Executive Coach.
Thought Partner.
Author & Dog Dad.

I help entrepreneurs grow as executives and as human beings.

Michael Terrell

Leaders I've partnered with

Vlad Magdalin

Vlad Magdalin

Co-Founder & CEO, Webflow

"Michael has been the perfect partner in my journey to become a better leader and a better human."

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Caterina Rizzi

Caterina Rizzi

Co-Founder, Breather

"Michael helped me set actionable goals and held me accountable to them instead of just talking ad hoc about my thoughts and concerns, like so many coaches do."

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Ben Congleton

Ben Congleton

Co-Founder & CEO, Olark

"Michael's biggest impact has been helping me build systems to make a strong transition from founder to CEO."

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Scott Zimmerman

Scott Zimmerman

Co-Founder & CEO, Xola

"Michael's advice helped me identify areas where and how communication among team members could be improved, which has helped us execute better as a team on numerous occasions."

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Chris Tsai

Chris Tsai

Co-Founder & CEO, Resolve

"It gave me a superpower in self-awareness that transformed both my company and personal relationships."

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Yunha Kim

Yunha Kim

Founder & CEO, Sleep Reset

"Michael keeps me accountable, and helps me actually achieve the growth I most want as a leader. He challenges me directly, but makes it so much fun."

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Chas Ballew

Chas Ballew

Founder & CEO, Conveyor

"In the right hands, Michael's coaching is easily worth 100x if not 1,000x his fee. If you have a chance to work with him, I highly recommend it."

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Pouyan Salehi

Pouyan Salehi

Co-Founder & CEO, Scratchpad

"For any CEO looking for both practical leadership skills and real personal growth, Michael is the rare coach who delivers both. I can’t recommend him enough."

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Gabe Greenberg

Gabe Greenberg

Founder & CEO, G2i

"Michael has been the best investment I've ever made into my personal and professional life. He has changed my life in profound ways."

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Luca Foschini

Luca Foschini

Co-Founder, Evidation Health

"Michael's approach to coaching is exceptionally centered, thoughtful, and warm."

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Hey there, I'm Michael.

I'm an executive coach who helps entrepreneurs grow.

Odds are, you're here for a reason. Maybe one of your board members gave you feedback that you need to improve your executive presence.

Or you just finished a workshop where you realized that to become a better leader, you need to grow your empathy and listening skills. Perhaps you're "too nice" and want to get better at giving feedback and holding people accountable.

Or you're facing one of those make-or-break moments in your business journey: a big fundraise, a crucial executive hire, a co-founder relationship that's starting to fray, or that gut-wrenching pivot you know you need to make.

Michael Terrell

There could also be a deeper reason you're here.

You are searching for a powerful partnership.

A partnership where you are 100% free to explore ideas, fears, and doubts without worry of how you'll be perceived. Where you will feel less lonely at the top and grow into a fundamentally wiser and more effective version of yourself.

A partnership that challenges you when you get in your own way, supports you through uncertainty, and illuminates your blindspots to reveal new solutions and possibilities.

If this is you, then welcome home, my friend.

Since 2011, I've spent over 15,000 hours helping folks just like you. I've trained more than 1,000 leaders and managers, and have worked with over 100 founders and senior execs as long-term coaching clients.

I help my clients develop new interpersonal skills, transform their company cultures, close rounds of funding, learn about boundaries and self-care, and redefine what it means to lead their companies and teams.

And the beauty is—as they grow as leaders—they grow as people. They become better wives, husbands, parents, sons, daughters, and friends. They become more complete and fulfilled human beings

Coaching leaders like you is my life's work, so I'm glad you've found your way here. Drop me a line if you're interested in working together. I'm excited to meet you!

Coaching FAQs

Who is your typical client?

My typical client is a Series A-C startup founder.

