FOUNDER COACHING

Founding a startup can break your heart—and your back.

The self-doubt, the isolation, the pressure to always know what to do next. The constant juggle between vision and survival. You write to organize your thoughts, talk to other founders, join communities—yet the deeper questions still echo.

That’s where I come in. As a founder with multiple exits and a Berkeley & ICF Certified Executive Coach, I work with early-stage dreamers and seasoned leaders alike. I don’t offer one-size-fits-all frameworks. I offer a thinking partner who gets it.

You don’t need to do this alone. You were never meant to.

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Empowering Startup Leaders to Thrive

Embarking on the entrepreneurial journey is an exciting and transformative experience, but it also comes with its share of challenges. The constant pressure to make high-stakes decisions, the isolation that often accompanies leadership, and the unending drive for growth can quickly become overwhelming without the right support and perspective.

At Human Interfaces, we specialize in founder business coaching services tailored for startup leaders. With firsthand experience in founding and exiting multiple ventures, I understand the intricacies of startup life. As a Berkeley & ICF Certified Executive Coach, I offer more than just guidance, I provide a partnership grounded in experience and empathy.

 

Leadership Coaching for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurial leadership demands more than just vision, it requires emotional strength, adaptability, and clear decision-making. Our leadership coaching for entrepreneurs equips you to lead confidently through uncertainty, growth, and constant change.

Startup founders often grapple with:

  • Self-doubt and burnout: The immense pressure can lead to emotional exhaustion.
  • Isolation: Leading a vision that others might not fully grasp can be lonely.
  • Product-market fit challenges: Facing market resistance can shake confidence.
  • Team dynamics: Maintaining motivation and cohesion is crucial.
  • Overwhelming priorities: Deciding what deserves attention can be daunting.

Through leadership coaching for entrepreneurs, we address these challenges head-on, fostering resilience and clarity.

Not sure where to start?

 

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Startup Business Coach: Navigating Growth

Building a startup is a high-stakes journey filled with rapid decisions, shifting priorities, and constant learning curves. As your startup business coach, I help you navigate these complexities with clarity and confidence.

As your startup business coach, I offer:

  • Collaborative Thinking Partnership: A confidential space to explore ideas and challenges.
  • Vision Alignment: Clarifying your mission and translating it into actionable strategies.
  • Priority & Energy Management: Aligning your efforts with what truly matters.
  • Performance Under Pressure: Building mental agility and stress resilience.
  • Relational Coaching: Enhancing interpersonal dynamics within your team.
  • Operational Clarity: Establishing systems that promote efficiency and reduce dependency.
  • Strategic Decision-Making: Developing frameworks for informed and confident choices.

Executive Coach for Startups: Tailored Support

Every startup is unique, and so is our approach. As an executive coach for startups, I adapt to your specific context, ensuring that coaching sessions are relevant and impactful. Whether you’re in the ideation phase or scaling operations, our collaboration will focus on unlocking your potential and driving sustainable growth.

CEO Coaching: Leading with Confidence

Transitioning from founder to CEO requires a shift in mindset and skills. Through CEO coaching, we focus on:

  • Emotional Intelligence: Understanding and managing your emotions to lead effectively.
  • Resilience Building: Developing the capacity to recover from setbacks.
  • Strategic Visioning: Crafting and communicating a compelling vision for your company.
  • Leadership Presence: Enhancing your ability to inspire and influence others.

Let’s Connect

Taking the first step toward transformative growth starts with a conversation. Whether you’re navigating startup chaos, refining your leadership style, or stepping into a CEO role, tailored coaching can make all the difference. Let’s explore how Founder Business Coaching Services can support your unique goals and challenges.

If you’re ready to elevate your leadership and drive your startup forward, let’s start the conversation. 

Book a discovery call

I have helped hundreds…

I’ve helped hundreds of clients over the years by levering real, actionable and tactical advice, not theoretical lessons. Leveraging my decades of experience in tech leadership and entrepreneurship, I guide you to the point of clarity and confidence with proven results.

Our conversations will help you build solid frameworks for dealing with similar situations in the future. Whether you’re looking to prioritize better, gain traction, strategically set goals and create value, or improve conflict resolution, fundraising, stress management, business politics, communication, and negotiation; I’ve helped founders and leaders through it all. Hundreds of times. Allow me to help you achieve your goal.

Vladimir helped me tap into a methodology to pursue my business ambitions while framing the outcome in a positive light. He is excellent at identifying and explaining the most relevant and helpful concepts relating to entrepreneurship. Highly recommend!

David

Founder, WelnessTech

Vladimir coached me for a year, bringing me clarity and valuable insights. His founder experience and thoughtful questions helped me improve my technical start-up and leadership style. His patience w.r.t my rambling rants and long winded questions was very kind and helpful. His advice often went beyond just the topic being discussed and towards the larger picture.

I highly recommend his services for clear and organized thinking.

Deepanshu

Founder, FinTech

Last four months I was coached by Vladimir. The first sessions were dedicated to goals in general. Then we started discussing my startup. Vladimir helped me to prioritize my goals and activities. Under his guidance, I gained more focus, keeping me on track to achieve the desired results.

