James T.

James Thao

5.0

(23)

I Help Founders Build Like Operators - Ex-Founder | BCG, Goldman Sachs

Stanford Graduate School of Business Logo

Studied at Stanford Graduate School of Business

Apstelios Logo

Hiring Manager at Apstelios

Successful clients at

+5

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

Apstelios Logo

Founder/Managing Partner

Apstelios

2023 - Present

Hiring Manager

Transforming businesses to win @ 𝗔𝗽𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗼𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺 Artificial Intelligence (AI), Strategy Consulting and +9 skills

Nupt.AI Logo

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

Boston Consulting Group Logo

Senior Manager

Boston Consulting Group

2022 - 2023

Admissions Committee

Advisor, Consulting and +3 skills

Accenture Logo

Strategy Consulting

Accenture

2017 - 2022

Admissions Committee

Strategy Consulting, Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) and +4 skills

MentorMint Logo

Director of Operations Strategy

MentorMint

2016 - 2017

Interviewer

𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗲: #𝟭 Business Development, Business Strategy and +3 skills

Goldman Sachs Logo

Analyst

Goldman Sachs

2014 - 2016

Interviewer

United States Army Logo

Senior Manager

United States Army

2005 - 2013

Hiring Manager

NATO Logo

Project Manager

NATO

2009 - 2010

Interviewer

James was also given offers to work at

  • Bain & Company Logo

    Bain & Company

  • Deloitte Logo

    Deloitte

  • JPMorgan Chase & Co. Logo

    JPMorgan Chase & Co.

  • Morgan Stanley Logo

    Morgan Stanley

Education

Stanford Graduate School of Business Logo

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Executive Program, Business and Entrepreneurship: Ignite

Carnegie Mellon Logo

Carnegie Mellon

M.A. Fellow, Public Policy and International Affairs

Activities and societies: PPIA Consortium; PPIA Fellow

University of California, San Diego Logo

University of California, San Diego

B.A., International Studies - Economics; Political Science

Mt. San Antonio College Logo

Mt. San Antonio College

A.A., Business

23 Reviews

Overall Rating

5.0


James has helped clients get into these companies:

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James T.

James T.

5.0

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