CEO coach · for tech founders
A CEO coach who has actually been a CEO.
Most CEO coaches have coached. Very few have founded a venture-backed tech company and scaled it up. I've done both: fifteen years as a founder, including Delivery Hero which IPO'd in 2017, and eight years coaching 250+ CEOs from Series A to Series D.
My clients are backed by firms from Sequoia Capital to Founders Fund — and hundreds in between.
What a CEO coach actually does.
A CEO coach helps you make better decisions faster: by spotting the blind spots you can't see from inside the company, structuring your role so you work on what only you can do, and holding you accountable to the priorities that compound. Not therapy, not cheerleading. A confidential working relationship focused on making you better at running your company.
With me, that happens through three things. A focused plan: each quarter we set your CEO agenda and the calendar that protects it. High-leverage skills: working sessions on whatever your company needs from you next, from running your exec team to communicating strategy, drawing on 500+ frameworks built across hundreds of engagements. And world-class coaching: the confidential space where you pressure-test the decisions you can't discuss anywhere else, with someone who has been the founder making them.
Who I work with, and who I don’t.
A fit
- CEO of a venture-backed tech company
- Post-product-market fit · Series A–D · 20–1,500 people
- You want structure, not just conversation
- Decisive, open-minded, action-oriented
Not a fit
- CTOs, COOs and investors. I only coach CEOs
- Pre-product-market fit or pre-revenue
- Looking for life coaching or therapy
- Convinced the problem is everyone else
Earlier than Series A? Start with the essays. One a week, read by 11,000+ CEOs, and the coaching will be here when you get there.
“Dave has been key to my growth as a CEO during Parloa’s rapid scale-up.”
Malte Kosub · CEO, Parloa · $560M+ raised
“Dave gives me frameworks and tools I can apply with the team—and that has made all the difference.”
Anastasia Leng · CEO, CreativeX · $30M+ raised
“Working with Dave has significantly helped me to become a better CEO. What I especially notice is that I’m making smart decisions faster.”
Alexandre Remor · CEO, Medway · R$75M+ raisedIs a CEO coach worth it for a startup founder? +
The honest answer: only past a certain stage. Before product-market fit, your constraint is the product, not your leadership. After it, the company starts scaling faster than your role, and a coach who has run that transition is usually worth multiples of the fee in decision quality alone. My clients stay an average of 2.5 years, which is its own answer.
What’s the difference between a CEO coach and an executive coach? +
Executive coaching was designed for senior managers in established companies. CEO coaching for founders addresses a different job: you built the company, you answer to a board you assembled, and you can't be promoted out of the problem. Advice that helps a corporate VP can actively hurt a founder CEO.
What’s the difference between a CEO coach and a mentor? +
A mentor shares their path; a coach works on yours. Mentors give answers from their own experience, which is valuable, but their company wasn't your company. A coach builds the system around your specific role, team and stage, and holds you accountable to it.
How do I choose between CEO coaches? +
Three filters. Have they operated at your scale, not just coached it? Do they have a method you can inspect, or just a manner? And do their clients stay? Ask any coach for their average engagement length and what a quarter of working together actually looks like.
Who does Dave Bailey coach? +
Exclusively CEOs of venture-backed tech companies: post-product-market fit, Series A to D, across Europe, the US and beyond. 250+ CEOs over eight years, backed by firms from Sequoia Capital to Founders Fund.
How much does a CEO coach cost? +
Ranges vary widely across the market. I work with a small number of CEOs on long-term engagements, and terms are shared privately with CEOs exploring fit. The first step is a short conversation.
How does coaching start? +
Tell me about your company using the form on this site. Every message gets read, and if it looks like a fit, I reply personally and we find a time to talk.
Ready to talk?
Not there yet? Start with the essays. One a week, read by 11,000+ CEOs.