3 trillion during her tenure, and she set the standard for financial focus in Big Tech.

3) You choose integrity over popularity.

As a finance leader and later CEO, Indra Nooyi resisted pressure to optimize only for short-term profits. She pushed PepsiCo toward healthier categories.
A move Wall Street initially hated.

✅ Result: PepsiCo evolved into one of the most diversified and future-ready CPG portfolios while competitors played catch-up.

The traits people criticize in CFOs are often the ones that keep companies resilient when things go wrong.

Leadership isn’t about being liked. It’s about being responsible.

After 15 years in the C-suite, 3 M&A exits, and 2 IPOs, I now help VPs of Finance and incoming CFOs sharpen their leadership, communication, and board presence. If you want to operate like the strategic partner every CEO wants, DM me.

There have been moments in my career as a board director where I’ve looked around the table and realized I was the only one with my hand up.

And I felt a familiar hesitation → “Is it just me?”

But here’s what experience teaches you:

Board work isn’t about avoiding disagreement.
It’s about protecting the decision.

Asking the lone question isn’t a sign you’re out of sync.

It’s often a sign you’re seeing something others haven’t processed yet.

Here’s why those questions matter:

1) Timing matters → early questions prevent late surprises.

In the early 2000s, LEGO was near bankruptcy after expanding into too many unrelated products.

The board asked a pivotal question: “What business are we really in?”

Refocusing on core brick-based play laid the foundation for their turnaround. 🎯

2) Discomfort matters → the best questions feel awkward before they become necessary.

When a question feels risky, it’s usually because it challenges an assumption the group has quietly accepted as truth.

That’s when a board earns its keep - by seeking a truer picture, not a more comfortable one.

3) Conviction matters → if it sits in your mind, it deserves airtime. 🔁

In the 1980s, Intel was still clinging to its memory-chip business even as Japan dominated the market.

Andy Grove kept asking why Intel was fighting to save a business it had already lost.

That conviction drove Intel to pivot to microprocessors -A decision that shaped the next 30 years of computing.

4) Perspective matters → fresh eyes catch what familiarity filters out.

Teams closest to a decision stop seeing its weak points. 🧩

A question from someone less entangled can break the certainty loop and reframe the entire discussion.

Remember:

Board work isn’t about perfect alignment.
It’s about pressure testing the decision until it’s truly sound.

And sometimes the most valuable person in the room is the one willing to raise a hand when no one else does.

One of the most important leadership lessons I’ve learned is this:
Hire for capacity, not comfort.

I learned that 15 years ago at Goldman.

I had years of capital markets experience - but not the traditional investment-banking background.

A Partner hired me anyway.

She wasn’t optimizing for familiarity.
She was optimizing for growth.

→ She saw trajectory, not gaps
→ She saw velocity, not pedigree
→ She saw how fast I could scale, not what I hadn’t done yet

And she didn’t shelter me from the work.

From day one, I was staffed on the hardest deals:

📈 70-hour weeks absorbing the pace of banking
📊 High-stakes negotiations with seasoned clients
⏳ Tight deadlines building and defending complex models

It was intense, uncomfortable, and career-defining.

But that experience shaped how I evaluate talent today - as a CFO, as a board director, and as a leader of teams:

- Who learns fastest under pressure?
- Who can operate at altitude before they feel “ready”?
- Who grows into stretch, not away from it?
- Who has the judgment to scale into bigger roles?

Capacity is the real differentiator.

Not resume lines.
Not prior roles.
Not perfect pedigree.

The leaders who bet on capacity build organizations that outperform.

The leaders who hire for comfort build teams that stall.

I’ve seen $500M+ companies crash post-IPO.
On the other hand, I’ve seen $100M companies thrive.

At Goldman, I helped evaluate IPO candidates and prepare them for the public stage.

In Silicon Valley, I was Head of FP&A at Sunrun and Box through their IPO journeys.

I’ve sat on both sides of the table.

And the brutal lesson is always the same:
Maturity beats size.

Most CEOs and CFOs nail the table-stakes metrics:

✅ Revenue growth rates
✅ Market size projections
✅ Competitive positioning

But the real predictors go deeper.

Here are the 5 signals that separate IPO-ready companies from the rest:

1) Consistent Performance → Six or more quarters of steady execution, hitting guidance even when markets shift.

2) Operational Discipline → 5-day close or less, SOX-ready controls, teams that thrive under investor scrutiny.