I love working with startup leaders because: (1) their tolerance for uncertainty and bias toward action help them get a lot out of coaching, and (2) given that their companies are still in the early days (relatively), our work can have a major impact on the entire company culture and trajectory.

Though I predominately coach startup leaders, I work with a variety of founders and leaders — ranging from family business leaders to non-profit execs to founders of small firms. It comes down to fit at the end of the day. We are likely a good fit for each other if:

  • You are the leader of a company or team.
  • You have a large degree of freedom and autonomy in your role.
  • You are hungry to learn from direct yet supportive feedback.
  • You want to learn new leadership tactics, but you are also interested in evolving into a wiser, more complete version of yourself by challenging long-held assumptions and perspectives.
  • You acknowledge that your growth as an executive = your growth as a person, and you're excited to see how your professional growth could impact other areas of your life.
  • You are energized by the thought of working with a coach who is committed to cultivating a long-term, deeply trusting partnership built on equal parts care, challenge, and accountability. One full of "aha's", resilience, increased possibilities, and moments where you change for the better forever.

What do you help your clients achieve?

Put simply: their goals.

Each of my coaching engagements focuses on 1-2 top goals chosen by the client (informed by self-reflection exercises I provide + by feedback from their team and from me). These goals range from "inner work" on things like mindset, resilience, productivity, and emotion management, to "outer work" on things like EQ, interpersonal dynamics, management, and public speaking. These goals provide the heartbeat of our work together, and in the vast majority of cases, my clients achieve them.

What is your coaching approach?

My approach is referred to as “co-active” coaching, which means that my clients and I are equal partners in the coaching experience. Though I know a lot about leadership and development, I am not an all-knowing expert on my clients' companies and dilemmas. Accordingly, my coaching is not a one-way relationship where clients come to me with questions and I share expert advice. Instead, we discover the right answers together by each bringing something to the conversation. My clients bring their goals, industry- and team-specific knowledge, honesty, and best thinking, and I bring a range of tools to help them uncover insights and identify new actions to take after each conversation.

During coaching conversations, I...

  • ask lots of open-ended questions;
  • listen actively and help my clients clarify their thoughts;
  • supportively challenge any assumptions I hear my clients making;
  • notice and name any blind spots or patterns my clients may not see;
  • share helpful tools, frameworks, and resources;
  • engage in role-plays;
  • brainstorm solutions with my clients, including sharing advice when what we’re discussing relates to my circle of competence; and
  • ask my clients to commit to actions/experiments in between sessions.

Fundamentally, my coaching approach helps my clients achieve their most pressing goals by deepening their awareness (of themselves, of situations), and helping them see more choices.  As they do so, they become wiser, more effective, and more fulfilled.

What differentiates you as a coach?

There are a few things about me that — especially when combined together — make me relatively unique in the coaching world:

Balance of warmth & strength. I show up with warm care and empathy, coupled with a rooted male strength. I'm open and honest about my care for my clients, and I regularly share the joy and excitement I feel as they take risks and make progress. I hold space and create safety. As one of my clients says, "I know you'll have my back even if I spill my guts." I'm also clear when I'm concerned, disappointed, or want to challenge my clients to stay the course.

Keep it real. I strive to show up as my full human self in each coaching conversation. This means no weird power dynamics, no overly jargon-y riffs, no suits, and no ego. It means I bring my full kindness, curiosity, intuition, and playful irreverence each day. My clients and I share openly about ourselves, and talk in plain terms about the challenges and dilemmas they're facing. We laugh, celebrate, push, reflect, and shed tears together.

Focus and accountability. Many coaches set the agenda for each session by asking, "What's on your mind today?" While this coaching style often provides real-time emotional relief, it leads to an unfocused and overly reactive coaching process. My approach is different. Though I certainly try to show up for my clients when they have a pressing, real-time issue, my main job is to help them achieve their most important goals. This means helping my clients clarify meaningful goals at the outset, and regularly setting our session agendas with those goals in mind. It also means holding my clients accountable; asking them if they did what they said they would and what they learned in the process. I tell my clients what I see and ask them the questions that most people shy away from — all in service of them staying accountable to the goals they have for themselves and their companies.

