
James Thao
5.0
(23)
I Help Founders Build Like Operators - Ex-Founder | BCG, Goldman Sachs
Studied at Stanford Graduate School of Business
Hiring Manager at Apstelios
Successful clients at
Available tomorrow at 4:00 PM UTC
Questions? Start chatting with this coach before you get started.
James's Coaching Offerings
Custom hourly · $300/hr
Get help with Ideation, Fundraising, and .
James also coaches for Management Consulting and Transitioning from the Military. View all.
James’s Startup Founders Qualifications
Experience level: Executive
James has helped clients get into these companies:
Most founders don't fail because their idea was bad. They fail because no one around them knew how to build the machine behind it. That's the gap I close. Hey - I'm James. I help founders build operating models, sharpen GTM strategy, and execute like a firm - without the firm price tag. My background is BCG, Accenture, and Goldman Sachs but I coach from the founder side of the table, not the consulting deck. I'll help you: ▪️Build your operating model before you scale and lock in bad habits ▪️Structure your go-to-market, org design, or fundraising narrative with investor-grade rigor ▪️Pressure-test your strategy the way a board or investor would ▪️Turn your vision into a 30/60/90-day roadmap you can actually execute I've been a founder. I know what it feels like when everything is on fire and the deck is due Thursday. Let's build something that holds.
James can help with:
Ideation
Fundraising
Compensation Strategy
Go-to-Market Strategy
Market Research
Branding
Resume
Business Strategy Development
Hiring
Interview Prep
Venture Capital Strategy
James also coaches for Management Consulting and Transitioning from the Military. View all.
Work Experience

Founder/Managing Partner
Apstelios
2023 - Present
Hiring Manager
Transforming businesses to win @ 𝗔𝗽𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗼𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺 Artificial Intelligence (AI), Strategy Consulting and +9 skills

Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer
Nupt.AI
2024 - 2026
Hiring Manager
Featured: The 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙔𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 (NYT), SheerLuxe, 𝙇𝙤𝙨 𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙋𝙤𝙨𝙩, and 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙙. 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗕𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁 alum (1 of 9). Disrupting the $242B+ global wedding industry @ 𝗡𝘂𝗽𝘁.𝗔𝗜 Artificial Intelligence (AI), Management and +2 skills

Senior Manager
Boston Consulting Group
2022 - 2023
Admissions Committee
Advisor, Consulting and +3 skills

Strategy Consulting
Accenture
2017 - 2022
Admissions Committee
Strategy Consulting, Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) and +4 skills

Director of Operations Strategy
MentorMint
2016 - 2017
Interviewer
𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗲: #𝟭 Business Development, Business Strategy and +3 skills

Analyst
Goldman Sachs
2014 - 2016
Interviewer

Senior Manager
United States Army
2005 - 2013
Hiring Manager

Project Manager
NATO
2009 - 2010
Interviewer
James was also given offers to work at

Bain & Company

Deloitte

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Morgan Stanley
Education

Stanford Graduate School of Business
Executive Program, Business and Entrepreneurship: Ignite

Carnegie Mellon
M.A. Fellow, Public Policy and International Affairs
Activities and societies: PPIA Consortium; PPIA Fellow

University of California, San Diego
B.A., International Studies - Economics; Political Science

Mt. San Antonio College
A.A., Business
23 Reviews
Overall Rating
5.0
James has helped clients get into these companies: