I’ve been an advisor for startup CEO’s for almost 4 years now. I’m pretty good at it. But, also, I’ve also been training to be a coach.
Coaching vs. Advising
The difference between a coach and an advisor is simple but profound:
An advisor gives advice. They offer answers, frameworks, and examples. They’ve seen the movie before and can tell you what usually happens next.
A coach helps someone get where they want to go.
Coaches don’t hand you the answer. They help you find your own.
They unlock your creativity, sharpen your awareness, and help you change how you show up — so goals become more achievable, sometimes even inevitable.
Advising and coaching are adjacent. They overlap, but they require different muscles, different tools, and often, a different mindset.
Today, with most of my clients, I wear the advisor hat often. It’s familiar. It’s fast. And for many problems, I do have an answer. But I’m increasingly drawn to the deeper impact that coaching can have — not just on a founder’s company, but on their life.
More of a Coaching Focus
Coaching hasn’t been a secret — it’s just been… not the main thing. More like a passionate side relationship. Something I’ve been learning, practicing, and falling for slowly while spending most of my time advising startup CEOs.
But I’m changing that. I’m going to make coaching a bigger focus. I want to get better at it, talk about it more openly, and share what I’m learning as I go.
To go deep on it, I’ve started a substack. I’m thinking more about coaching, practicing it and getting better at it. And there, I’ll share what I’m learning.
This isn’t for my clients. It’s for me to capture what I’m learning about the craft of helping others grow, evolve, and achieve things they didn’t think were possible. I’ll share tips, tricks, tools, and reflections that are making me a better coach.
Let’s see how it goes
