Executive Coaching for CTOs and Technical Founders
Scaling tech is easy. Scaling people is hard.
Every CTO figures this out eventually. Usually when a key engineer quits, a team’s performance starts dragging, or they have to answer tough questions in a board meeting they weren’t prepared for. The technology isn’t the bottleneck, the people are.
I’m a CTO who coaches CTOs. I built the PlayStation Network, ran defense systems for aircraft carriers at Raytheon, and spent nearly three years inside OpenAI scaling the engineering org from research to production. I’ve coached more than 75 technical founders and executives over the past decade. I am in the top 1% of executive coaches worldwide.
I give CTOs the operating system that is built for scale: maturity models, scorecards, and frameworks for hiring, team performance, roadmap planning, technology strategy, and leading without burning out.
My CTO coaching and executive coaching work the same way: one-on-one sessions built around the decisions actually on your plate this quarter, not a generic leadership curriculum. If you want a sense of how I think before we talk, start with my books, Above the Chaos on leading calmly under pressure and Growth by Design on earning product-market fit.
Who This Executive Coaching Is For
Stuck in the Weeds
Every decision comes back to you. The team can't ship without your sign-off. You're the most expensive bottleneck in the company and you know it. We build the systems that get you out.
Struggling With Talent
Your best engineers are leaving or checking out. Recruiting takes forever. One-on-ones feel like going through the motions. We develop your hiring and performance management operating system.
C-Suite Misalignment
Your relationship with your CEO is strained. You don't have the authority to make decisions. You know the technical path forward, but org politics are getting in the way.
On average, my clients gain a 10-20x return on their investment
Testimonials
Swaraj Banerjee
From hiring the best engineering leaders, to building insightful product feedback loops, to building both company-wide and personal habits -- I could not be more grateful to have his help.
Branden Keeler
Head of Product at Flexpa
Justin Wieland
Founder of Reach Tech
What CTO Coaching Covers
Evolve as a Leader
Most CTOs are running on instinct. What got you here won’t get you there.
- Build a leadership operating system that scales exponentially without you holding everything together
- Hire and inspire a winning team that ships quality products
- Manage the psychological weight of carrying the company without burning out
- Know exactly where your company needs you to grow and how to get there
- Show up to your board and your C-suite as the mature executive your company needs
Clarify Your Vision
Transform the complex future into a concrete plan of attack.
- Define a north star your engineering team can execute against
- Build OKRs that connect company strategy to daily engineering decisions
- Get product, design, and engineering aligned and pulling in the same direction
- Make prioritization calls you can defend to your CEO, your board, and your team
Execute Flawlessly
Teams don’t fail because engineers are bad. They fail because the system is broken.
- Hire the right people the first time, with a process that doesn't rely on your gut
- Stop shipping the wrong thing and build what your customers actually need
- Integrate product and engineering so they stop fighting and start collaborating
- Build the documentation, process, and team structure that scales exponentially
Build Connection
Design a culture that allows your team to thrive.
- Build an engineering culture that keeps senior talent happy and develops juniors
- Give your team a feedback and accountability system that helps them grow
- Develop the leaders below you so the company stops depending on your heroics
- Connect your team with your customers so they understand exactly what to build
More Testimonials
James Heath
JD Carter
CTO and Executive Coaching FAQ
What is CTO coaching?
CTO coaching is one-on-one executive coaching for the person accountable for technology. It is not general leadership training. The work is your actual situation: the hiring bar you have not defined, the staff engineer who should be a manager and does not want to be, the roadmap you cannot defend to the board, the on-call rotation that runs through you. We build the systems and the judgment so the company stops depending on your heroics.
How is executive coaching different from mentoring, consulting, or therapy?
A consultant hands you a deliverable and leaves. A mentor tells you what they would do. A therapist works on your past. Executive coaching builds your capability in the present, so the next decision like this one does not need me. I bring frameworks because I have run the org, but the decisions stay yours.
Who do you work with?
CTOs, VPs of Engineering, heads of engineering, technical co-founders, and CPOs, plus the CEOs who work alongside them. Company stage runs from the first ten engineers to post-Series B orgs starting to crack under their own weight. I have coached more than 75 technical founders and leaders at companies including OpenAI, Heap, Sendlane, Tealium, Dialogue, and Sempre Health.
How do engagements work?
Coaching is ongoing one-on-one work rather than a fixed curriculum. We start with what is actually on your plate this quarter, agree what has to be true in ninety days, and work the problems in order of what is costing you most. Cadence and scope are set on the free strategy call, because a first-time VP of Engineering and a second-time CTO scaling past two hundred people do not need the same thing.
Do you coach remotely?
Yes. My clients are spread across the US, Canada, and Europe, so sessions run over video. I also run a small group program for founders working at the same level, for leaders who want peers in the room as well as a coach.
How do I get started?
Book a free strategy call. We will spend it on your situation, not a sales pitch, and by the end you will know whether coaching is the right lever or whether you need something else. If you want a sense of how I think first, read Above the Chaos on leading calmly under pressure or Growth by Design on earning product-market fit.
Let's Scale Together
Ready to evolve into your ultimate form?
Book a free strategy call or email eric@chaostoclarity.io.