Founder coaching for venture-backed startups
1,600 coaches interviewed, fewer than 3% accepted, 250+ founders matched. Titan is a founder coaching service for Series A to C startups: coach matchmaking with one of 48 coaches who built a VC-backed company to $100M+ ARR, sold one for $300M+, or coached six founders from Series A to unicorn. Median retainer $6,000 a month.
Titan coaches have coached the founders of Figma, Notion, Plaid, Superhuman, Oura, Instagram, LinkedIn and Asana, all between their Series A and Series C. Titan founders are backed by Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Khosla Ventures, Bessemer, General Catalyst, Kleiner Perkins, Insight Partners, Greylock and Tiger Global.
- 98%of founders Titan places stay with their coach for 12 months or longer
- <1%of founders have asked to switch coaches in the first six months
- 3 hrsof your time from application to a signed coach, discovery call and trial sessions included
- 150×ARR growth in a year for Tanay Kothari, CEO of Wispr Flow, with his Titan coach
Coaching for founders, not for executives in general
Titan is a founder coaching service for venture-backed companies. The coaches are founders and early executives who scaled a startup themselves, or coached the founders who did. Most founders come to Titan in the months after a Series A or B closes, when the board changes and the first executive hires are due; two in three Titan founders are at Series A or B when they start.
First-time CEOs
You found product-market fit and the job changed under you. The company now needs a CEO, nobody taught you how to be one, and a first-time CEO coach who has made that climb shortens it.
Technical founders in the founder-to-CEO transition
You can build the product. Hiring executives, running a board and setting strategy are a different skill, and a coach who made the same transition shortens it.
Series A to C founders scaling the team
From 15 people to 150 the problems are people problems: co-founder conflict, first executives, accountability, your own time. This is where founder coaching pays back fastest.
Titan is not for pre-revenue founders, bootstrapped small businesses, corporate HR buyers or people who want to become coaches. If you are pre-seed with no product in market, a peer group or your lead investor is the better use of the money.
CEO coaching for startup founders
A startup CEO coach is not there to teach leadership in the abstract. Founders bring the fight they are in this quarter. In Titan's last 80 discovery calls, six in ten founders came in with a focus problem, half with a hard conversation they were avoiding, and half with founder burnout. These are the eight areas, and the questions, that founders most often work through with a Titan coach.
01Clear strategy
- Do we have the right strategy?
- Are we doing too many things?
- What should I do about X?
02A team of A players
- Do I have the right people?
- Are they in the right roles?
- What should my role be?
03Everyone aligned
- Does my team know what is important?
- How do I get the team on board with what is next?
- What do I do about my co-founder?
04Clear expectations
- Are my expectations unreasonable?
- How do I approach this hard conversation?
- Should I delegate this or do it myself?
05A culture of accountability
- How do I get my team to care more?
- How do I get more off my plate?
- Why am I involved in everything?
06Visibility and trust
- Why do I feel like I am flying blind?
- How do I get visibility without having to ask?
- How can I trust my team when I am gone?
07Time and energy
- How do I make time for the important stuff?
- How do I avoid burning out?
- How can I fix any of this when I have no time?
08Effective leadership
- Is my leadership holding the company back?
- What is my unique leadership style?
- Should I trust my gut on this one?
Executive coaching for founders
An executive coach for startups is a different hire from an executive coach for a Fortune 500 VP. Most executive coaching is built for executives inside large companies: a credentialed coach, a 360 review, a leadership framework. A founder's problems are different. You set the strategy, hire the first executives, manage the board and still ship. The useful coach is someone who has done exactly that.
Mentors tell you what they did. Advisors tell you what you should do. A coach helps you work out the answer for yourself, and stays in the room week after week while you act on it. Investors are the wrong substitute: they have a stake in the outcome and, in the end, a vote. A founder friend will not give you two hours a week.
Titan coaches are startup executive coaches first: every one of them operated inside a venture-backed company. A network of 48 coaches. Each one has either built an extraordinary company or helped half a dozen founders do it, with a track record backed by hard numbers: the CEO of the largest IPO in NYC tech history ($6M to $460M ARR), a coach to 50+ unicorn founders (Cruise, Docker, Asana), a 4x COO with four exits over $1B. Titan is process agnostic: no single methodology, no program. Founders use coaching best as a weapon for a fight they are already in, not as long-term leadership development.
Coach matchmaking in about three hours of your time
"I thought matchmaking would be a whole process. It was 3 hours total." Abiel Gutierrez, CTO and Co-Founder, Comun
Apply for the waitlist
Tell us about the company and what you want from a coach. Titan works with Series A to C founders; a short intro call confirms the fit.
One-hour discovery call
We unpack your priorities, the fights you are already in, and what would make someone credible to help with them. You leave with four to six criteria your coach has to meet.
Three coach matches
For each of those coaches we give you a data set including every company they have coached and every company they have built, and the before-and-after financials of each of those companies.
