Different Types of Cofounder Coaches: Which Is Best For You?

Read this article to understand which type of cofounder coaching program is right for your founding team.

Cofounder coaching is an emerging category of services empowering cofounders to improve communication, teamwork, and execution. However, each coach has a unique approach and method, meaning cofounder coaching can take many forms.

As a founder, it can be difficult and time consuming to find the right coach for your situation.

While understanding the three main types of cofounder coaches is a helpful place to start, it is also important to consider the goodness of fit between each coach’s preferred methodology and your unique needs as a founding team.

Read this article to better understand the key differences between cofounder coaching programs.

Here are seven dimensions in which coaching approaches vary:

1. Tactical business advice vs transformational change.

This spectrum highlights the different areas of training emphasis and expertise regarding deep, transformative change versus keen business acumen.

Coaches with expertise in creating long-term relational change are often less effective to providing tangible business recommendations. The inverse is also true: Coaches who focus on business tactics often struggle to create transformative change in group dynamics.

Know which component you value most and look for a coach with corresponding expertise.

2. Directive vs non-directive.

This spectrum identifies the degree of structure imposed by the coach.

Some coaches are active, talk a lot, and follow a set curriculum with cofounders. These coaches value structure and often enjoy working with younger founding teams, both in age and stage of growth (e.g. seed through Series A).

Other coaches use a more free-flowing structure and encourage founders to raise important conversations before chiming in to improve communication and decision-making. These coaches are less likely to have a top-down educational program and tend to focus more on group dynamics. They tend to work with a range of founding teams across various stages of growth.

If you are uncomfortable venturing into unknown and sometimes uncomfortable discussions, you may prefer a coach with more structure. For founding teams wanting more of a focus on changing interpersonal dynamics, a more non-directive approach may be best.

3. Proactive vs reactive.

The proactive and reactive spectrum brings attention to the area of emphasis for the coaching engagement.

Many coaches with coaching certifications and previous experiences as operators enjoy proactive and preventative work to help cofounders focus on developing into the types of leaders and people they want to become.

Coaches with psychological expertise tend to value processing past and present dynamics as well, because those often impact future growth.

As a founding team, if you want to better understand your cofounder and work through emotional difficulties, finding a coach with therapeutic experience open to focusing on current and past dynamics may be helpful.

If you want more of a traditional coaching feel—focusing primarily on the future—then you may want a coach with former operational experience and a coaching certification.

4. Short-term vs long-term.

The short versus long-term spectrum indicates the relative length of a coaching engagement.

Certain coaches prefer focused, short-term work to create change, whereas others may specialize in long-term ongoing sessions with cofounders. Most coaches have a balanced caseload with several short- and long-term engagements. However, it is important to consider the length of the initial agreement.

Many coaches require initial agreements of 3, 6, or 12 months, whereas others may offer single sessions or rolling monthly contracts. Be sure to discuss this with your team to determine your desired level of commitment.

5. Frequent vs infrequent cadence.

How often you meet with your coach is another important variable.

Meeting on a frequent, consistent basis is required for meaningful long-term change of entrenched team dynamics. For these deeper components to transform requires on ongoing investment and consistency.

If your founding team is doing well overall and you are looking for proactive/preventative work, meeting infrequently may be an enjoyable option, as it allows more moments to take place between sessions which could contribute to a more productive conversation.

The most common meeting frequencies used by coaches are 1x/week, 1x/2weeks, and 1x/month.

6. Individual vs team focus.

Each cofounder coach approaches their work in a unique manner based on their training and previous experiences.

Some coaches prefer meeting with each individual prior to meeting with the team. Others prefer team meetings exclusively. And most involve a mixture of individual and team meetings depending on the needs of the founding team.

Certain coaching programs make space for individual coaching in addition to coaching the cofounders, others may prefer to work with the founding team and outsource individual coaching to other coaches. Many cofounder coaches work well with and are supportive of other practitioners (e.g. individual therapists, business coaches, etc.).

If you want individual support in addition to prioritizing the cofounder relationship, talk to your coach early in the engagement about how they recommend balancing the needs of individuals and the founding team.

7. Formal vs informal assessment.

Most coaches enjoy integrating an assessment component to better pinpoint the challenges of the founding team.

Coaches with backgrounds in psychology may implement a clinical approach to assessment, in which they identify the team dynamics within the context of regular sessions and then provide feedback about the patterns they observe. For certain teams, coaches may choose to implement more formal assessment methods for immediate insight.

The types of formal assessments most commonly used include: Enneagram, MBTI, StrengthsFinder, and more. Many of these assessments are found in traditional executive coaching and offer value to founders better wanting to articulate differences in working and interpersonal styles using an established framework.

Some founding teams may dislike the extra work and expenses of formal assessments, however, others may feel more comfortable with the added structure.

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With awareness of these seven dimensions of cofounder coaching programs, you may have a better understanding of what program may be best suited for your needs.

If you have more questions about how to select the right coach for your team, please read this definitive guide, which details the types of questions you need to be asking to ensure you’ve found a quality coach.