Client success is everything.
Over the last five years, I've had the privilege of working with over 100 startup and scale-up CEOs one-on-one. This is what they have to say.
Zack Onisko
CEO, Dribbble
Raised from Tiny
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The role of CEO is a complicated one, and can often be a lonely one. Through the roller coaster ride of wins and challenges of running a startup, having the listening ear and wise advice of a seasoned executive coach like Dave helps to clear the fog, squelch the fear, and correct the ship. I'm grateful for the guidance Dave has provided along my journey, often when I've needed it the most. He earns my highest regards and recommendation.
Anastasia Leng
CEO, CreativeX
Raised $30M from Guggenheim, Beringea and Index
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As your company grows, the number of people who'll tell you the unvarnished truth seems to decrease. What I like most about my sessions with Dave is his ability to cut right through to the substance: when to challenge me, when to support, and when to simply probe deeper. I'll readily admit I was a coaching skeptic when we started, but I couldn't be more of a "fan girl" today - my sessions with Dave give me clarity, focus, and a roadmap to being a better CEO and a better leader that I feel I slowly chip away at with every session.
Eugene Mizin
CEO, Job Today
Raised $40M from Accel, Felix Capital
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Dave brings out the best in founders. He helps them translate their insights into clear strategy and decisive 'no-turning-back' action. Dave taps into the cutting edge research in business and human psychology to help founders understand themselves better and move forward with greater confidence.
Jose Lorenzo
CEO, Bold
Raised $70M from Tiger Global, GFC and others
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I really look forward to my monthly sessions with Dave, as we discuss all kinds of matters that range from raising capital, to structuring teams, to planning with OKRs and to give effective feedback. What I like the most about working with Dave, is the fact that he has been an entrepreneur himself and he speaks not only from theory but from practice.
Mikela Druckman
CEO, Greyparrot
Raised $16M from SpeedInvest, Force Over Mass
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Being a founder is learning by doing but without reflection there is little to learn. You can learn a lot through reading, listening, etc. but nothing has the impact of reflecting about great questions that are tailored to our everyday challenges. David is exceptionally good at asking pinpointed questions that help you to move forward and grow the company.
Ben Stephenson
CEO, Impala
Raised $32M from Lakestar, Latitude, Stride
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Dave is a truly tremendous coach who really helped me through the numerous ups and downs that come with being a Founder who wants to scale. I highly recommend him for his breadth of knowledge and experience and his ability to dig into even the most unfamiliar problems.
Chris Edson
CEO, Second Nature
Raised $13M from Beringea, Connect Ventures
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Working with someone who is both so knowledgeable on being a CEO and also so empathetic to the strife of building companies is completely game changing for me. My two hours with Dave are the most valuable part of my week. I come out of our sessions invariably energised, with a fresh understanding and clarity on the problems that I brought to the session. I cannot recommend Dave enough.
Did you know?
I've worked exclusively with scale-up CEOs over the last five years... that's 75 founder CEOs who have received investment from 400+ funds.
Learn about coaching
Jonathan Lakin
CEO, Intent HQ
Raised $32M from Oxford Capital, Edge
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I've worked with several coaches. All have been good, none have stuck. Dave is the first I've stuck with. He's a rare breed of 'lesser spotted coach'. He has proper CEO and investor experience but doesn't try to solve it for you. His post-coaching notes are awesome too….well structured and highlighted.
Christoph Wagner
CEO, Scanbot
Raised $10M from Target Global, Evoco, e42
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Achieving clarity amidst the constant onslaught of opportunities and challenges as a CEO of a fast-growing scale-up is of the utmost importance. Dave is incredibly empathic and easy to work with. He is able to pinpoint issues quickly and keeps asking the right questions to facilitate arriving at a clear picture of a solution. Dave will challenge you - but always being in your corner of the ring. If you are taking self-development seriously I would highly recommend working with him!
Diego Fanara
CEO, Unibuddy
Raised $32M from Highland Europe, Stride VC
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Dave has been instrumental in my ongoing evolution from a founder to a CEO, elevating my thought process to becoming a much more conscious leader.
The coaching sessions are the perfect monthly think time for stepping back on the past and present while trying to anticipate the future. Dave is a fantastic facilitator and listener to get your brain thinking in the right guide rails with the framework for me to continue using them outside of our sessions.