Beyond tactics. Though I regularly discuss frameworks and tactics with my clients, my approach extends beyond that. Most meaty growth requires going beyond what we do and looking at how we think. I regularly ask my clients to explore their underlying fears, beliefs, and assumptions because updating them is the key to unlocking new possibilities and true growth.

Whole person. Although my coaching typically focuses on my clients' professional growth, I see my clients as whole people. I see them as siblings, and sons, and mothers, and spouses, and friends. If my clients realize a pattern we're exploring shows up in their non-work life, I'm happy to discuss it. If something going on at home is impacting them at work, it's totally in bounds. If they decide they'd like to set a goal that is predominately related to their family or friendships, I'm game. The reality is our lives are not bento boxes. Growth in one area inevitably touches other areas. I'm here for it.

What does your typical engagement look like?

I work with leaders who want a long-term, deep partnership with their coach — so most of my clients work with me on annual retainer, meeting either 2x per month or weekly.

My sessions are between 60-75 minutes long via phone or video call, and I’m available to all my clients by phone, text, or email between sessions (within reason).

Though most clients are on annual retainer, no blood oaths required. My engagements can be cancelled and prorated at any time.

How long do you typically work with your clients?

My clients tend to want a trusted partner who will be in their corner through multiple chapters of their founder journey. I'm grateful that my practice reflects this today: my average client engagement is 4 years.

How much does coaching cost?

My fee for my coaching varies by engagement and depends on if I'm providing any additional coaching, training, or facilitation services as part of the contract. To give you a sense of if I'm in your ballpark fee-wise, you should expect to budget at least $3000 a month. I do accept equity-based compensation on a case-by-case basis.

Do you coach co-founders?

Yes.

I have extensive experience helping co-founders strengthen, improve, and repair their relationships. Typically, these engagements involve each founder signing up for one of my annual retainers and then we thoughtfully distribute our coaching time between pair sessions and individual sessions.

Will you offer training for my broader team or company? Do you do any retreats or workshops?

Rarely.

My first priority is always to my individual (or co-founder pair) coaching relationships, and this work takes up the majority of my time — so I typically say no to group or team training requests. One exception to this is the “live 360 feedback training” I offer as an à la carte option for most of my 1:1 engagements. If you’re looking to train managers, I encourage you to explore the startup manager training I helped create. For any other team-based work, I will gladly connect you to other talented coaches or trainers.

As for retreats and workshops, I offer my Founder EQ Retreat once or twice a year, and occasionally get clients together for kitesurf retreats (exhilarating, restorative, and learning-filled, I promise).

Have another question?
Ready to discuss working together?
Connect with me
Michael Terrell and his dog

About Me

I hold a degree in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University where I first honed my startup chops as a Mayfield Fellow.

I’m an executive coach to founders and CEOs, with a focus on early-to growth-stage startup founders.

And I am a senior facilitator for one of the most popular courses at the Stanford GSB called Interpersonal Dynamics, and I frequently guest lecture on team dynamics in the Stanford School of Engineering.

Along the way, I co-authored a book on leadership development called The Inside-Out Effect

…and dabbled in podcasting alongside my friend and fellow coach, Michael Melcher.

Before focusing on my solo-coaching practice, I ran a company called Fort Light with fellow coach Anamaria Nino-Murcia. Together we created the first-ever T-group retreat for startup leaders, which I still run a version of today.

When I’m not coaching, I spend my time with my family and close friends doing Sunday dinners, improv game nights, kitesurfing trips, and guitar jam sessions. I currently live in San Rafael with my wife, Rachel, and my Australian Shepherd, Charlie, both of whom keep me on my toes and perpetually remind me of what's most important in life.

Michael Terrell Kite Surfing

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