Operator Coaching
Operator Coaching for Technical Founders
Coaching from someone who has sat in your chair. Two acquisitions, $54.3M raised, $1.33B+ in documented revenue impact across Google, Microsoft, and Protocol Labs. Not a former therapist. Not a framework reseller. An operator who builds your judgment the same way he built products: hypothesis, test, evidence, decision.
$2,500 · Creditable against month one · Or book a fit call →
Who this is for, and who it is not
Founder-CEOs from seed to Series B in AI, blockchain, or data platforms, and first-time CPOs and Heads of Product stepping into executive scope. It works best when you have a live venture, real users to learn from, and a decision you cannot delegate.
It is not done-for-you execution; if you need someone to run product, see Fractional Product Leadership. It is not therapeutic support of any kind. This develops operating judgment and leadership execution, nothing else.
The Trellis Method
A trellis does not grow for the plant. It gives growth structure and direction, then gets out of the way. That is the job of a coach, and it is why every engagement runs on the same five components.
Guiding-question bookends
Every session opens on one question and closes on the same question, answered. Sixty minutes stays pointed at a decision instead of ten status updates.
Four-box segmentation
Every customer hypothesis is mapped across Segment, Need, Value, and Ethical Boundary before it earns engineering time. The fourth box is the one founders skip and the one acquirers ask about.
ICP narrowing
Growth-stage judgment is mostly deciding who you will not serve. The worked example is Erick's own company:
Trensant could read risk and sentiment signals for journalists, traders, marketers, analysts. Almost anyone is not a customer. The team cut the ICP to enterprise supply chain and risk, refused revenue that did not fit, and rebuilt the roadmap around that buyer. The product got narrower and the company got more valuable, because a focused intelligence platform was legible to acquirers in a way a general one never was. Trensant was acquired by Interos.ai.
A hypothesis worth disproving
Founders protect their favorite assumptions; operators price them. Each month you leave with one falsifiable bet and the cheapest test that could kill it.
30/70 delivery
Thirty percent concept, seventy percent applied to your live venture: your numbers, your team, your board, your next decision. Nothing is taught in the abstract.
Format and pricing
From $4,000 per month
Two 60-minute sessions a month, with async access between them for decisions that cannot wait two weeks. A 3-month initial term, then month to month.
The price is published so you know whether this is in budget before either of us books a call. It also reflects capped capacity: at most six coaching clients alongside two to three fractional engagements, so this practice sells depth rather than volume.
The record behind the method
Coaching is new as an offer and old as a practice: over a decade of continuous mentorship, from graduate founders at the Global Innovation Exchange to due diligence and fund management at the Seattle Angel Conference. The full record is on the About page.
Frequently asked questions
How is coaching different from a fractional CPO engagement?
A fractional CPO does the work: owns the roadmap, manages the team, ships the artifacts. Coaching develops you to do the work. If your company needs deliverables, hire the fractional practice. If it needs your judgment to get better, hire the coach. Some clients move from one to the other, and the fit call will tell you which door you are standing at.
What timezone does this run in?
Erick works from UTC+8, which means native business-hours coverage across APAC and a reliable evening window for founders in the US. Sessions are scheduled around your calendar, not his.
Is this confidential?
Yes. Everything discussed is covered by a mutual NDA signed before the first session, including the diagnostic. No client is named publicly without written permission.
How does the Trellis Leadership Diagnostic work?
It is a paid, scored assessment: a 24-item questionnaire across six leadership dimensions, a perspective check answered by your team, a written report with one 90-day priority, and a 90-minute debrief with Erick. It costs $2,500, fully creditable against your first month of coaching, and the report is honest even when the honest answer is that you do not need a coach. Full details here.
Find the constraint first
The Trellis Leadership Diagnostic is the front door: $2,500, fully creditable against your first month of coaching.
Not ready for the diagnostic?
Take the free slice of the method. The Four-Box Segmentation Worksheet is the one-page tool Erick uses to pressure-test any customer hypothesis.