3) Narrative Clarity → CEO and CFO can articulate the growth story in one sentence - and analysts can repeat it.

4) Leadership Alignment → Management and the board united on strategy, numbers, and messaging.

5) Market Pull → Analysts already tracking and investors leaning in before the S-1.

Here’s the truth:

💪 IPO ≠ graduation ceremony
🎯 IPO = starting gun for quarterly judgment

The companies that thrive don’t just prepare for a financing event.
They build the muscles of a public company long before they ever file.

The real question isn’t: “Have we hit $X in revenue?”
It’s: “Are we mature enough to deliver quarter after quarter?”

P.S. I advise CEOs, CFOs, and boards on IPO readiness, governance, and financial strategy, drawing on 20+ years across Wall Street and Silicon Valley, 3 M&A exits, and 2 IPOs.

If your company is preparing to go public, now is the time to build those muscles.

Alisa Cohn

Techstars

Mentor and Speaker at Techstars Riyadh, one of the leading global venture capital and accelerator programs.

Mentor, TechStars Mentor Series

Alisa Cohn & Associates, Inc.

Hone

Member Of The Board Of Advisors

cela

Revbox

Corporate Alumni

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Manager

I was named the #1 Startup Coach in the world at the Thinkers50 Marshall Goldsmith Leading Coaches Awards in London. I was also named one of the Top 30 Global Gurus for Startups. Based in NYC, I coach startup CEOs, co-founders, other startup executives and board members all over the world. I also coach senior and emerging leaders from Fortune 500 companies. My clients include Venmo, Foursquare, InVision, Etsy, The Wirecutter (sold to The New York Times), Pfizer, Novartis, Dell, Hitachi, IBM, Calvin Klein, Tory Burch, The New York Times. I also speak at Cornell, Harvard, The Naval War College and am the executive coach for the Runway Program at Cornell Tech.

I write for Inc and Forbes and Harvard Business Review. I have been featured in BBC, Bloomberg, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other regional publications. 

My specialties include executive presence, power, influence & charisma, corporate politics, personal mastery, strategic decision-making, developing a strong personal brand, and building social capital. Additionally, I design workshops and give talks for executives, remote teams, managers and employees on similar topics. 

Prior to becoming an executive coach, I was Vice President at two high-tech companies, CFO of a start-up company, and a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers and The Monitor Group.

I was selected as one of the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches Project #MG100. I am also an angel investor and Broadway investor. 

My specialties include:
Startup coaching - founders, co-founders, CEOs, executive teams and their investors
Building influence
New leader onboarding
Developing a strong personal brand
Navigating corporate politics
Building your social capital 
Increasing your resilience - building mental toughness
Feedback and coaching

Find your tribe.

That’s the most common advice that successful entrepreneurs and artists share with the people they mentor.

The things we’re the most proud of always carry the imprint of your companions on your path. They are your collaborators, your cheerleaders, your critics. 

Dorie Clark and I regularly organize what we call “AC/DC Masterminds.” And I’m so glad we pulled one together this week and got to spend  the day with this handsome group so we could all help each other move forward!

Some of my takeaways were:

🌿How to think about pitching sponsors: Don’t pitch! Find a story they will want to buy into.

🌿Reframe marketing your books (and your business) as a creative act - an interesting puzzle to solve. 

🌿“You think your work is wall to wall carpeting. But it looks better as an area rug.”

🌿When you brainstorm every day you may not get any good ideas. That’s not the point. The point is to build the muscle of idea of creation.

🌿Sometimes procrastination looks like planning.

🌿Look for things that fit you like a glove. But when you turn into a foot, go out and find a good pair of socks. 

🌿You can always do more. But have you done enough?

I find it very easy to just work work work. It’s hard to carve a full day out for community. And it’s certainly hard to set it up. 

But it’s so so so worth.

Thanks for your brilliant minds and beautiful hearts A.J. Jacobs, Guy Winch, Jenny Blake, Mita Mallick, Terri Trespicio, Terry Rice, Erica Keswin, Melody Wilding, LMSW, Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg, and of course my partner in crime Dorie Clark.

Global CEO Coach to startups and Fortune 500; Best-selling Author and Podcaster (From Start-up to Grown-up); Writes for HBR, Forbes, Fast Company; Named Top 50 Coaches in the World by Thinkers50

I failed my first F-35 mission.

