Startup Coaches, Events, and Resources

Welcome to my profile! I'm Nick, a passionate entrepreneur and co-founder of Relay Health, an addiction recovery tech startup that gained traction with support from Y Combinator and other investors. Since my time in the Y Combinator Summer 2022 batch, I've helped 5+ teams break into YC, all from non-traditional backgrounds. First at Relay and now at Leland, I've been the growth hacker, driving revenue from $0-$XK-$XXK-$XXXK, and I now leverage that experience to mentor aspiring entrepreneurs. Whether you're looking to break into YC, go from 0-1, or navigate the startup ecosystem, I'm here to help you succeed. Let's connect and turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality!

I spent 13 years in the enviable halls of Goldman Sachs, Google, and TikTok. I saw firsthand that some of the world’s most brilliant entrepreneurial minds are sitting behind corporate desks, paralyzed by the 'golden handcuffs' and the fear of the unknown. I coach because I’ve mastered the transition that most people find impossible. I know the specific anxiety of balancing a high-pressure leadership role with a growing side-business. My goal is to help high-performers stop trading their best years for a salary and start building their own equity. There is no greater professional satisfaction for me than seeing a coachee send their resignation letter because their own business has become too big to ignore.

Founders face a constant stream of consequential decisions, often with incomplete information and few truly independent people to talk to. I work directly with technology founders on fundraising, board dynamics, mental resilience, and the critical strategic decisions that come with building an ambitious company. For the past 15 years, I've invested in technology companies across venture capital, growth equity, and private equity, including 10+ years at Felicis Ventures, where I was a General Partner. At Felicis, I invested more than $400 million into 40+ companies, served on 20+ boards, and helped founders navigate 100+ financings. Those companies have subsequently raised ~$5 billion of follow-on capital. I’ve worked closely with founders across stages and sectors through financings, board issues, leadership changes, periods of rapid growth, and periods when things didn’t go according to plan.

My passion lies in empowering others to bring their entrepreneurial visions to life. As the Co-Founder & Director of Marketing at Windfall Bio, a nature-based biotech company, I've navigated the exciting, and sometimes challenging, journey of building a company from the ground up. I lead our brand strategy, marketing campaigns, and storytelling, constantly working to articulate our value proposition and impact to customers, partners, and investors. This experience has given me firsthand insights into what it takes to launch and grow a successful business, from developing a compelling brand to securing funding and building a strong team. Beyond my work at Windfall, I've always been drawn to the world of entrepreneurship. While in college, I launched my own sustainable clothing brand, managing everything from design and production to global sales, all from my dorm room. And even before that, I ran a successful DJ and events business during high school. These experiences, while diverse, taught me invaluable lessons about resourcefulness, problem-solving, and the importance of connecting with your target audience. My academic background at Stanford University, where I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Science, Technology, and Society in 2022, further solidified my understanding of the intersection between innovation, business, and social impact. I believe that entrepreneurship is a powerful force for positive change, and I'm excited to share my experiences and knowledge to help aspiring entrepreneurs navigate the complexities of starting and scaling a business. I'm passionate about fostering innovation and empowering others to turn their ideas into reality.

I've sat on every side of the founder table — as a co-founder who raised from pre-seed to Series A, as a VC evaluating hundreds of pitches, as an angel investor with 10+ portfolio companies, and as a startup banker advising growth-stage companies on the financial architecture that actually matters. I coach founders on fundraising strategy, investor positioning, cap table decisions, and the board dynamics that no one prepares you for. If you're navigating a raise, managing a board that's getting more complex, or just trying to make cleaner decisions while everything is moving — I can help. My style is direct and tactical. I won't give you theory. I'll give you the frameworks I've used and the patterns I've seen across hundreds of founder conversations.

I bring a finance-first perspective to startup coaching as both a founder and an advisor. I’m a Wharton MBA and Georgetown finance/accounting alum who has built and scaled my own company through eight accelerator acceptances, giving me deep insight into what programs look for, how to stand out, and how to access both funding and in-kind resources. I also mentor at an accelerator, where I work directly with founders on everything from pitch strategy to business model refinement. My coaching combines analytical rigor with clear, compelling storytelling. I help founders strengthen their pitch decks, sharpen their narrative, review and optimize business models, and develop the speaking presence needed to pitch with confidence. I also support early hiring strategy, helping founders think through when and how to recruit their first key employees. My approach is structured, practical, and designed to help founders move quickly with clarity, traction, and investor-ready thinking.

