Coaching outliers & unreasonable founders to lead through hard pivots in business and life.
Whether you lead a startup, an organization, or a movement, you deserve someone on your side. Someone who can be an honest observer, helpful sounding board, and trusted advisor.
Coaching is my life's work—read on to learn more about what it might be like to work with me.
About My Practice
🦾 Outliers & Unreasonable humans
The world is shaped by divergent people who have tremendous skills and capacity, but also suffer from painful shortcomings. I work with people who break with convention and tradition and my clients all harbor a quiet (or loud) rebel streak. Whether that be your personal upbringing, your professional aspirations, or the way you think and work—owning your unique differences is an important part of my coaching.
Examples: Startup Founders, Senior Executives, Agency Owners, Solopreneurs. Asian Americans. ADHD or other neurodivergence. Immigrant. Nontraditional backgrounds.
🌊 Leading Through Hard Pivots:
In a complex, ever-evolving world, learning to adapt to constant change is a critical skill. My work in building resilience and experience as a founder and operator will help you deal with setbacks, shutdowns, inflection points, and exits. Even "good" change can be unsettling and high class problems are still problems—we'll face them together.
Examples: Major strategy shift in startup / business. Launching new venture. Quitting your job to do something very different. Changing industries. Closing new round of funding.
About Me
Hiring an executive coach is a deeply personal decision, and the strength of the relationship you build with your coach, whether me or someone else, will matter more than almost anything else about whether you get the results and improvements you're looking to see.
So the most important thing I can do here is give you a sense of my background and what it's like to work with me. My coaching practice grounded in my own journey as a human being who:
- is a first-generation immigrant from China who saw my parents struggle and grind to provide amazing education and opportunity for their children
- is a competitive athlete who values connection to his body—junior national and NCAA gymnast, marathon finisher, CrossFit L1 trainer, 2x Guinness world record breaker
- has a neurodivergent brain (ADHD) and has had to channel his impulsivity, novelty-seeking, time blindness, and wildly creative thinking towards productive ends while managing their downsides
- is a husband and partner to a multidisciplinary artist (@alonglastname) who has achieved international recognition for her wildly creative and often massive art campaigns and installations
- has 14 years of experience as a tech founder and operator: 3 venture-backed startups: Ridejoy (Y Combinator S11, failed pivot), Headlight (Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, exit to Woven), Midgame (Techstars + Betaworks, successful pivot and exit to Facebook) and product manager roles at Etsy and FB/Meta
You can absolutely make this pivot on your own. But it will probably take longer and suck more.
I get it, you're a self-starter—smarter, more resourceful, and more resilient than 99% of the population. Of course you can figure this out on your own. So why work with me instead? A few reasons:
- It’s lonely. Times of transition mean your cofounders, investors, or advisors aren't necessarily the right people to talk to. I hold space for you to vent, rant, dream, and celebrate in a safe container, rather than doing it solo.
- Other people just don't get it. Most business coaches or therapists have never taken the kinds of bold risks you and I have. And most of your founder friends are putting on a brave face, making it hard to get real.
- You can't see your own blind spots. Over time, I get to know your values and how you respond to things. This allows me to remind you of your past intentions and lessons from past decisions before you make your final call.
Most importantly: Your inner drive to achieve and succeed may convince you that nagging inner voice is right—even when it’s leading you astray. I help you rebalance and reconnect with what will truly motivate and fulfill you.
Pricing and Structure
I work on a monthly retainer, meaning you have a predictable understanding of what your costs are when working with me.
We will typically meet either weekly or biweekly, depending on your schedule and your particular pricing package and sessions are usually 60 or 90 minutes.
I also give you my cell phone so we can exchange texts or voice notes in between sessions in case something comes up or just to share links and resources.
I try to offer a range of pricing options for clients which typically breaks down into:
- Series A+ founders / public co execs: $3k+/mo (🟡 some availability)
- Pre/Seed founders / private co execs: $2k/mo (🟡 some availability)
- Bootstrapped founders / solopreneurs: $1k/mo (🔴 near/at capacity)
Why don’t I offer session-to-session pricing?
Because making an upfront commitment is important to lasting change. You didn't get into the place you're at now overnight, and you won't get through it in just one or two sessions either. In my extremely discounted intro call, we can discuss your goals and questions about coaching and decide if a longer-term relationship will work for you.
Coaching is a high leverage investment in a central part of your business: your mentality. For most clients, executive coaching is covered as a valid business expense.
My fulfillment and refund policies here