I got to visit The Squadron and experience their super cool team building experience. 

I got a briefing and a mission. 

Let’s say that after my first mission there was room for improvement. (My flying lessons helped not at all.)

Second try: massive improvement!

The gamechanger? A debrief. To learn what went wrong and how to improve. 

1️⃣ Debrief key projects. Always
Get the team together and talk about what worked, what didn’t, and - most importantly - what you’ll do differently next time.

2️⃣ Set specific, behavior-based goals
“Try harder” doesn’t help. In my mission I was too conservative, going for easy targets. My new rule was “don’t try for easy targets. Only go for medium or hard ones.”

3️⃣ It’s all data
When you stop taking performance personally, you can analyze what actually happened and adjust the process.
And yep - I wore the goofy suit. May as well get into the spirit of things!

Get a 30 minute meeting with your team this week and debrief your biggest project. Don’t forget to clarify exactly what you’ll change! 

Thanks Ohad Boaz for inviting me!

💪 You can’t lead well if you don’t live well.

Lately, I’ve been reminded how much our health underpins everything: our focus, creativity, resilience, and even our ability to show up for others. 

In a world that glorifies hustle, it’s easy to forget that real success starts with a strong foundation: your body and mind.

Here are three habits I’ve learned to prioritize (and wish I’d started sooner):

1️⃣ Lift weights.
Strength training isn’t just about muscles, it’s about independence, confidence, and longevity. I want to lift my suitcase into the overhead bin when I’m 85. Don’t you?

2️⃣ Know your numbers.
A DEXA scan can show your body composition and bone density. Regular blood works helps you track progress and identify issues early. Tracking key metrics helps you take action before it’s too late. Knowledge really is power when it comes to your health.

3️⃣ Deal with your demons.
Stress and anxiety drain your energy. Invest in meditation, community, therapy or whatever helps you manage your inner world.

💭 What’s one habit you’re committing to for a healthier, more productive you?

If you’re on vacation, driving to your next stop, and everyone is on their phones, what do you do?

If you’re Paul English, cofounder of Kayak (and too many other companies and non-profits to count), you invent a product. Of course if you’re Paul English, you might invent a new product every day, because that’s how he rolls. 

He also gathers fascinating entrepreneurs, investors, and builders for dinners, and I was lucky enough to be at one this week. 

It was an astonishingly interesting group. Here are some of my takeaways:

⚡Playing in a high school band is one of the best ways to learn to work with teams.

⚡Having “big ears” is the only way to stay in sync. You have to listen carefully to your teammates and to the market. 

⚡Time management is not a calendar problem. It is a priorities problem.

⚡Related: Focus on the most important metric and execute that with bone crushing consistency. The flywheel can spin when you do the boring parts well.

⚡When you’re the CEO you obviously get pulled in many directions. But if you’re a product CEO, focus on product. Having a killer product sets you up to win.

⚡“One way you know you need to work for yourself is when you realize that having a boss makes you sick.“

⚡AI is….complicated. It’s either going to enhance our humanity or rob us of it. But being able to hear smart people and their diverse opinions is electric and makes you better. Steel sharpens steel. 

⚡Entrepreneurs are inherently impatient. Even when they’re moving fast it feels slow.

⚡We all struggle with similar problems. 

⚡And, when you want to hire a dog trainer whenever your dog runs away, put aside time in your calendar to call the dog trainer. That is not a metaphor, but it’s also a metaphor. 

Thanks for gathering us Paul and for the amazing conversation Brian Kalma, Dmitry Koltunov, Luka Ivicevic, Stephen Kuhl, Aparajita Chauhan, Ziad Ahmed

Here’s the biggest communication mistakes I see everyone make. It doesn’t matter if they’re an executive, a founder, or an employee. 

They don’t spend enough time working on this one skill, which is hiding in plain sight. 

Most people obsess over what they want to say.

The best obsess over how it’s going to land for the other person.

You can change this immediately with this quick fix:

🔸If you’re leader, ask yourself:

➡️“Could this make people worried, defensive, or intimidated?”

➡️“Have I made my intent crystal clear?”

➡️“Have I given context so this doesn’t feel like it’s coming from thin air?”

Try mini-scripts  like: 

“This won’t impact you or your team immediately, but I’m letting you know so you’re not surprised.”
 
“My intent is to help you improve,  not to criticize you.”

🔸If you’re an employee, ask yourself:

💡“What’s on my manager’s plate today?”