Adrian Raidt
CEO, Laserhub
Raised $20M+ from Project A, Point Nine, Acton
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For me, coaching is about identifying the most challenging topics you're facing, and discussing solutions from both functional and emotional perspectives. Dave helps me spend time on the most important leadership topics, tackle problems from different angles, and provides me with extra accountability. Since Dave has held several CEO roles himself, he's able to share first-hand experience that I really value. He's also extremely knowledgeable and experienced in coaching methodologies. With both sides covered, Dave is highly valuable.
Alex Omeyer
CEO, Stepsize
Raised $8.2M from Connect, Index, Stride
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Dave has been my CEO coach since early 2018, I couldn't hope for a better coach. I particularly enjoy the fact that he always manages to help me distill complex situations into clear decision points that help me move faster with clarity. But most importantly, Dave has taught me how truly show up for myself in ways that improved my emotional, mental, and physical health. He helped me find my own definition of "balance" and, in this sense, helped me in many ways beyond business. I often leave coaching sessions with Dave having found words that connect and explain thoughts and values that had been knocking around in my head for years.
Rebecca Kelly
CEO, VenueScanner
Raised $3.5M from British Business Bank, Rianta
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Dave’s expertise has helped me think through how I communicate with my team, my investors, and other stakeholders in order to really get my message across effectively.
Guilherme Freire
CEO, Dolado
Raised $12M from Valor Capital Group, GFC and others
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Dave is my 'go-to' person when I'm facing the most difficult situations. He's a great listener, always insightful, and he's helped me to think strategically and rationally and grow as a leader. One of the most difficult parts of being a CEO/founder is that people often expect you to have the answers and appear strong all the time. By having a coach like Dave, you have someone you can show your vulnerabilities, share your fears and, more importantly, have a valuable second opinion on how to make important decisions that will shape the future of your company.
Sam Watson Jones
CEO, Small Robot Company
Raised $13.5M from 7%, Crowdcube
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Dave helped me to explain the value of our proposition which has been a massive support in our fundraising efforts. CEO coaching helps you to clarify what you want from your role and your business and then gives you the strategies to turn this into a reality. I’ve had several new business line ideas which have come directly from our sessions. He is great at encouraging you to clearly articulate your own thoughts and provides accountability and space to think. I would be less effective in my role without him.
Richard Vibert
CEO, Metomic
Raised $5M from LocalGlobe, Connect, EF
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Working with Dave has helped me understand more about myself - specifically my strengths and weaknesses. This realisation is helping me become a better person, a better thinker, and a better manager of other people. Having someone external to the company you can fall back on to get advice and feedback when you need it (which is all the time!) is the best thing about having a coach.
Will Read
CEO, Sideways 6
Raised $2M from 24Haymarket
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Working with Dave has given me more confidence in my decision-making and an awareness of my own thought patterns, feelings and actions. We've touched on just about everything across our business and my own thinking, and I believe there has been a positive impact across the board.
Andrew Lynch
Co-Founder, Huckletree
Raised $11M from Concentric, Felix, Force Over Mass
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Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. Dave is a fountain of both knowledge and wisdom, and is an expert at navigating the line between mentor and coach effectively. He is excellent at differentiating clearly when he is actively coaching or when he is giving advice based on experience—I know that Huckletree is in a better place because of Dave.
Alex Eid
CEO, Homie
Raised $8.2M from Connect, The Family, Venture Friends
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David will be there to prompt you, question your thinking, steer you in directions you may not have pondered, give you insight from the lessons and experiences that have shaped his career, and connect you with his vast network to help unlock problems you are facing.
Manuel Bruschi
CEO, Timeular
Raised $1.5M from SpeedInvest
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Working with Dave has given me more confidence in my decision-making and an awareness of my own thought patterns, feelings and actions. We've touched on just about everything across our business and my own thinking, and I believe there has been a positive impact across the board.
Alister Rollins
CEO, Move
Raised $9.5M from ADV and Downing Ventures
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Dave’s insightful coaching and powerful questioning helps me achieve clarity of focus—an essential requirement in the startup world. Highly recommended!
Did you know?
I've published 150+ essays about strategy, people management, fundraising, culture and founder psychology.
Read my essays
Daniel Jacobs
Former CEO, Avanoo
Raised $8M from Storm Ventures, Access
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David is a rare coach who has the wisdom and empathy required to support entrepreneurs in building their businesses and driving results.
Michael Vanaselja
CEO, Keebo
Raised $7M from Breega, Connect Ventures
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Dave is the best - hands down! I make better decisions, quicker. Highly recommend.
