Peter Sorgenfrei

Live a happier and healthier life. I'll get you there in 3 months or less.

I work privately with founders when something has started to repeat or quietly erode, even though nothing has visibly broken yet.

By the time people reach out, conversations escalate more easily, conflicts don’t fully resolve, authority thins, or work begins to spill into personal life in ways that are hard to contain. What used to feel manageable starts depending on effort.

This is not coaching for growth, optimisation, or personal development. It’s not therapy.

The work focuses on stabilising these patterns before continuing as-is costs more than it should, professionally, personally, or both.

Engagements are private, time-bounded, and deliberately contained. We reassess once things begin to resolve cleanly again.

If you’re looking for ongoing support, performance work, or stress relief, this is probably not a fit.

If continuing as you are no longer feels neutral, this is usually the right moment to reach out.

I also send occasional writing under the name Intentional Leadership, quiet notes on pressure, responsibility, and decision-making. Sent infrequently.

Executive and Board Advisory

I work with Investors, Boards, and Leadership teams to develop people and grow companies

Your team doesn’t copy your values doc.
They copy your nervous system.

Your team doesn’t follow your slides.
They follow your nervous system.

You can talk about:
→ psychological safety
→ openness
→ “bring me bad news quickly”

But if your energy says:
→ hurried
→ defensive
→ easily triggered

That’s what people copy.

I see it over and over with founders:

They say, “I don’t know why my leadership team is scared to push back.”

Then tell me, “I sometimes bark at people when I’m stressed, but they know it’s just pressure.”

They don’t experience it as “just pressure.”
They experience it as: it’s not safe to tell you the truth.

Here are some invisible culture builders:

- How you react the moment someone brings bad news  
- Whether you actually listen, or just wait to talk  
- If you ever say “I was wrong” publicly  
- How you treat junior person when things go sideways  

When I coach founders, we rarely start with values.
We start with these tiny moments.

Because culture isn’t created in all-hands decks.

It’s created in how you show up on a random Tuesday when an important deal slips.

You want a calmer, braver, more honest team?

Start with the one nervous system that sets the tone for all of them: yours.

What’s one reaction pattern you know your team has seen too often?

If you can feel the gap between the culture you talk about and the way you actually show up,

DM me “Culture”.

We can map what needs to change.

NL: https://lnkd.in/dguy4WfX

sorgenfrei-aps

statesm

Talks about #business, #startups, #leadership, #management, and #entrepreneurship

Founder & CEO Coach for 20–250 person teams | 6x Founder/CEO | Scale without losing your sleep, relationships, or self. Creator of The Whole Human Approach.

Most advice is noise.
This actually moves the needle.

I spent years collecting frameworks.
Reading every business book. Following every guru.

My revenue stayed flat.

Then I stopped consuming and started testing.

Here's what actually worked:

1) Kill your worst client

We had one client eating 40% of our time.
Paying 15% of our revenue.

I fired them. Team morale jumped.
We replaced them with three better clients in 6 weeks.

Revenue up 35%.

2) Double down on what's already working

Stop chasing new channels.
Look at your data. What's your best performer?

For us: LinkedIn brought 70% of leads.
We killed Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
Went all-in on LinkedIn.

Lead quality improved. Cost per acquisition dropped 60%.

3) Say no to good opportunities

Good is the enemy of great.
Every "yes" to good means "no" to excellent.

I turned down:

- Speaking gigs that didn't fit
- Partnerships that felt off
- Projects outside our zone

Focus brought clarity. Clarity brought growth.

4) Price for profit, not market

Stop looking at competitors.
Start looking at value delivered.

We tripled our prices.
Lost 30% of prospects.
Kept the ones who valued excellence.

Profit margins went from 15% to 45%.

The uncomfortable truth:

Most advice keeps you busy.
These moves keep you profitable.

You don't need more strategies.
You need the courage to execute the obvious.

What obvious move have you been avoiding?

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New blogpost

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Content recap

𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆: What’s The Biggest Red Flag When Hiring?
🔗bit.ly/45bO7vq

𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆: Don’t Lose Your Top Talent If They’re Not Right For The Top Job!
🔗bit.ly/3LHg0oc

𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆: A Co-founder Can Either Be A Superpower Or Your Kryptonite
🔗bit.ly/3ry8oh2

𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆: Pushing Limits? That’s How True Leaders Excel!
🔗bit.ly/3LH05GA

𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: A Weekly Self-review Framework For First-time Founders 
🔗bit.ly/48rjGUS

diverse

https://fi.co/insight/34-questions-to-ask-a-potential-co-founder

CEO Circle

Look into the CEO Circle and apply here: https://circle.petersorgenfrei.com

Private support for founders when patterns begin to repeat at work or at home

Being a founder is lonely.

No one to really talk to. Like really get into it with, share your fears, your concerns, and your insecurities. 

You might do it at home and get comfort.
You might do it with friends and get support.

But no one really understands what it is like to be you.

You might have some advisors, but they are not in your shoes; you might have a board, and they each have their own agenda.

