Innovation Audit

Dan Wu is incredible. His CEO coaching has been transformative for me. He adeptly, patiently, and carefully facilitates conversations so that we both come away with new insights, to which he immediately follows up with strategies and practical steps. While we started work on product managing, Dan uncovered that my priorities shifted to go-to-market, sales, fundraising, and operations, and was able to step in all these other domains to provide support.

I look forward to my calls with Dan more than any other. After each call, I come away with tangible work products that we can immediately apply. His questions, content, and templates elegantly clarify problems, break them down into smaller pieces, and generate new experiments to test. Our work together has resulted in faster learning and growth across these critical and diverse domains. Maybe most importantly, our work has instilled a new sense of progress, hope, and energy that is so valuable in the ups and downs of being a startup CEO. His capacity to distill challenges, unlock creative solutions, and his keen ability to make individuals feel heard and valued has been a major reason for our productive sessions.

He’s a light, helping me see with more clarity where to spend my energy and how to move us forward. I highly recommend Dan to others seeking coaching for their startup, in GTM, product, sales, or all of the above!

I've always approached coaching with a certain skepticism, believing that the value lies in someone who has outperformed me by tenfold. My work with Dan as a CEO coach has dramatically altered this perspective. Dan showed me the power of an excellent coach, introducing me to fresh models, novel approaches, and assuming the roles of both thought partner and accountability advocate. His guidance has been pivotal in driving me towards strategic objectives that often slip down the priority list, but with his insights, are now achieved more swiftly and thoughtfully.

For instance, Dan’s coaching has been invaluable in accelerating our fundraising and recruiting process. His proactive approach in identifying our most pressing priorities, prioritizing our top jobs-to-be-done, and linking them to our success criteria to our hiring process has already made a significant impact. With his assistance, we not only pinpointed an exceptional candidate but also nimbly steered away from potential pitfalls.

Furthermore, what sets Dan apart as an CEO coach compared to others I’ve worked with is his ability to translate blockers and priorities into action in real time. The artifacts we craft together in our sessions build upon prior work, setting us up for immediate impact and continuous progress and learning. I highly recommend him and am grateful for his expertise. I’m excited to refer him to my portfolio companies.