Louise Schofield
CEO, PreKure
Bootstrapped
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Dave helped me to believe in myself again. Ultimately, this allowed me to be future-focused and to truly believe that my best work is still ahead of me.
Siddarth Vijayakumar
CEO, GrubClub
Acquired
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Dave’s support and true partnership were invaluable to me through a very challenging period, which ended up in an acquisition.
Joe Cripps
CEO, Trail
Acquired
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Dave’s empathy and keen mind have helped us focus on what's important...which in every case is people.
Holly Dunlap
CEO, Stylindex
Raised from Techstars
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Dave helps me to separate the wheat from the chaff and refocus on the truly important priorities Dave’s coaching has been invaluable in helping me stay focused on the truly important priorities for my business, and not lose sight of the big picture.
Pradeep Raman
CEO, Burrow
Acquired by DPR
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David is a terrific coach. He is a brilliant blend of EQ and IQ. His entrepreneurial and investment experiences combine to put him in a very uniquely advantageous position to help emerging entrepreneurs best negotiate the rollercoaster of start-up life. I would very highly recommend him!
Guilherme Vieira
CEO, Pelando
Internal Startup
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Dave helps me to reframe my doubts and my whole team has said how much my leadership has changed as a result. I've even started to practice coaching with them. I never thought I would recommend coaching, but now I'm the guy that raves about it, the same way people do about crazy fitness trends.
Clarity Program Testimonials
Alexandre Remor
CEO, Medway
Raised $15M from SoftBank and others
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Clarity helped my cofounders and I stretch our thinking and align on a clear and powerful strategy. I was excited before each and every session, and the outcomes have been transformational for Medway. I’d do it again!
Tim Heyl
CEO, Homeward
Raised $500M from Northwest Venture Partners and others
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Absolutely incredible. Thank you for leading and teaching us. Clarity has made a huge impact on me and my business. It’s helped me think critically about vision and strategy, and has already led to new opportunities with the biggest players in our industry. Excited to continue working with you on future programs!
Joshua Martin
CEO, Fortify
Raised $32M from Accel, Cota Capital
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The Clarity Program provided several frameworks which I am using as prompts for deeper thinking, along with different tools for arriving at clarity with my team. As a CEO, the Clarity Program is a great way to take a step back and work on the essentials of how to create and share an inspiring story about your company.
Amy VanHaren
CEO, Pumpspotting
Raised $1.8M from Punchbowl, Moodoos Investments
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Clarity expanded my knowledge of how to be a successful CEO. The exercises with my team helped us unearth a deeper value prop and a more focused message, which has already led us to close two big deals! The workshops were a great combination of thought-provoking questions, video inspiration and exercises, and delivered a vast amount of value in every slide. I feel I’ve been given permission to build vital strategy and storytelling time into my day-to-day work. Thanks for an amazing experience!
Did you know?
It took me two years to design the Clarity Program. I designed it for early-stage start-ups, however, later-stage CEOs seem to love it even more.
Apply to Clarity
Aharon Horwitz
CEO, AutoLeadStar
Raised $17M from Olive Tree, Target Global
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Dave's Clarity program relentlessly delivers on its promise session after session. I left with pragmatic tools and concepts that were immediately impactful on our company. I recommend this to every CEO with aspirations of growing as a leader.
Igor Wos
CEO, Neat
Raised $20M from Pacific Century Group, Vectr
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Dave has put together an incredibly applicable program with structured sessions, backed up by practical examples. Clarity helped me to clarify our mission, vision and strategy enormously, as well as improving overall focus. The group format also allowed me to share ideas and experiences with fellow founders in a friendly and collaborative way. I recommend Dave’s Clarity program to anyone seeking a pragmatic and logical way to enhance and clarify their business outlook.
Erik Bornstein
CEO, Toolbx
Raised $13M from Index Ventures, Overton
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The Clarity program is a great framework to not only meet likeminded founders but also follow a very easy and repeatable process. The sequencing and templates were easy to follow and very meaningful, and Dave's delivery of the presentation content and group exercises was extremely effective. Highly recommended.
David Kell
CEO, Gyana
Raised $7M from Fuel Ventures, Green Shores Capital
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Clarity is like a secret recipe and it feels a bit like cheating. Dave has distilled his experience working with hundreds of companies into six sessions. You'll understand a lot more about your company, how to explain it to your customers/investors/team, and you'll confront all those hard questions you've been avoiding, and make you more confident about what you're doing.
