As an executive coach, I support growth and later-stage founders and CEOs in growing their businesses, becoming great leaders, and building winning cultures. I have over 15 years of experience founding and leading companies, most notably co-founding Turnstyle (acquired by Yelp) and serving as President & CEO of Founders Pledge, an organization for high-impact giving that’s raised over $10B for charity from startup founders.
I have deep first-hand experience with leadership development, conflict mediation, strategy, fundraising, enterprise sales, culture building, managing, recruiting, and navigating mental health as a leader. I have trained with and taken inspiration from the Harvard Negotiation Project, Ivey Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Nonviolent Communication, The Enneagram, The Hoffman Process, Conscious Leadership Group, Katie & Gay Hendricks, Co-Active Training Institute, Buddhism, Men’s Work, The Inner Game, and various forms of individual and couples therapy. My coaching also integrates years of athletic training in college basketball, tournament golf, and ultra-endurance events. I coach founders one-on-one and together, I coach in CEO circles via Velocity Coaching, and I facilitate offsites for leadership teams and whole companies.
My coaching integrates my years of athletic training in college basketball, tournament golf, and ultra-endurance events. I believe in an approach to leadership that harnesses your strengths and revolves around the most critical and often overlooked ingredient of success in your business and life: how well you connect with others. We’ll talk strategy, but we’ll also go beneath the surface into the hidden forces driving you and anything that might undermine your potential.
I was recognized as a Top Executive Coach by Coach Foundation. Ed & Matt @ Mantra Health say “Coach Matt’s approach to understanding the founder relationship and scaling startups has been transformational for both of us, as well as Mantra.” Ivan @ Iterative.ai says, “Matt is an excellent, empathetic, experienced coach, and founder.”
I bring a suite of tried-and-proven frameworks and methodologies to unlock the full potential of teams and individuals. I have deep experience with leadership development, conflict mediation, strategy, fundraising, enterprise sales, culture building, managing, recruiting, and navigating mental health as a leader. My work also integrates inspiration and training from the Harvard Negotiation Project, Ivey Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Nonviolent Communication, The Enneagram, Conscious Leadership Group, Katie & Gay Hendricks, Co-Active Training Institute, Buddhism, Men’s Work, The Inner Game, and various forms of individual and couples therapy.
WHAT MAKES MY WORK DIFFERENT?
I am not your typical executive coach. In fact, much of what I coach and write about flies in the face of conventional coaching and leadership advice. If you want to do something bold and impactful, you have to do things differently:
- Create a winning culture. How we recruit, hire, manage, reward, and promote matters. Building a fair, performance-based culture will unlock success at the highest levels.
- Get clear on what you want. Powerful people know exactly what they want. Having a bold vision and cultivating awareness of what you truly want in each situation will drive effective results.
- Maximize self-awareness upfront. Awareness is the first step to becoming a great leader. We start our engagement by getting to know you on the deepest level so we can address deep-seated patterns at the root of the obstacles you’re experiencing.
- Building great relationships unlocks just about everything. Life happens with and through your connections with other people. The more we master communication and relationship building, the easier it will be to achieve your wildest dreams.
- Be willing to say the hard things. Creating strong feedback loops is essential for you and your team to thrive. We must turn towards hard conversations and face them head-on.
- Become aware of your emotions. By connecting to your emotions, you unlock crucial guidance and direction while ensuring that old unconscious patterns aren’t running the show.
- Develop management versatility. Being adaptable is paramount. Get clear on when to ‘command and control’ and when to coach, and build trust, ownership, and empowerment.
- Bring your full self to work. You want your head, heart, and gut to be actively involved. The best leaders are unapologetic about who they are and figure out how to make that work.
WHERE TO START
If you’re a founder operating at the growth-stage or beyond and you’re passionate about doing something bold and impactful, I’m eager to meet you. Send me an email and let’s start the journey toward becoming an exceptional leader and turning your vision into reality. I also recommend signing up for my newsletter, an email I send every other Tuesday that offers daring perspectives to push boundaries and fuel breakthroughs.