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Working with a Founder Coach

A coach chosen on purpose, a clear agreement and three goals you can see, session prep and practice between sessions, honest reviews of whether it is working, and a clean ending.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for Working with a Founder Coach, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

200

Starter tasks

🚀 Founding & Startups

Working with a Founder Coach

Engaging a coach who works with founders, setting goals for the work and using sessions to grow as a leader under pressure.

  1. One-page case for hiring a founder coach
  2. Coach, mentor, therapist or peer group choice
  3. Coaching budget and who pays for it
  4. Longlist of founder coaches from trusted referrals
  5. Chemistry calls with three shortlisted coaches
  6. Coaching agreement and confidentiality terms
  7. Three coaching goals with visible evidence
  8. Stakeholder map for the coaching work
  9. Baseline leadership feedback from ten colleagues
  10. Written coaching development plan
  11. Pre-session preparation routine
  12. Commitments log after every session
  13. Weekly leadership practice experiment
  14. Two-line daily note on the hardest moment
  15. Monthly scoring against the coaching goals
  16. Quarterly three-way review with the sponsor
  17. Quarterly theme review of session notes
  18. Protected coaching slot in the calendar
  19. Monthly feedback ask from your co-founder
  20. Yearly renewal decision for the engagement
  21. Bringing a live problem to a session
  22. Naming your stress patterns under pressure
  23. Hearing hard feedback without defending
  24. Self-coaching questions between sessions
  25. Deciding under uncertainty with a thinking partner
  26. Rehearsing difficult conversations in sessions
  27. Values and non-negotiables for how you lead
  28. Making sense of a leadership assessment
  29. Mid-engagement review of whether the coach works
  30. Switching coaches without losing the work
  31. Individual or co-founder team coaching
  32. Group coaching programme or one-to-one
  33. Resetting goals after a big company change
  34. Case to the board for continued coaching funding
  35. Coaching habits in your one-to-ones with reports
  36. Coaching support through a fundraising round
  37. Board meeting preparation session
  38. Leading through a crisis week with coaching
  39. Annual reflection day with your coach
  40. Six-month follow-up leadership feedback
  41. Closing session and engagement wrap-up
  42. Coaching for a first-time founder in year one
  43. Technical founder growing into people leadership
  44. Solo founder using a coach as a thinking partner
  45. Coaching after the first institutional round
  46. Finding a coach who understands your context
  47. Low-cost coaching routes for a lean startup
  48. Personal user manual for your team
  49. Measuring what the coaching changed
  50. Coaching budget for your leadership team

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

One-page case for hiring a founder coach

Founders usually look for a coach after a bad month, then cannot say what they want from it, and the first three sessions drift. Writing one page on the situations where you lead worst, what you have already tried and what would be different in six months gives every coach you speak to something real to respond to, and gives you a way to judge them.

First tasks

  • Write down three recent moments where you led badly under pressure
  • List what you have tried already and why it fell short
  • Describe in one sentence what your team would notice in six months
  • Ask the agent to tighten the note into one page you can share with coaches

Coach, mentor, therapist or peer group choice

A coach helps you think and act differently; a mentor tells you how they did it; a therapist works on your health and history; a peer group gives you founders in the same boat. Picking the wrong one wastes months, and some problems, such as persistent low mood, anxiety or trauma, belong with a qualified mental health professional rather than any coach.

First tasks

  • Label each issue on your case page by the kind of help it needs
  • Book a doctor or therapist appointment for anything health related
  • Decide whether a coach is the right first step and write why
  • Note which topics will go to a mentor or peer group instead

Coaching budget and who pays for it

Founder coaching ranges from free accelerator sessions to fees that rival a senior salary, and the person paying shapes the relationship. Settling a monthly ceiling, whether the company or you will pay, and whether an investor or board member expects reports stops a surprise invoice and protects confidentiality from the start.

First tasks

  • Set a monthly and yearly ceiling you could sustain through a slow quarter
  • Ask your accountant how company-paid coaching is treated where you are
  • Ask your lead investor whether a coaching budget is available
  • Add the agreed amount to the operating plan or personal budget

Make it yours.

Install Working with a Founder Coach, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.