It's hard.

I missed having the conversations I now offer to clients. And they do too. There is a relief, a lowering of the shoulders when we first get into it. It makes me happy. Truly does. And it helps them feel less lonely.

What if the business outgrows the version of you who built it?

You started it.
You took the risk.
You wore every hat, said yes to every meeting, figured it out one Google search at a time.

And now, it's working.
Team’s bigger. Revenue’s up. There's a system in place.

But you’re still stuck in founder mode.
Still firefighting. Still in every decision.
Still shouldering things you no longer need to carry.

Some days you wonder if you’re helping or holding it back.

Letting go of that early version of you,
the scrappy, relentless, all-in builder,
feels like betrayal.

But maybe it’s just the next phase of leadership.

You don’t need to be the hero anymore.
You need to be the architect.

NL: https://lnkd.in/dguy4WfX

Hard conversations don’t start with shouting. 
They start with silence.

You’re not fighting.
But you’re also not connecting.

The co-founder you used to text late at night with new ideas now barely talks outside meetings.

The jokes don’t feel the same.
The tension’s there, but nobody names it.

Everything works.
But the foundation feels shaky.

And that’s the part that wears you down.
Not one big blow-up.
Just a slow erosion of trust, clarity, and ease.

Hard conversations don’t have a calendar invite.
They show up in the awkward pauses.

In the things you no longer say.
In the feeling that something’s changed and no one wants to touch it.

NL: https://lnkd.in/dguy4WfX

You got what you wanted.
Now you’re scared to say you don’t want it.

You built the life you dreamed of.
Now you’re scared to admit you don’t like living in it.

The numbers look great:
→ Revenue up
→ Team growing
→ Industry respect

You got what you said you wanted.

So why does the idea of “more” feel heavy instead of exciting?

This is one of the most confronting truths for high-achieving founders:

You can outgrow the version of success you once prayed for.

But admitting that feels dangerous.

Because what happens if you say:
- “I don’t want to scale to 10x.”
- “I care more about time than valuation now.”
- “I’m tired of this game and want a different one.”

Will people think you’ve lost your edge?
Will the team panic?
Will investors see weakness?

I’ve coached founders post-exit, mid-scale, pre-IPO.

The happiest ones weren’t the ones with the biggest numbers.

They were the ones who had the courage to redefine the game mid-way.

They went from:

→ “Bigger at any cost”

to

→ “Big enough, with a life I recognize.”

Success is expensive if you never renegotiate what it means.

You’re allowed to change your mind
without throwing away your ambition.

The question isn’t:
“Do I want to win?”

It’s:

“Am I still playing the right game?”

When was the last time you asked yourself that?

If on paper you’re winning, but privately you’re wondering if you’re playing the wrong game,

DM me “Success”.

Tell me what it actually feels like behind the metrics.

NL: https://lnkd.in/dguy4WfX

Private support for founders at critical moments when their own behaviour or decisions are destabilising their company or personal life

If someone filmed your life for the next 30 days, would you watch it back?

Or would you cringe at how you're showing up?

I spent years living on autopilot.

Checking boxes.
Following scripts.
Doing what I thought I was "supposed" to do.

Then I realized something:

Nobody's coming to save you.

Not your boss.
Not your partner.
Not some magic moment that makes everything clear.

It's just you.

And the choices you make every single day.

I used to think I needed to wait until I felt ready.

Until I had it all figured out.
Until the fear went away.

But here's the truth nobody tells you:

You're always being watched.

By yourself.

And you're the hardest person to fool.

Most people wait.

They wait for permission.
They wait for confidence.
They wait for the "right time."

But waiting is just fear dressed up as patience.

Here's what changed everything for me:

I stopped asking "What should I do?"

And started asking "What would make me proud?"

That one shift rewired everything.

Because when you live for approval, you'll always feel empty.

But when you live with intention, you build something real.

Three questions I ask myself every week:

1. Am I growing or just going through the motions?
2. Would I respect the person I'm being right now?
3. What's one thing I'm avoiding that I know I need to do?

These questions keep me honest.

They force me to look at the gap between who I am and who I want to be.

And that gap? That's where the work happens.

You don't need a perfect plan.

You just need to start showing up differently.

Stop numbing out.
Stop blaming circumstances.
Stop waiting for someday.

Your life is happening right now.

Not when you hit that goal.
Not when things get easier.
Not when you finally "figure it out."

Right now.

So here's my challenge to you:

Pick one area where you've been playing small.

Just one.

And for the next week, show up there like it matters.

Because it does.

And so do you.

What's one thing you've been putting off that you know would change everything if you actually did it?

NL: https://lnkd.in/dguy4WfX

Founder & CEO Coach. Scale without losing yourself. I’ve been there + done that. 6x Founder/CEO. Creator of The Whole Human Approach. Book forthcoming. WA: +45 7135 1727

Coaching is expensive.

So is not changing.

When founders tell me “it’s a lot of money,”
I don’t disagree.

Then we look at what it’s already costing them to stay where they are:

→ 
A sales leader you kept for 18 months too long because you hated conflict.  