Adrian Raidt
CEO, Laserhub
Raised $11M from Project A, Point Nine, Acton
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Clarity is a program where I learned more about strategy in a few weeks than during all my years at university. The clarity Dave brings to otherwise hard to describe concepts is really helpful. It was extremely strong—excellent job, Dave!
Rob Holland
CEO, Feedback Loop
Raised $29M from Crosslink Capital, Spider Capital
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Designed for CEOs by a CEO. Clarity is an effective way to focus on the why behind your business & learn from an expert while interacting with a quality peer group. Focused, concise & practical, filled with real-life examples to demonstrate key points. It was great to be pulled out of the day-to-day and spend time with such quality people working on the same problem.
Rajeeb Dey MBE
CEO, Learnerbly
Raised $17M from Beringea, Frontline Ventures, Playfair Capital, others
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I just wish I’d done the program a few months earlier! Clarity gave me the headspace to develop a compelling narrative for investors and the team. A clear and structured process, personalised feedback, and the ability to connect with other entrepreneurs with similar issues. Keep up the great work, Dave!
João Vitor Fernando
Co-founder, Medway
Raised $15M from SoftBank and others
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Clarity was a game changer! By the end of the program, we were able to craft a more effective pitch deck with a very compelling narrative. This has made a huge difference to Medway's future and our confidence and ability to raise capital has increased. I’m glad we did this together as co-founders as we came out more aligned and united.
Eugene Mizin
CEO, Job Today
Raised $40M from Accel, Felix Capital
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Clarity program helped me create the mental space I needed to focus on clarifying my vision and strategy for the company. During the program, I practiced my strategic communication skills and learned from other founders, which was an amazing experience. I realized that creating clarity was a journey, not a destination, and left the program much better prepared! Thank you, Dave!
André Bernardes
CEO, Zippi
Raised $16M from Tiger Global, Y Combinator and others
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Clarity was extremely valuable for Zippi. Dave created a comprehensive yet short workshop that is delightful to attend and is focused on what matters. Throughout the course, Dave also constantly provided insightful feedback on my deliverables, which helped me gain clarity and understand what was the next logical step for us as a company. If you're a founder looking to better understand your own business and improve your pitch delivery, then Clarity is for you!
Victor Ekelund
CEO, Albacross
Raised $3M from Luminar Ventures, Ventech
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
As a founder and CEO, creating clarity is key to successfully lead a team and/or stakeholders. Dave has broken down vague concepts like vision, messaging, communication and strategy into an interactive learning session based on logic and examples to give you a clear path forward. For me the vision session was the most eyeopening and could not have come at a better moment. As well as meeting and interacting with other founders around the challenges was very engaging and rewarding. I would highly recommend any startup CEO to get into the course.
Yavor Popov
CEO, PhoneArena
Bootstrapped
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Clarity is full of little gems that really made me reflect on our business and sparked further questions. The structure and concepts were awesome — impactful, provoking and practical. I also absolutely loved to watch how Dave handles questions and observe his process of asking follow-ups and really digging into what the participants are saying. A MUST for every Founder!
Will Ritchie
CEO, Chosen AI
Acquired
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I wouldn’t have paid for Dave’s Clarity programme as a first time founder but wouldn’t think twice now. I’ve learnt new skills and frameworks that are already saving me hours of work and unnecessary stress.
Ravi Kurani
CEO, Sutro
Acquired
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I 100% recommend any founder to apply to this program. Dave has a ton of frameworks, and his case studies are amazing to work through. The program really changed my outlook on the mission and vision of my company and more importantly how to present our objectives and work to the team.
Alex Omeyer
CEO, Stepsize
Raised $8.2M from Connect, Index, Stride
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I loved every session of the program from the introduction of concepts, to filling out the exercises, and Dave’s insightful feedback. The atmosphere and delivery was always bright and optimistic and I could apply practical advice straightaway. I now have a complete framework to understand the most important aspects of my company which I’ll be able to apply throughout my career. 10/10 amazing stuff!
Cosmin Ene
CEO, Laterpay
Raised $37M from Angel Investors
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Clarity Program is a MBA on steroids that provides founders with a vast set of tools and mental models. The exercises hold tremendous value and the content is both educational and inspirational. Dave’s delivery is littered with real life examples and is well paced and entertaining. Super helpful!