💡“Do they remember where we left off?”

💡“Have I made the ‘so what’ unmistakably clear?”

Try mini-scripts like:

“I know you’re in budget meetings all day. I need one quick thing from you to keep this project moving and then we can talk more in-depth next week if you have time.

“Quick recap from last week so we’re on the same page”

“Here’s the headline and I can share details if helpful.”

This one habit upgrades your communication at work (and, not for nothing, at home.)

Before you speak, pause for a few seconds and step into their shoes.

Ask yourself: 

🔹”What are they worried about?”

🔹”What are they hoping for?”

🔹”What are they distracted by?”

🔹”What are their top priorities?”

Start with just one conversation this week.

You’ll notice that your messages land and that you’re building more trust.

Save this post to use as a tool to help  you communicate better when it matters the most.

I love meetings! Or to be more specific, I love the potential of meetings.
Engaged people in a room, talking passionately about a topic, coming to decisions. What’s not to love?

Oh, your meetings aren’t like that? 

Use these strategies and you’ll stop wasting so much time. Suddenly, meetings will fuel you and not drag you down.

 1️⃣ Define the goal. Know what will be different when the meeting ends.
 2️⃣ Set the agenda to match the goal. Discussion, presentation, or decision, use the right approach.
 3️⃣ Agree on norms. Phones down, everyone participates, clear roles so everyone knows what’s expected.

The difference between a draining meeting and a great one is intentional design.

👇 What’s one thing you’ll change in your next meeting?

Thank you so much Ryusuke Komura for inviting me to speak at Venture Café Tokyo last week! It was a blast to meet you and the team and to mingle with such fantastic entrepreneurs from Japan and all over the world!

Some of my takeaways are:

1) Imposter syndrome is universal. And entrepreneurs all over the world are subject to it.

2) Corporate politics is anathema to the success of a startup. So if you come from the corporate world, startup success is in direct proportion to your ability to *unlearn* politics.

3) Telling your story as a founder is not something you do in your spare time. It’s one of your main jobs.

4) Corollary: figuring out the right story to tell doesn’t always come naturally. It may take a few tries. Stick with it.

5) Moving to a different company means you may have to build a network from scratch. But you have a differentiated perspective which is hard to beat. 

Tokyo is a fantastic city building a vibrant startup community! Now I understand why everyone is going there! Thanks so much to John L. for connecting me to Ryu!

Are you planning to head to Tokyo? Hit me up in the comments for tips!

💬 How should you tell your team bad news?

Every leader faces that moment. The one where you have to share something difficult.

A missed target.

A round that didn’t close.

A big customer leaving.

Organizational changes that will hurt. 

It’s tempting to soften it or delay it. 

But here’s the truth:
Your team can handle the truth. What they can’t handle is confusion.

When it’s time to share bad news:

 1️⃣ Prepare yourself — your message, your tone, your mindset.

 2️⃣ Say what’s true — no sugarcoating, no spin.

 3️⃣ Rebuild confidence — explain why you’re still optimistic and what comes next.

Trust is built through leaning into the real talk along with showing that you care. 

👀 Swipe through the carousel for the full framework.

Save this post to refer back to you when you have to deliver bad news.

How Should You Tell Your Team the Bad News

💡 Most people think they don’t have a personal brand. But they do.

The only question is: are you shaping it or letting it shape you?

And if you’re a founder, coach, or leader, your brand determines the opportunities that come your way.

If you’re ready to strengthen yours, use these 3 simple tools.
 
✨ Understand how others see you
 
✨ Clarify how you want to be known

 ✨ Expand your network with new connections

Your brand isn’t built in a day. 

It’s built every time you show up.

💭 What is one step you can take to build your brand this week? Share it in the comments so we can all learn together.

How to Build Your Brand with Just 3 Tools

Your team is not confused about the work. They’re confused about how to work with you! 

That’s why every leader should create a personal operating manual. It’s a  simple guide to how you work best.

Some examples of things to share are:

✨ How you like to communicate

✨ How you give feedback

✨ What you expect from collaboration and decision-making

When your team knows how you operate, they can work with you and not around you.

And here’s the bonus: have them create their own manuals too. You’ll be amazed how much faster (and smoother) everything gets.

💡 What’s one thing you’d include in your personal operating manual?

Are you avoiding forecasting because it feels uncertain?

