For founders and their leadership teams
Your company is
outgrowing how
you run it.
I help you change how your company runs so it can keep growing without the heroics. I coach you or your leaders one-to-one, or I work with your whole leadership team.
Six years at Google. Two at Amazon, leading a 100-person organisation. CPO of a listed company. ICF-accredited coach.
16
startup leadership teams
200+
leaders worked with directly
€3bn+
the value of the startups I've worked with
Startups and accelerators I've worked with
From a strategy on paper to a confident strategic call
A Series A B2B software startup's leadership team turned a strategy on paper into OKRs they still run, and found the confidence to make a big strategic call.
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OKRs that took the company up-market
A Series D data SaaS scale-up whose product had stopped selling refocused on the world’s biggest customers, got on budget, and stopped pulling its CEO into everything.
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Sound familiar?
“Everything still comes back to me.”
You’d hand more over, if you knew it would be done right. Your team would take more on, if they knew what you wanted.
“Everyone nods, then nothing changes.”
The meeting ends in agreement. The next week, the same debate is back.
“I’m not sure we’re building the right thing.”
Maybe it made sense a year ago, or maybe it was never quite settled. Either way, you need to be sure.
“Sales says it’s product. Product says it’s engineering.”
Good people, each with a good reason, end up blaming each other.
“We used to be fast.”
We hired more people so we could accelerate, but we got slower.
“We meet every week and still act like department heads.”
Everyone runs their own area well, but this pulls the company in different directions.
When you were building the company, everything ran through you as the founder. For a long time, that was the right way. Now it’s bigger and needs to work differently.
Maybe you’ve tried changing. You set OKRs, used EOS or Scaling Up, adopted the Spotify model, and you’ve even had an expensive consultant helping you, but the same problems came back a few months later. Another framework won’t help. Together we’ll develop your own way of running the company, and I’ll work with you as you iterate to make it stick.
What it looks like when it works
You trust the team with running the business and spend your time on what’s next.
Decisions made in leadership meetings get acted on, and last.
Most new releases are met by increased demand from customers.
Sales, product, and engineering agree on the problem and the solution.
A problem that’s been stuck for months gets solved in weeks by the people closest to it.
The engineering lead who only cared about technical topics now helps shape the strategy.
What we put in place
Together we will change the way your company runs so it continues to grow and works for you and your team. I will share what I’ve seen working elsewhere when it helps, and help you and your leaders decide how to work. A better way of running the company asks more of the people running it, so I coach you and your leaders as we go.
1
Find out what’s going on
I talk to your leaders one by one and review how your company runs. You’ll find out where things are slowing down and get two or three changes to make first.
2
Change how your company runs
Agree where you’re going, who owns what, and how you’ll get there together in workshops from half a day to two days. Afterwards, I support you as much or as little as you want.
3
Develop your leadership team
Each leader needs to grow to take on bigger responsibilities. Individual and confidential coaching for founders, leaders, or for someone on your team who hasn’t settled or needs to step up.
Neurodiversity: every brain works differently, so I shape the work around how you think best. You don’t need a diagnosis, or to tell me anything. It’s just how I work.
Sometimes a day together is enough. Sometimes we work together for several quarters. Every engagement is different, depending on what you need.
From the founders' circle to one leadership team
A Series C B2B SaaS scale-up got its leadership team deciding together, and one OKR session cut a six-month project for 20 people to two months for three.
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A strategy reset that broke a risky dependency
A seed-stage SaaS startup of about 30 people reset its strategy in a one-day offsite, broke its dependence on a single platform, and pivoted fast when that platform changed.
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I've been there
I’ve worked at companies ranging from 20 people to some of the largest on earth, and have started three small businesses of my own. I know what it’s like to make tough decisions under pressure without having all the answers.
I’ve helped over 200 founders and leaders grow their businesses. I’ll tell you what I see, including when the way you lead is part of what’s holding you back. I’ll say it privately and kindly, and help you do something about it.
If I’m not the right person to help, I’ll introduce you to someone who could be.
Who I work with
Most of the companies I work with have a few dozen to a few hundred people: venture-backed, PE-backed or privately owned.
The startups I’ve worked with are backed by investors including Accel, Atomico, Creandum, EQT, Cherry Ventures and SoftBank.
Know someone this would help?
If you invest in founders, or know one it would help, here’s a line you can send them:
Richard helps founders whose company is outgrowing how they run it. He works with the founder and their leadership team, so the company keeps moving fast as it grows. The first call is free.
If you work alongside the CEO, here’s a line you can send them:
I thought this might help us as we grow: Richard works with founders and their leadership teams on the hard calls, so decisions get made, and stay made. The first call is free.
Here’s his website: https://richardrussell.co/
Next steps
1
Book a call
20 minutes, free, and confidential. We’ll figure out if I’m the right person to help you, and if now is the right time. You don’t need to know what kind of help you need. We’ll work it out on the call.
2
Then a Strategy Session
Free, with the right people on the call. We’ll start with what you want, where you are now, and what’s holding you back. You’ll leave with a plan for what to do next, whether or not it involves me.
3
A clear proposal
We’ll agree the scope and the price. If we both want to work together, we’ll find the right way to make it happen.
“
Shared direction, real action.
Richard helped us get clear and move forward, both as a leadership team and as individuals. His strategy facilitation gave us a shared direction, and his coaching helped us turn that into real decisions and action. I'd recommend working with him to any CEO or exec team dealing with complexity and change.
Hessam Lavi
CEO & Co-Founder
Climatiq
“
A real boost in how we operate.
Our company's operating system? Well, it was a bit of a mess, to be honest. But Richard came in, rolled up his sleeves, and helped us sort it out in no time. … We've seen a real boost in how efficiently we operate thanks to him.
Rob van den Heuvel
CEO & Co-Founder
Sendcloud
“
Plans made rock solid
Richard has a fascinating ability to challenge one’s thoughts and strategies by playing the devil’s advocate so as to make the new plans rock solid. … Although he is really smart and has a lot of experience, he never has a hierarchical or “know-it-all” approach, which I highly appreciated while working with him.
Felix Hemmerling
Co-Founder
Univize
Leading change in a bigger organisation?
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