
Shaaya Sharifi
5.0
(16)
Studied at Haas School of Business (Berkeley)
Works at Exit Consulting Group
Successful clients at
Available Friday at 12:00 AM UTC
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About Shaaya
Most career decisions that matter are not obvious in the moment. They look like lateral moves, risky bets, or opportunities that are hard to evaluate from the outside. I’ve spent my career working with founders, operators, and investors at those exact moments. Today, I’m a Managing Director and General Manager at Exit Consulting Group, advising founder-led businesses on growth, transitions, and M&A. Before that, I helped build and scale companies inside AAA’s venture studio. Earlier, I worked in private equity, consulting, and startups, so I’ve seen how decisions get made from both the investor and operator side. What I’ve learned is that most people are not stuck because they lack ability. They are stuck because they are making decisions without a clear strategy. That is where I focus. I work with: Operators who want to step into more senior roles People navigating inflection points like staying, leaving, or changing paths Candidates targeting competitive roles in private equity, strategy, and leadership Our sessions are focused on clarity and positioning. What are you actually optimizing for, and what path gives you the highest probability of getting there? If you are looking for basic resume edits or interview scripts, I am probably not the right fit. If you are trying to make a high-stakes decision or take a more intentional approach to your career, I can help.
Why do I coach?
I didn’t get to where I am by following a clear or obvious path. Most of the meaningful decisions I’ve made came with incomplete information, conflicting advice, and real tradeoffs. What made the biggest difference for me was having a few people in my corner who had seen more than I had. They didn’t just give advice. They helped me think more clearly, pressure test decisions, and avoid mistakes that would have been hard to unwind later. That stuck with me. Over time, I found myself naturally playing that role for others. Teammates, founders, and people earlier in their careers would come to me when they were at a crossroads. Not because I had perfect answers, but because I could help them see the situation more clearly and think through the implications. Coaching matters to me because most career decisions are made in isolation, and they shouldn’t be. The cost of getting it wrong is high, and the upside of getting it right compounds over time. If I can help someone make a better decision at the right moment, that tends to have a much bigger impact than any single tactic or piece of advice.
Work Experience

Managing Director and GM
Exit Consulting Group
August 2025 - Present
I am building and leading ECG’s Orange County / Los Angeles practice, advising founder-led and privately held companies on M&A, exit planning, and enterprise value creation. My role sits at the intersection of investment banking, management consulting, and general management, partnering with owners and leadership teams through periods of growth, transition, and liquidity.

Advisor
New System Ventures
May 2025 - Present
New System Ventures invests in the world’s leading companies accelerating energy security, reindustrialization, and innovation across mobility, energy and industry and related technologies.

Senior Director, Business Transformation
AAA Mountain West Group
November 2024 - Present
Hiring Manager
Reporting to the Chief M&A Officer, lead the planning and execution of transformative initiatives and organizational change.
Advisor
AI Entrepreneurs at Berkeley
June 2023 - Present
AIEB is a central club and network for AI-related entrepreneurial endeavors at the world’s leading AI research university. Where Start-ups, students and researcher come together to build the future.

Startup Advisor
Berkeley Skydeck
February 2023 - Present
UC Berkeley's official startup accelerator. Providing SkyDeck startup founders with mentorship. Working with several founding teams now. Additionally, participate in interview and selection of startups in collaboration with SkyDeck General Partners.

Senior Director, Strategy & Business Development
A3Ventures
July 2019 - October 2024
Hiring Manager
A3Ventures is the venture studio and investment arm of AAA, focused on building and scaling new businesses that leverage AAA’s national platform and 60M+ member ecosystem. Lead strategic initiatives, enterprise partnerships, and special projects for A3V.
Head of Sales and Strategic Positioning
VIMOC
July 2018 - July 2019
Hiring Manager
Seed stage startup that built practical applications in mobility and security using proprietary edge computing hardware and AI computer vision software. I learned how to build and fail fast as well as the incredible hard work it takes to get a startup off the ground among many other things.

Director of Sales, West
PayByPhone Technologies
April 2017 - June 2018
Hiring Manager
PayByPhone Technologies Inc is one of the fastest growing mobile payments companies in the world processing over $500 million in payments annually in over 300 cities across North America, Europe and Australia. World-class cities that partner with PayByPhone include Vancouver, London, Paris, Geneva, San Francisco, Miami, and Seattle. Through the company’s mobile web, smartphone and smartwatch applications, PayByPhone helps over 50 million global consumers easily and securely pay for parking and transportation services.

Senior Associate, Capital Markets
Douglas Emmett
February 2016 - October 2016
Douglas Emmett, Inc. (NYSE: DEI) is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT), and one of the largest owners and operators of high-quality office and multifamily properties located in the premier coastal submarkets of Los Angeles and Honolulu.
Acquisitions Associate
Cohen Asset Management
March 2014 - February 2016
Established in 1992 and headquartered in Los Angeles, CAM is a highly recognized, national real estate owner and active operator with a primary focus on the industrial real estate sector. CAM manages approximately $1 billion in real estate assets.

Acquisitions Associate
Sabal Financial Group
November 2011 - March 2014
Sabal is an international diversified financial services firm specializing in real estate, banking and lending headquartered in Newport Beach, California. The firm’s flagship Principal Investments business has established a strong foothold in the distressed debt arena, acquiring nearly $8.2 billion in real estate assets since the firm’s inception in 2009. The Sabal platform also operates a number of complementary businesses including Real Estate Capital Solutions, Advisory Solutions, and Third-Party Servicing.

Credit Analyst
Bank of America
November 2010 - November 2011
In late 2008, Bank of America acquired Countrywide Financial for $4.1 billion in an acquisition that would be called "the worst deal in the history of American finance." In my role, I helped to mitigate the financial loss in the Countrywide mortgage portfolio. I had a front row seat to the mortgage crisis and the collapse of the industry as it transpired.
Education

Haas School of Business (Berkeley)
Master of Business Administration
University of California, Los Angeles
Bachelor of Arts, Economics
2005 - 2009
16 Reviews
Overall Rating
5.0
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