For founders and leaders, it can be tempting to shy away from forecasting. Whether it’s predicting project outcomes or revenue, founders tend to avoid it especially in the early stages.

But forecasting isn’t just about numbers. It’s about building a strong foundation.

Forecasting helps by forcing you to:

🔵 Think it through. Forecasting pushes  you to rigorously plan how to reach your goals.

🔵Practice makes perfect. Early forecasting might be inaccurate, but it’s essential practice.

🔵 Setting goals together. It helps your team set and take ownership of goals, driving sustainability.

The process of forecasting helps you align your team and set the stage for long-term success. 

The skill of forecasting is important for you and your team to learn. And like all skills, you’re often bad at it until you get good at it.

Practice forecasting and as you get better at it you’ll also get better at becoming a leader.

✨ Just promoted into leadership? Congratulations! And good luck; you’re going to need it! 

Becoming a new leader is actually a lot like being a founder: you’re learning fast, influencing in every direction, and making big decisions with imperfect information.

In my latest Forbes article, I share six habits from founders that every new leader can and should  steal to ramp up faster.

Self-reflection, leaning into tough talks and learning to do less, not more, are some of the tools entrepreneurs have to learn by doing. 

Thanks to these great founders for sharing insights: 

💡 Arvind Jain cofounder of Glean

💡 Sadie Lincoln cofounder of barre3

💡 Joe Thomas cofounder of Loom

💡 Matt Blumberg cofounder of Bolster 

💡 Paul English cofounder of KAYAK

💡 Nick Huber, The Sweaty Startup

These lessons will help you strengthen your leadership muscles even when things get uncomfortable.

👉 Read the full piece in the link below the comment section.

Here’s the secret to executing a project perfectly: understand that you’re never going to execute a project perfectly.

Or, as I tell my clients all the time, join me here in the real word.

Every meaningful project, every personal stretch, comes with snags and setbacks. It’s part of the process. What matters most is that you keep moving forward.

The key is to expect problems and blockers. Don’t be surprised when they come up. Plan for how you’ll move around them.

When you know what you want to accomplish and how you’ll maneuver around obstacles you’ll be much more likely to move forward faster.

I loved my chat with the dynamic duo Kass Lazerow and Michael Lazerow, co-founders of multiple companies, including Buddy Media, which they sold to Salesforce for $750 million. They’re also investors and authors of "Shoveling Sh*t: A Love Story About the Entrepreneur's Messy Path to Success."

Kass and Mike share real-talk insights into entrepreneurship, co-founder dynamics, company-building, and how to stay married when you’re also co-founders.

Here are three key takeaways from our conversation:

➡️ Radical transparency isn't optional; it's essential. Sharing both the good and the bad openly with your team builds trust and resilience.

➡️ Choose your co-founders wisely. The strength of your partnership can determine your company's success or failure; it's more critical than the business idea itself.

➡️ Entrepreneurship requires accepting that there are no shortcuts. It’s always hard. You have to do the work and genuinely love the process.

One memorable insight from Kass and Mike: "Entrepreneurs shovel all day long. You come in optimistic, get punched in the face repeatedly, and celebrate mini wins along the way. It’s about loving the shoveling."

In this clip, Kass and Mike talk about the importance of role clarity, both at home and at work.

👉 Listen to the full episode in the comments.

If you’re a founder, a leader, or a spouse, you’ll love this episode!

It is a special group of people that help you build a startup from day one.

And while those early employees are critical to the success of a company’s first stages of growth, they don’t always make the leap to the next level of your company’s growth.

Here are three signs to be on the lookout for to see if your executive team is helping you scale the way you need them to:

Is this idea worth failing at?

That’s one of the questions legendary investor Randy Komisar asks founders when they’re pitching their idea. 

He also asks his “3 whys” 

▪️Why this?

▪️Why you?

▪️Why now?

I loved this whole conversation so much that I’m re-running it. We cover so much ground that has nothing to do with investing! We talked about:

🔍 How to read people
Randy’s father was both a salesman and a professional gambler. How’s that for an education in what makes people tick? 

🍀 How to increase your luck
Some things are just luck, but you can increase the “surface area of serendipity.” 

👥 Why every leader needs a coach 
Legendary coach Bill Campbell helped shape Randy’s style by holding up a mirror and serving as a role model. 

But my favorite part comes at the beginning when Randy shares how he once bombed an interview with Neil Young.

Check it out and let me know what you think. Link to the episode in the comments.

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