Trial sessions with two
An hour each, working a real problem, not a chemistry chat. You pick the one you want.
Begin with one
Founders get on a texting basis with their coach after the first session, then text throughout the week and do ad-hoc 20-minute calls as problems come up, on top of weekly or biweekly sessions.
Evolve as the company does
Top founders change coaches every 12 to 24 months. When your stage changes, Titan re-matches you, at no cost.
How to choose a founder coach: three dimensions of fit
Each Titan match is scored on experience, modality and personality. Titan recommends coaches from their track record, not from a gut feel on an intake call. Use the same three questions on any coach you meet.
Experience
Does the coach have outlier success in your context, as an operator or as a coach?
Modality
Does the coach's approach solve your most important problems right now?
Personality
Does the way the coach speaks fit the way you need to hear things?
Founder coaching options compared
| Titan | Solo founder coach | Coaching marketplace | Investor referral | CEO peer group | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who the coach is | One of 48 coaches who built a $100M+ ARR company, a $300M+ exit, or coached 6+ founders to unicorn | One coach, their own story | Generic mentors; MentorCruise lists 66 vetted founder coaches | Whoever helped your investor | Other founders at your stage |
| How you find them | Matched on experience, modality and personality after a discovery call | Their website or a referral | Browse profiles and book | Ask your board | Apply to a chapter |
| Price | $5,000 to $7,500 a month for most founders | Set by the coach | $140 to $500 a month | Set by the coach | Membership fee |
| Switching | Free, at any time | Start the search again | Book someone else | Awkward | n/a |
| Proof of track record | Before-and-after financials of every company the coach built or coached | Testimonials | Reviews | One founder's experience | n/a |
What founders get out of a Titan coach
Fast growth doesn't make you need a coach less. It makes you need one more.
Young ZhaoCEO & Co-Founder, OpusClipWe 5.5x'd ARR last year. My coach played a big role in that.
Austin HughesCEO & Co-Founder, UnifyTrying to find a coach yourself means meeting 20+ people and still settling.
Hannah WuCEO & Co-Founder, AmplifyHe saved a key hire. That alone paid for itself five times over.
Joe ConnorCEO & Founder, OdesseyMy coach has done this before at my stage through IPO. That's irreplaceable.
James GallagherCEO & Co-Founder, GreenlightI thought coaching was a waste of time. Now it helps us move way faster.
Marty KausasCEO & Co-Founder, Pylon
What founder coaching costs at Titan
No packages and no hourly billing. Each coach sets a monthly retainer, and Titan tells you the exact number for each of your three matches before you meet them. Across 244 Titan engagements the median retainer is $6,000 a month; half of founders pay between $5,000 and $7,500.
Monthly retainer
Most founders pay $5,000 to $7,500 a month (median $6,000). The full range is $3,300 to $12,000 depending on the coach, expensed to the company.
What is included
Weekly or biweekly sessions, plus a texting basis with your coach from the first session: text throughout the week and ad-hoc 20-minute calls as problems come up. Coaches work with five to ten founders at a time; nobody counts hours.
Commitment
An initial six-month engagement. Switching coaches is free at any point.
Deposit
A $2,000 deposit covers the whole matching process: the discovery call, three matches and two trial sessions. It is credited against coaching once you begin, and refunded if you decide not to work with a Titan coach.
Founder coaching: the questions founders ask first
What is founder coaching?
Founder coaching is one-to-one work between a startup founder and a coach who has built or scaled a venture-backed company, focused on the problems of the founder's current stage: hiring executives, co-founder conflict, the board, focus and burnout. It is not therapy, consulting or mentoring. At Titan the coach is matched to the founder on experience, modality and personality, and the founder can switch at any time.
Is founder coaching worth the money?
Ask what it is worth in enterprise value if the coach helps you move the needle on one of your top three problems. Founders consistently point to a single decision, a hire, a firing, a call on the fundraise, that returned the value of the whole next six months. In the venture-backed game one closed deal or one extra hire pays for the engagement.
What if I don't have time for a coach?
Time is the most precious resource, which is the point. Coaching gets you time back: fewer mistakes, faster decisions and work handed off instead of absorbed. Sessions are weekly or biweekly and the rest is on your schedule, by text or a 20-minute call when something comes up.
Can't I find a coach through my investors or my network?
You could, and most founders have three or more failed coaching experiences before they find someone they love. A referral gets you whoever helped your investor, which is a bit like marrying someone else's spouse. You want a coach with outlier success at your stage, in your role, or who has coached several founders through exactly that. Titan interviewed 1,600 coaches so you do not have to, and has pre-negotiated spots in the otherwise full practices of its 48 coaches.
Aren't founder coaches just founders who couldn't make it?
