If you're here, you're thinking about hiring a coach.

As a founder, how do you decide:

If you need a coach?
What kind of coach you should work with?
How to find the right coach?

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After interviewing over 1,600 executive coaches and performance psychologists, and matching dozens of Series A to C founders to one of the 48 coaches in our network, we've learned what it takes for founders to find and engage the right coach, and our goal here is to share those insights with you in a step-by-step guide.

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The Process of Finding a Coach

The 8 Steps are:

This blog covers Step 2.

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Step 2: Determine if you need a coach or something else

“Startups take on the traits of their founders. If you have unexamined trauma and can’t resolve conflict fairly/openly, it will explode dramatically” – Gary Tan

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Coaching is not a panacea. There are many situations you’ll face as a founder where coaching is not the answer. You can seek guidance from mentors, advisors, or a therapist. There are distinct reasons to consult each one.

Let’s decide which “hire” is optimal for your goals as a founder.

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Coach or Therapist?

First things first, if you are suffering from any form of mental illness, we strongly advise you seek support from a licensed therapist. Therapy and coaching can overlap but they are not interchangeable.

Both coaches and therapists can help you understand your strengths, weaknesses, and help you overcome obstacles holding you back. While coaching and therapy are not the same, they are compatible and even complementary.

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What is different?

Past vs. future

‍A coach looks at your present to help you create the future you desire, while a therapist looks at your past to help you manage your present. Clients who keep talking about the past may need healing and support from a therapist.

Diagnosis vs. cocreation

‍Therapists diagnose disorders and work with traumas, while in coaching, the solution is cocreated between the coach and the coachee. The coach doesn't tell the client what to do but asks questions and facilitates their thinking process to maximize their strengths and resources.

Relationship patient vs. equal‍

In therapy, the relationship is between doctor and patient who needs to receive treatment, while in coaching, both client and coach are considered equal, there is no hierarchy or anyone who knows better.

Understanding and healing vs. empowering to create solutions and action plans‍

Therapy is focused on understanding the past and healing traumas. The coach is focused on learning from experience and creating solutions or baby steps to thinking and acting in different ways and moving forward.

Topic personal vs. professional

‍Even when you can discuss any issue with both professionals, many clients find it harder to explain technical problems to therapists, such as what is a PM (product manager), Scrum or how to manage time effectively. Likewise, some people may feel uncomfortable sharing personal matters with coaches, such as grief.

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Which is right for you?

Both coaches and therapists are generally open to a wide range of conversation topics, but one may be more effective than the other when discussing certain areas.

Therapists may be better able to understand “personal matters such as grief.” If you’re looking to resolve intense emotional pain or primarily personal matters, then a therapist will often be more helpful.
Coaches are generally the better audience for business stressors, like that board meeting you have coming up. That said, they are not consultants. Coaches accelerate at identifying your personal growth edges and what you need to do to achieve business goals. It might require more inner work than you expected.
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Coach or Mentor or Advisor?

Mentors and advisors are great sources of advice, but they are not necessarily sources of truth. You have questions–how do you want to find your answers?

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Do you want someone to tell you what they did?

Use a mentor. They’re often a few years ahead of you and can double as role models or confidants.

The downside is that the overall relationship is ad-hoc and unstructured, and they often attempt to apply solutions they assume are applicable to everyone. “What worked for them might not work for you.”

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Do you want someone to tell you what you should do?

Ask an advisor. They are subject matter experts in their field and can help you solve problems within their domain quickly and efficiently.

The trade-off is that their expertise in one field means they probably have a limited scope in how to help you in others. If you need to scale an HR team, you probably wouldn’t ask a CTO for advice.

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Do you want to figure out the answer for yourself?

Find a coach. Coaches are often former founders and operators with broad experience across various industries, client types, and scenarios. They assist you in uncovering the root cause of your challenges and guide you to find your own solutions.

The drawback is that great ones are hard to find and even those are hard to measure. Coaching takes time and commitment, and the results won’t be fully quantifiable.

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Mentors and advisors can provide valuable advice with the best intentions and are helpful for various aspects of your personal and professional growth. Their solutions are often more short-term, whereas therapists and coaches can help you plan for the long-term. Choosing between a coach and a therapist comes down to the level of mental health support you need, so be honest about your goals and make the best decision for yourself. (There’s even a world in which founders can have one of each.)

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What’s next

If you’ve decided you want to explore coaches, we’ll show you how in the next section.

Once you have a clear vision of your goals, the next step is to determine whether coaching is the right solution and identify the type of coach that best suits your needs.

What is holding you and your company back from the next stage of growth?

Apply to become a part of Titan’s next monthly cohort here: https://www.withtitan.com/apply

How to Choose a Coach: A Step-by-Step Guide (2/8)