Guilherme Freire
CEO, Dolado
Raised $12M from Valor Capital Group, GFC and others
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Clarity has had a profound impact on how I articulate the narrative of my business to investors, and it has made all the difference in fundraising. Each of the peer founders brought a different perspective to the table, making the discussions and feedback incredibly rich. You guys rock!
Robert Christianson
CEO, Tua Financial
Funding undisclosed
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
From the outset, it was as if you were chatting with a good, wise friend. I loved the way Clarity allows CEOs to dissect their own unique challenges as entrepreneurs. You really do not understand the business you are building without Clarity. Best investment I have ever made for my company and for myself... Loved it!
Luke Fisher
CEO, Mo
Raised $3.3M from NVM Private Equity
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Clarity program is considered, action-packed and communicated with clarity. Dave was always fun and engaged the group with enjoyable and varied stories. I’m already seeing the benefits of the exercises to maintain simplicity and clarity in my team discussions. I can foresee this being a quarterly exercise. Keep being great at what you do!
Dorian Koch
CEO, MedKitDoc
Raised $7M from Vorwerk Ventures, Picus Capital and others
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Clarity has brought structure into the often unstructured vision-strategy-story part of the CEO job, that’s too often crowded out by day-to-day-tasks. It’s been my single best investment into coaching—and I have tried a few coaching programs—so I recommend you do this as early as possible!
Steven Welles
Former CEO, Ikos
Raised $7.1M from Draper Triangle Ventures and others
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Honestly, this is the first time I've understood what it means to actually be a CEO. I'm now thinking of "founder" as more of a mentality, and a CEO as having a true functional role. Clarity has given me frameworks and tools to recognize, synthesize, and communicate the gut feeling of excitement I have about the business and communicate it with the right message to the right stakeholders. Getting to know the other founders and their businesses was really valuable—great group!
Hana Mohan
CEO, MagicBell
Raised $2.5M from Cherry Ventures, Connect Ventures and others
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The experience felt full of kindness, curiosity and fun, and it’s given me a structure to think about communication, and strategy. If you’re looking for an actionable framework to the most important things a CEO must think about, this is it.
Tyler Vorce
Co-Founder, Truffle Shuffle
Raised $500,501 from Shark Tank
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I loved the templates and how the class was structured from the bottom-up of needs, vision, strategy, story telling, pitch, and delivery. I really like Dave's teaching style and it really helped me understand the root of our business and how to best explain what it is that we do exactly! I'm definitely going to recommend it to others.
Max Stratmann
Chief Sales Officer, Scanbot
Raised $10M from Target Global, Evoco, e42
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This program was exactly what I needed to shift my focus away from operations to strategic mode. It’s like a management "offsite" with other founders working towards a common goal: thinking more strategically and clearly. Dave’s clear thinking helps immensely when it comes to nailing your approach on vision/strategy. This program is a must.
Dave works with CEOs backed by top venture funds
VC-Platform Testimonials
Rory Stirling
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Dave Bailey is an incredible coach, subject expert and speaker and it wouldn't be the same without him. He combines a very rare set of magic skills... practical company building experience, an ability to communicate and inspire, and the patience to coach others. We can't recommend him highly enough (so long as he still saves some time for us!).
Andre Retterath
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Dave gave a great workshop to 30 of our portfolio CEOs in Berlin. His mix of materials, frameworks and personal stories led to amazing discussions which he perfectly moderated and summarised in clear takeaways.
Did you know?
I work with top-tier VCs across the US and Europe to run workshops for their portfolio CEOs. If the CEO wins, everyone wins.
Enquire about workshops
Heitor Benfeito
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
In Dave, we found not only a likeminded person, but a coach and speaker who delivered exactly what we were looking for at our CEO “Get Together”. He provided a multitude of insights, coupled with strategic views, as well as a clear actionable path which both our CEOs and our team could follow. We consider Dave to be one of the top start-up CEO coaches and would recommend him to our fellow VCs.
Harry Rhys Davies
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Dave led a workshop for 29 of our AI-focused venture-backed entrepreneurs. The session was brilliant and delved into important topics that are usually very challenging to cover. Having been a founder, a VC, and a coach, Dave brings with him a unique and practical perspective that has immediate value to any founder navigating a scaling journey.
Alex Gordon-Furse
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Dave has done Conference keynotes, intimate workshops & webinars for our founders at Startup Grind. We keep getting him back because the feedback we get is fantastic. His content is always incredibly well thought-out, well organised & super engaging and it is always jam-packed with actionable insights. Highly recommended!
Enquire about coaching
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