Many are, which is why Titan exists. Every Titan coach clears one of two bars: built a VC-backed startup to $100M+ ARR or a $300M+ exit, or coached at least six founders from Series A to unicorn. On the roster: a CEO who grew from $2M to $200M ARR with $60M in funding, a 3x founder with a $476M exit, a 4x founder with $1B+ in exit value, and a coach to 3 PayPal Mafia founders and 11 unicorn founders.
How is a founder coach different from a mentor, an advisor or an investor?
Mentors tell you what they did. Advisors tell you what you should do. A coach helps you figure out the answer yourself and holds you to it, with continual touch points that give them more context on you than anyone on your cap table. Investors are disincentivized as coaches: they hold a stake, and ultimately a vote.
Should I join a CEO peer group instead?
Peer groups give you range; a coach gives you depth on your problem. Many Titan founders have both. The coach is the one who has seen your exact situation ten times before.
Is this founder therapy?
No. Therapy is oriented to diagnosis. Coaching is about what you are going to do about it: forward action, on the work. Many Titan founders have both.
Why was my last coach's advice so generic?
That is a matching problem, not a coaching problem. A coach who has only their own story to draw on stays high level. Titan coaches work with five to ten founders at a time and have seen your situation many times before, so the advice is pattern data, not one person's opinion.
I already have a coach. Should I still apply?
Yes, and it is common. Among the best founders Titan studied, most switch coaches every one to two years, the same way the executive team you need after a new round differs from the one before it.
How does Titan vet coaches?
Two criteria, then a funnel. A coach has either done it themselves, meaning built a VC-backed startup to $100M+ ARR or a $300M+ exit, or seen it done well, meaning coached at least six founders from Series A to unicorn. Two thirds have done it themselves, one third have seen it done. After that it is back-channeling, reference tracking, introductions to founders, and cutting coaches who do not produce results. 1,600 interviewed, fewer than 3% accepted.
Why do these coaches do this if they are already successful?
They are post-economic and not doing it for the money. The motivation is legacy: helping the next generation of founders make different mistakes than they made. It is why they only take five to ten founders at a time.
Am I locked in for six months?
You commit to six months of coaching, but you can switch coaches at any time at no cost. Of the founders Titan has matched, two have asked to switch in the first six months.
Do I get the deposit back if I don't pick a coach?
Yes. The $2,000 deposit is refundable if you decide not to work with a Titan coach, and credited against coaching if you do. It exists so that both sides take the trial sessions seriously; the coaches' time is the scarce thing.
How do I justify a coach to my board?
Pick a coach so credible that the board's reaction is that you should obviously hire them. The founders Titan works with expense coaching to the company, and none has reported pushback from a board on it. Most investors assume their CEO already has a coach.
Do I need a coach yet?
If you need one, you are already in pain. Coaching works best before issues escalate: staying ahead rather than catching up.
Can my co-founder or executive team get coaches too?
Yes. The recommended path is to start with the CEO, then extend to the executive team, so the coaches spread your ethos and not their own. Co-founder pairs are coached together when the conflict is the problem. For technical leaders, one Titan coach is a coach to the CTOs of Plaid, Asana, Kong and Discord.
Titan founder coaching: quick facts
| Service | Founder coaching: coach matchmaking for venture-backed founders with executive coaches who have operated at scale |
|---|---|
| Who it is for | Founders and CEOs of Series A to Series C startups, including first-time and technical CEOs; two in three start at Series A or B |
| Coach network | 48 coaches, selected from more than 1,600 interviewed over eight years (fewer than 3% accepted) |
| Selection bar | Built a VC-backed startup to $100M+ ARR or a $300M+ exit, or coached 6+ founders from Series A to unicorn |
| Matching | One-hour discovery call, three coach matches with their track-record data, trial sessions with two, engagement with one; about three hours of the founder's time |
| Cadence | Weekly or biweekly sessions plus texting and ad-hoc 20-minute calls between sessions |
| Pricing | Median retainer $6,000 a month; most founders pay $5,000 to $7,500; full range $3,300 to $12,000 depending on the coach |
| Deposit | $2,000, covers the matching process, credited against coaching, refundable if no coach is chosen |
| Commitment | Six-month initial engagement; switching coaches is free at any time |
| Retention | 98% of placed founders stay with their coach for 12 months or longer; under 1% switch in the first six months |
| Founders coached | 250+ Series A to C founders, 155 matched in 2026 to date, including the CEOs of Wispr Flow, Pylon, Nooks, OpenRouter, OpusClip, Unify and ZBiotics |
| Backed by | Titan founders' companies are backed by Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Khosla, Bessemer, General Catalyst, Kleiner Perkins, Insight, Greylock and Tiger Global |
| Alternatives | A solo founder coach (one coach, their own story), a coaching marketplace ($140 to $500 a month, generic mentors), a referral from your investor, a CEO peer group |
| Founded by | AJ Goldstein and Dave McGibbon; operated by Aware Healthcare Inc., New York; works with founders across the US |
| Apply | withtitan.com/apply |