Independent Founder Advisor | Executive Coach | Perspective, judgement & challenge
FOUNDER ADVISORY
Every founder relationship is different.
I work with a small number of founders through ongoing advisory relationships.
There isn't a fixed programme.
The questions change as the founder and the business change.
One month we might be thinking about the leadership team or a difficult hire. The next it might be strategy, ownership, a co-founder issue, stepping back from the CEO role or simply working out where the founder should be spending their time.
What matters is having someone alongside you who knows both you and the business well enough to understand the context — and independent enough to see things differently.
WHAT THE RELATIONSHIP LOOKS LIKE
Most relationships are ongoing rather than project-based.
We meet regularly, with flexibility to pick up the issues that matter as they arise.
Some conversations are strategic.
Some are about people or leadership.
Some are about the founder themselves.
Sometimes I give a direct view. Sometimes I challenge an assumption. Sometimes the most useful thing is creating enough space for the founder to work out what they actually think.
There is no fixed methodology to work through.
The relationship becomes more useful as the context builds..
WORK IN PRACTICE
Detail your Stepping back without stepping away
Detail your Stepping back without stepping away
Detail your Stepping back without stepping away
A founder wanted to become less involved in the day-to-day while remaining connected to the business they had built.
Our work focused on the founder's role, leadership capability, decision-making and where responsibility still depended too heavily on them.
Over time, greater ownership moved to the leadership team and the founder was able to take a more strategic role without simply disappearing from the business.
Building beyond the founder
Detail your Stepping back without stepping away
Detail your Stepping back without stepping away
A founder-led consultancy had reached the point where too much growth still depended on the founder personally.
We worked across the commercial model, productisation, sales, forecasting, team capability and where the founder could continue to add the most value.
The aim was not simply to make the company bigger.
It was to build a stronger business with more capacity beyond one person.
Creating the next leadership layer
Detail your Stepping back without stepping away
Creating the next leadership layer
A growing business needed more senior capability while the founder was still carrying several roles themselves.
We worked through where the founder should focus, what the organisation needed next and where additional leadership and accountability were required.
That created greater capacity around the founder and more space for them to concentrate on the decisions only they could make.
Who I tend to work best with
I tend to work best with founders and business owners who have built something meaningful and value having an experienced, independent person alongside them.
They are usually open to challenge, willing to think honestly about their own role and interested in building the business deliberately rather than simply following somebody else's definition of growth.
WHAT FOUNDERS SAY
"Nick has a unique ability to combine professional wisdom with a practical, strategic approach. He’s a brilliant business advisor and a vital sounding board!"
Alice Braccini
Founder & CEO, Violetta Group
“Nick has been a huge help in getting our company strategy back on track. His experience, sharp strategic thinking and deep industry knowledge have helped us drive meaningful change.”
Jimmy Robinson
Founder & CEO, PingPong Digital
MY philosophy
I don't believe growth should automatically be the goal.
For one founder, success might mean building a much larger company. For another, it might mean independence, an exit, greater freedom or a different relationship with work.
One of the questions I often come back to is:
Why are you building what you're building — and what do you want it to create for you?
Being clear about the answer changes the decisions you make.