Anton

Founder, SocialTech

Vladimir is hands down one of the coolest coaches I’ve had the chance to chat with! He’s got brains, experience, and enough emotional intelligence to handle the impending robot apocalypse (no sweat!). 10/10, would definitely recommend

Alex

Founder, HardTech

Vladimir’s an amazing listener and was able to provide valuable feedback and advice. I usually joined our meetings overwhelmed with decisions and left with clarity and action items. He even reached out with recommendations post meeting. I found what I was looking for and I’d highly recommend Vladimir for coaching services!

Ivana

Founder, FashionTech

 

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Trusted by Founders and Leaders from Top Startups and Tech Companies

Frequently Asked Questions

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Why hire me as founder business coach?

I offer a mix of directive and non-directive coaching to propel you forward on your leadership journey.

I show up to every founder coaching session ready to listen to what you’re working on and prepared to help guide you through your own decision-making process. And, when it makes sense, I’ll provide relevant recommendations.

I bring a diverse mix of experiences to each session as I’ve been in the technology field for 20+ years and have worked with a range of technology leaders and companies across different sectors. I have led large and small teams as a technology executive, and have delivered over 200+ coaching hours to clients with a variety of backgrounds from all over the world.

I have been certified as an executive coach by the Haas School of Business, Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute at UC Berkeley. I have been a CTO/CIO at fintech and spacetech companies. I have been a regular mentor at various business schools and accelerators like TechStars, NSF I-corps, Cornell eLab. I am also a graduate of Columbia’s Greenshouse and Techstars Space Programs.

How can my clients quickly solve a critical business challenge or leadership roadblock?
As a founder, you’re constantly making high-stakes decisions—whether it’s about fundraising, hiring, product strategy, or scaling operations. When you hit a roadblock, getting expert input fast can mean the difference between a setback and a breakthrough.

🔹 How a coach helps: A founder business coach offers a listening space free from judgement to help you cut through complexity and take decisive action. By co-thinking on identifying blind spots, challenging assumptions, and providing battle-tested strategies, a coach helps you move forward with confidence and clarity.

What strategies will help my clients scale their startup without burning out?
Scaling a business isn’t just about revenue growth—it’s about building a strong team, optimizing operations, and ensuring you don’t get trapped in daily firefighting. Founders often struggle with delegation, hiring the right people, and creating systems that allow the company to grow sustainably.

🔹 How a coach helps: An executive coach helps you through guiding questions to design a scalable structure, refine your hiring strategy, and shift from working in the business to working on it.

How do my clients successfully pivot startups without losing momentum?
Startups evolve—markets shift, products need to change, and sometimes, entire business models must be reworked. A pivot can be risky, but done right, it can unlock new growth opportunities and save your business from stagnation.

🔹 How a coach helps: A founder business coach helps you determine whether a pivot is necessary, develop a clear transition strategy, and manage investor and team expectations.

What topics can I expect to have conversations on during the sessions?
✔ Mission/Values Review
✔ Milestone Based Go-to-market Strategy (GTM)
✔ Business Development Strategies
✔ Fundraising Traction
✔ Cleaner and Meaningful Deck
✔ Effective Team Structure and Communication
✔ Improved Conflict Resolution Approaches
✔ Prioritization Strategies
✔ Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plans
✔ Competitive Landscape Analysis
✔ Continuous Learning and Team Development Programs
✔ Efficient Resource Allocation
✔ Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Set-Up
✔ Value Proposition Clarification
✔ Customer Retention Strategies
✔ Internal Processing (Stress and Life Management)
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What does a founder business coaching session look like?
Every session is a mix of self-examination and establishing tangible steps towards progress. I meet with all my clients virtually via Zoom for one-hour sessions where we focus on addressing a particular entrepreneurship topic.

The goal is to move you forward with an opportunity you’re considering or a challenge you’re up against. You set the stage by explaining the circumstances, I ask a series of questions, explore viable options, and finally, we’ll create a plan of action.

What results should I expect from collaborating with you as my entrepreneur coach?
Depending on the coachee, I’ve helped individuals optimize their go-to-market strategy, define business development process, increase fundraising reach and traction, clean up pitch decks, restructure teams, and improve mission orientation of the company.
How can my clients make better, faster decisions as a founder?
Every day, you’re making decisions that affect your team, your customers, and your company’s future. But second-guessing, fear of failure, and information overload can slow you down—or lead to costly mistakes.

🔹 How a coach helps: A leadership coach equips you with proven decision-making frameworks that balance speed with strategic thinking. They challenge your biases, act as a sounding board, and help you develop confidence in your ability to make tough calls under pressure.

How do my clients become stronger leaders and get their team fully aligned?
A great product isn’t enough—your success depends on how well you lead your team. Founders often struggle with delegation, managing conflict, and ensuring that everyone is rowing in the same direction.

🔹 How a coach helps: A leadership coach helps you refine your leadership style, improve your communication skills, and create a high-performance culture. They’ll coach you how to motivate your team, hold people accountable, and handle difficult conversations without damaging relationships.

How do my clients stay focused and accountable while growing their company?
When you’re running a startup, it’s easy to get distracted by urgent fires and lose sight of long-term priorities. Without accountability, you risk working hard but not necessarily working smart.

🔹 How a coach helps: A coach acts as an accountability partner, keeping you focused on high-impact activities and helping you avoid distractions. They provide goal-setting frameworks, milestone tracking, and structured check-ins to ensure you’re making real progress—not just staying busy.