(Cost: hundreds of thousands + lost momentum.)

→ 
A relationship at home that’s gone from vibrant to polite.

(Cost: everything, if it breaks.)

→ 
A leadership team that tiptoes around you because they’re scared of your stress.  

(Cost: bad decisions nobody challenges.)

→ 
Health markers quietly sliding in the wrong direction.  

(Cost: you know this one.)

None of that shows up as a line item.
But you’re paying for it already.

Here’s how I think about my own investments:

If it changes how I think, decide, and relate
for the next 10 years,
it’s cheap.

If it helps me avoid even one catastrophic decision
made from ego, fear, or exhaustion,
it’s cheap.

If it makes me someone my family wants to be around,
it’s VERY cheap.

My fees aren’t light.
They’re also not random.

They’re designed so both of us have skin in the game.

You risk money.
I risk reputation and a money-back guarantee.

If you’re only looking at “the price of coaching,”
you’re missing the much bigger number:
the cost of staying exactly as you are.

You don’t have to work with me.
But run the real math.

Then decide.

NL: https://lnkd.in/dguy4WfX

You keep telling yourself things are good.
Because mostly, they are.

You’re not in a crisis.
The numbers look solid.
Your calendar is full of things that matter.

But something feels slightly out of sync.
You keep catching yourself zoning out in meetings.
Forgetting little things that used to be automatic.
Brushing off feedback that normally wouldn’t rattle you.

You're not burned out. Not really.
You’re just drifting. Slightly.
Off-course by a few degrees.

That’s the danger no one talks about.
Not when it all breaks.

But when it just slides. 
Quietly.

Until one day, you look up and realize you built something beautiful that doesn’t quite fit anymore.

This isn’t failure.
It’s a signal.
It’s time to realign.

NL: https://lnkd.in/dguy4WfX

I've built 6 products over the last couple of years.
I've never publicly promoted any of them.
Today, that changes.

They're called Sprints.

Self-guided experiences designed to create clarity in the areas where founders get stuck.

We have

→ The Positioning Reset Sprint
Get clear on what your business really stands for.

→ The Founder Focus Sprint
Figure out what YOU should actually be doing next.

→ The Culture By Design Sprint
Design the company you're building, intentionally.

→ The Co-Founder Alignment Sprint
Address the tension before it becomes conflict.

→ The Board & Investor Strategy Sprint
Learn how to manage (and lead) your board.

→ The Founder-Parent Reset (Group Coaching)
30 days to reclaim your time and energy, without choosing between your company and your kids.

A founder recently finished one and said, "This is not just for founders, dude..."

A head of marketing called it "so simple and yet so powerful."

Two different people. 
Two different roles. 
Same result.

If you're starting 2026 and want to get unstuck:

https://lnkd.in/eStcCJEw

This might be exactly what you need right now.

Who holds you?

Not the company.
Not the title.
Not the story on LinkedIn.

You.

If you’re a founder, you’re probably the person everyone leans on.

→ Your team comes to you with their fears.  
→ Your investors come to you with their expectations.  
→ Your family comes to you with their needs.

You’re the shock absorber for multiple lives.

But who does that for you?

Most founders I work with realise something in our first call:

They have:
→ friends who see the highlight reel  
→ a partner who sees the exhaustion  
→ a board who sees the numbers  

But nobody who holds the whole picture.

The ambition.
The fear.
The guilt.
The pressure.
The hope.

That’s why coaching exists.

Not to give you a gold star.  
Not to fix you.  
Not to tell you what to do.

To give you one place where you don’t have to pretend.

Where you can say:
“I have no idea what I’m doing”
without losing anyone’s confidence.

Founders love to talk about resilience.

Resilience doesn’t mean carrying it all alone.
It means having someone you can actually fall apart with,
so you don’t do it in front of the people who depend on you.

Who holds you right now?

If the answer is “no one,”
it won’t stay invisible forever.
It will show up somewhere.

Don’t wait for that moment.

Getting this?: https://lnkd.in/dguy4WfX

If you’re constantly repairing situations that shouldn’t break,
that’s not resilience. It’s a signal.

Over time, constant repair becomes its own form of instability.

You're not living two lives.
You're living one life, badly.

Pressure doesn’t usually break founders.

Unchecked reactions do.

When pressure rises, some founders become sharper.
Others become louder.

Over time, the second pattern destabilises everything around them.

I don’t work on growth or optimisation.

Those conversations assume things are basically working.

The work I’m called into starts earlier than collapse,
but later than discomfort.

It’s when continuing as-is still looks possible,
but no longer feels neutral.

Instability rarely arrives dramatically.

It usually shows up as small escalations that never fully resolve.

Repair becomes normal.
Authority thins quietly.

By the time people notice, the system is already strained.

A common warning sign:

You stop trusting your own reactions.

Decisions feel heavier.
Conversations escalate faster than expected.

Nothing is “wrong,” but nothing feels contained either.

I did a ton in 2025 - not sure I will continue in 2026

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