Build #71 - Why tech founders need personal consultancy - not just coaching or therapy
There’s something unique about sitting at the helm of a tech start-up. You’re innovating faster than your HR policy can keep up, hiring at warp speed, navigating the impossible trifecta of product-market fit, fundraising and team culture – all before your morning coffee. Amidst the chaos, founders are often told to "get a coach" or "try therapy", but what many really need is something in-between: personal consultancy.
What is personal consultancy?
Personal consultancy is the fusion of coaching and therapy. It’s where deep personal exploration meets goal-oriented leadership development. Think of it as a blend of two worlds: therapy’s capacity to unpack your emotional drivers and patterns, paired with coaching’s forward momentum, structure and accountability. For founders, this combination can be transformative.
Tech founders, in particular, face pressures that most people in traditional leadership roles can’t relate to. Many are first-time managers, suddenly responsible for large teams. Others are serial entrepreneurs still carrying the scars of previous ventures. All are operating in fast-changing, high-stakes environments where personal growth often becomes the bottleneck to business growth.
The problem with traditional coaching (and traditional therapy)
A pure coach might help you get clear on your goals, establish priorities and improve team dynamics. But what happens when your imposter syndrome hijacks your decisions? Or your childhood conditioning kicks in every time you negotiate a term sheet? That’s where therapy earns its stripes.
On the flip side, therapy can offer incredible insight, but it doesn’t always translate into action. Understanding why you freeze during conflict doesn’t automatically mean you’ll stop doing it in your next board meeting.
Personal consultancy addresses both.
It provides the safe space to understand your internal patterns and the structure to change them. For a founder, that might mean unpacking why you avoid giving feedback – and then practising, refining and embedding a feedback style that actually works. It’s practical, psychological, and profoundly effective.
Let’s be practical
You might be teetering on the edge of (mild) burnout, stuck in the never-ending loop of trying to please everyone - colleagues or clients. What you need isn’t more motivational fluff or another time management app. You need someone who can guide you through calming the anxiety, setting proper boundaries, and structuring your day so you’re not constantly chasing your own tail.
Yes, that means a bit of coaching. Maybe even a touch of therapy. Picture this: a hypnosis session to soothe your nerves before a big pitch or help you finally sleep without rerunning that awkward comment you made in Year 9.
But here’s the thing - that compulsion to say yes to everything? That might not be about work at all. It could be your attachment style from childhood, quietly pulling the strings behind your polite smile. Once we get to the root of that and know what to do with it, we can shift gears: onto your five-year plan, your P&L, your big goals. That’s where the real growth kicks in.
Most people have either a therapist or a coach. Fair enough. But a Personal Consultant brings the two together — aligning insight with action, healing with planning. Less split-focus, more integration. Fewer buzzwords, more results.
Why tech founders need this now
The start-up world is maturing. Investors are more discerning, customers more sceptical, and teams more values-driven than ever before. Being technically brilliant or strategically sharp isn’t enough anymore. Founders are expected to be emotionally intelligent, self-aware and able to lead inclusively – no small ask, especially under pressure.
This is where a leadership coach with a therapeutic foundation becomes a real asset – not just a sounding board but a true thinking partner. Someone who’s scaled a business, hired (and fired) under pressure, navigated investor dynamics and can read between the lines of your leadership behaviours.
When your coach understands what it’s like to grow from 10 to 100 people, to go from MVP to Series B, to negotiate exits while battling burnout – it shows. The conversation is richer, more relevant, and the guidance hits closer to home.
Founder as human: not just CEO
In start-up culture, there’s still an unhelpful myth that founders must be superhuman. The hustle is glorified, vulnerability is private, and burnout is treated as a rite of passage. But the most sustainable companies are led by grounded, self-aware people – not heroes with capes.
Leadership coaching with a therapeutic lens helps founders stay human. It creates a confidential space to drop the façade, untangle the mental load, and reconnect with what actually matters. It helps answer big questions like: “Why am I doing this?”, “How do I lead without losing myself?”, and “What does success really look like for me?”
The result? Founders who are more resilient, better at relationships, and more aligned in their decisions.
What to look for in a Coach-Consultant
Not all coaches are created equal – and not all are qualified to blend coaching with therapeutic depth. Here’s what tech founders should look for in a personal consultant:
- Real-world start-up experience – ideally someone who’s scaled a business themselves and understands founder life from the inside out.
- Therapeutic training – not to psychoanalyse you, but to hold space for emotional processing when it’s needed.
- Coaching accreditation – because structure, professionalism and ethical standards matter.
- A strong BS filter – let’s be honest, founders don’t need more yes-people. They need someone who can challenge them, safely and constructively.
One practical tip: founder check-in
Here’s a simple exercise to bring more awareness into your week:
The Friday founder check-in - take 10 minutes at the end of the week to answer these questions:
- What energised me this week?
- What drained me?
- Where did I avoid something I needed to face?
- What’s one thing I can do differently next week?
Write your answers down. No judgment, just observation. Over time, you’ll start to see patterns – and with the right support, you can change them.
In summary
Tech founders are high-functioning individuals in high-pressure environments. You don’t just need support – you need the right kind of support. Personal consultancy, the fusion of coaching and therapy, meets the complexity of your role with an equally nuanced approach.
With the right partner – someone who’s walked the path, understands the psychology, and has the coaching chops to back it up – you won’t just grow as a leader. You’ll grow as a person.
And in the end, that’s what great leadership is made of.
Volker is running a free 30 minute masterclass later this month:
"3 Conversations Every Senior Leadership Team Needs to Have (But
Usually Avoids)"
He's looking at how healthy tension builds high-performing teams, talking about:
- Signs of passive-aggressive culture (yes, even in SLTs)
- Three tactics to make difficult conversations safer and more productive
- When to challenge, when to coach
The masterclass is on 28th August at 5pm. Register here.