With years of hands-on entrepreneurial experience, I bring a deep understanding of what it takes to build, scale, and sustain a business. As the Co-founder & CCO of S2S Dynamics, a circular economy startup tackling e-waste through tech-driven solutions, I have led commercial strategy, partnerships, and market positioning to drive growth and impact. Prior to this, I co-founded and scaled a renewable energy company to million-dollar revenues, overseeing marketing, strategic alliances, and business development across multiple markets. My journey has given me firsthand exposure to the challenges of fundraising, go-to-market strategy, and sustainable business models—insights I now share as an adjunct professor mentoring startups and executives at IE University. Whether you're an aspiring founder refining your idea, a startup looking to scale, or a corporate innovator driving intrapreneurship, I can help you navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship with practical guidance and actionable strategies.

I coach early-stage and bootstrapped startup founders on go-to-market strategy, product-market fit, and fundraising narrative — the exact work I've done for my own company for the past seven years. My husband and I co-founded ELIMS Oral Care from an idea born during my Executive MBA at UCLA Anderson, bootstrapped it from scratch, and grew it into a brand recognized on the Forbes Next 1000 list (2021), named LA Times Visionary CEO (2022), a 2026 Tory Burch Fellow, and included in Marquis Who's Who (2025). Along the way, we won more than ten entrepreneurship grants and awards to fund our growth, and I built our go-to-market strategy, product roadmap, and investor pitch narrative from the ground up — all without a large marketing budget or outside team. Before that, I spent 15 years in product leadership at Medtronic, so I bring big-company rigor to scrappy, resource-constrained execution. I've also coached five entrepreneurs directly through sharpening their business plans and pitch decks. I'm the right coach for founders who are bootstrapping or working with limited resources and need a go-to-market plan, a path to product-market fit, or a pitch deck that actually lands — not generic startup advice. I focus on results: cutting the wasted time and money that comes from chasing the wrong thing first, and getting founders pitch-ready and investor-ready fast. I know this path personally. My husband and I have bootstrapped and grown ELIMS together while also raising three kids, so I understand what it takes to build something real with limited time, money, and sleep. If you're juggling a lot and trying to build something that matters, I'd love to help. Let's connect!

Welcome to my profile! As the CEO and Co-Founder of Gable, I am passionate about marketplaces, hr tech, and proptech. If you are looking to build a marketplace, or a startup that sells to HR or Workplace/IT - let's talk! With a strong foundation in technology and leadership from my time at Microsoft, where I led innovative projects in AI and security, I bring a wealth of experience to the startup world. My journey also includes directing the Stanford MSx Program, where I combined my expertise in product management with a focus on the future of work. Whether you're looking to launch your startup or scale your business, I'm here to guide you through the challenges and opportunities.

I am an award-winning entrepreneur and a Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center coach with a passion for supporting global professionals as they start, scale, and soar in their businesses. Founder-led ventures entrust me with board governance & strategic advisory across Travel, Sports, Education, Fashion, Tech, and Social Impact. I have also collaborated with Google for Entrepreneurs & Techstars on various initiatives internationally and mentored hundreds of promising startups through their ecosystem. Some of my personal portfolio include: Culinary Innovation Village x Meza Malonga Rwanda, 2020-2026 ➤ Scaled a proprietary MBA gastronomy course into a UN-recognized global culinary destination; TIME Magazine World's Greatest Places 2025 ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ The Revival Ghana, 2019-2024 ➤ Scaled a grassroots textile upcycling project into a TIME 100 world-leading climate authority with institutional alliances + commercial partnerships incl. the V&A Museum ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Strategic Advisors to Founders & CEOs Vanderbilt Enterprises (Vanderbilt University) USA, 2025 Advised inaugural CEO on Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) initiatives for college athletes Modalyst 2014-2016 ➤ Acquired by Wix, Fashion B2B SaaS The Ideatelier USA, 2021-2024 ➤ Acquired by the CIEN+ Culture Group SOLEcial Studies Community Academy USA, 2022-2024 ➤ World's first learning institution dedicated to sneaker culture and business Pinktrotters Italy & Denmark, 2013 ➤ World's first global community for women travelers Modellist-ID Netherlands, 2013-2014 ➤ Formerly the largest online community of professional models, combined social reach of +40 million ➤ Provided legal, financial, lifestyle, career support to talent represented by IMG, Elite, Ford, Next, Wilhelmina, Women, DNA, etc. ➤ Targeted influencer marketing + in-house social campaigns video production for L'Oréal, Condé Nast, St. Régis, