Leadership coaching
Being a founder is hard. Becoming a great leader is even harder.
That’s the first line of my book, and it’s the truth I start from. When people see your apparent success, they don’t see the self-doubt, the variable motivation, the failures, the sleepless nights. I do, and it’s where the real work begins.
Is this you?
I coach founders, CEOs and leadership teams when the stakes are high: in crisis or in opportunity, at the moments that decide what the business becomes next.
Founders scaling fast
The business is growing quicker than the operating model. The instincts that got you here, speed, control, conviction, are starting to work against you, and you may be the last to see it. We build the leadership the next stage needs without losing what makes you good.
Founders trying to unlock the next stage
Growth has stalled, product-market fit won't quite land, or the team isn't the one the business needs. Sometimes it's a full-blown crisis. That's where the Miniclip story started. The way through is rarely more of the same. It starts with a founder willing to grow.
Founders at a crossroads
You're weighing whether you're still the right person to lead this, or whether the business needs someone else at the helm. It's a fair question, and it deserves a straight conversation rather than a nudge in either direction. I've been in the room for that decision many times, and for everything that follows it.
Leadership teams
A team is not a group of talented individuals. It's alignment around purpose, strategy and standards, and the trust to have the honest conversations that performance depends on. I work with intact teams, and with co-founders, to build exactly that.
How I work
Coaching is often done neutrally: the coach asks the questions, the client provides the answers. That’s not me. I didn’t gather twenty-five years of experience to leave it locked away. Leaders are busy people under pressure. You’ll get my questions, but you’ll also get my views, my frameworks and my experience, offered straight.
- 1:1 coaching
- A sustained partnership, usually meeting every two weeks, built around your real agenda: the decisions on your desk and the leader you're becoming.
- Leadership team coaching
- Working with the whole team on purpose, strategy, culture and the conversations that aren't happening.
- Advisory
- For founders and boards who want experienced counsel at specific moments: a transition, a raise, a reorganisation, a succession.
I work internationally. Current and recent clients span Europe, North America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Most coaching happens over video, punctuated by time together in person where it counts.
What happens when we start
It begins with a conversation, not a contract. I’m interested in what’s keeping you awake at night, and you need to know whether I’m the right person to help. The fit between coach and coachee matters more than anything else, so we test it before either of us commits.
If we go ahead, we set objectives first: your personal leadership goals, tied to measurable outcomes for the business. Coaching that isn’t anchored to the performance of the business is just conversation.
Then we find a rhythm: typically 90-minute sessions every two weeks, over video. I prepare properly for every one: a check-in beforehand and a review of where we left off. Afterwards you get a short note capturing the key points and next steps, and you can reach me between sessions whenever something can’t wait.
Early on we’ll use the GC Index, a profiling tool that shows where you make your strongest impact. It’s useful for you, and more useful still when your whole team does it.
And we review honestly. At regular points we take stock against the objectives we set. If it’s working, you’ll know why. If it isn’t, we’ll change it.
What changes
Success, for me, is defined by you achieving your goal, not by you becoming a different person. Clients typically come to me wrestling with some version of: the business has outgrown how we lead it. They leave with clarity about who they are as a leader, a team genuinely aligned behind the strategy, and the confidence to make the calls only they can make. Often the hardest call is about your own role: what to keep hold of, what to grow into, and what to hand over. That choice isn’t separate from scaling the business. It sits at the heart of it.
The story I like to tell is Rob Small at Miniclip, a flatlined business that found another gear and was acquired by Tencent at well over a billion dollars. Rob’s version of it is in the foreword of my book. There are many more stories like it, and not all of them end that neatly. The honest ones rarely do.
Selected clients
I’ve coached founders, CEOs and leadership teams at businesses including Miniclip, Tipico, Electronic Arts, Depop, Graphcore and Bykea, and at founder-led businesses including Radical Health, Limbic, Rise & Fall and Egnazia Group. Much of my work is with leaders and businesses I’ll never name.
“Simon helped me realise what had got us to that moment would not get us to where we needed to be in the future. He gave me the courage I needed and the data to back up decisions.”
“Simon and I used the ideas in this book to transform Tipico from a startup into a unicorn, and now he's helping me to build great companies in Europe, Asia, and Africa.”
“Simon, you guided and mentored me in the most difficult times and I am truly thankful for every minute you put into helping me navigate and make better decisions. You are a legend and an unrelenting support for founders!”
“Simon has helped me strike the right balance between leaning in and giving the team space. I'm having more intentional 1:1s now, and I think much more deliberately about how I design the team's operating cadence.”
“I met Simon when Radical was pre-team and pre-product; we are now at a nine-figure valuation. He has coached me through the best stretches and, more importantly, the worst ones, including the moments I did not want anyone else to see. As we have grown, my role has changed fast, and the hardest part has been realising when my biggest contributions are no longer the things I spent years getting good at. Simon is the reason I make those shifts quickly, and the reason it never feels like I am doing it alone.”
Questions founders ask me
- How long does an engagement last?
- Long enough to matter. Most 1:1 work runs six to twelve months minimum; team engagements are shaped around the work. We'll agree the rhythm upfront and review it honestly.
- Where do you work?
- Wherever you are. I'm based in London and coach internationally, mostly over video with time together in person where it counts.
- What does it cost?
- It depends on the shape of the engagement. Talk to me and I'll give you a straight answer quickly. If you're early stage, or building something in a market where my usual rate makes no sense, say so.
- Is it confidential?
- Completely. Much of my work is with leaders and businesses I will never name. If you don't see your sector or stage mentioned here, that's probably why.
If any of this sounds like the conversation you need, the next step is simple: tell me a little about where you and your business are, and I’ll come back to you personally.