Would you hire a startup coach?

I generally mistrust people that present themselves as a "coach." Yes, there are exceptions; real coaches that can get the best out of you. But those are the ones who generally don't present themselves publicly as coaches. The ones that do and I occasionally encounter on Linkedin giving an opinion on just everything seem fake to me.

As for startups, there are so many coaches, mentors, and advisors out there with different degrees of formality. During my last startup stint, people offered me this type of service very often. But, as I said, I found most of them fakes, especially when they try to sell you the incredible results of hiring them.

But, over the last months, some events have changed my mind a bit. First, I actively used YC's Co-founder Match tool. Each of the ten potential co-founders that I met gave me the same feedback. They told me they felt good talking to me as I (unconsciously) helped them question their assumptions and think out of their box.

The funny part is that I wasn't giving "advice;" I only asked the right questions. It's moving to see that, just like me, these other founders were craving attention. They just wanted to be heard and reflect on their startup process with other people who's been on that same spot before, especially as solo founders.

The second "event" is the moment of humility and self-awareness that came after reflecting on my own mistakes as a solo founder. It was crazy how I could have avoided many of those mistakes had I asked myself the right questions or focused on the most important results. It's just hard to be self-aware when you lack the experience. The way I see it now, it wouldn't have been that bad to exchange an hour of advice for months of mistakes.

I have to be honest; the third event is a more practical matter. My previous startup experience left me quite a hole in my finances - $10K in credit card debt. And I certainly need to fix that urgently.

So, I decided to give it a try. I'm putting my experience and therapeutic approach to help other startup founders as a kind of coach.

At the risk of sounding like the coaches I mistrust, here's the deal:

• Do you feel like you are not taking the right actions towards validating your solution?
• Do you want an accountability partner?
• Do you want to question your assumptions with someone outside of your friends and colleagues zone?
• Do you need to be heard by someone that can empathize with you on your startup journey?

If "yes" to any of these questions, please let me be your guy. You can book me on my Calendly for $49/hour. The first three people will get their first hour for free.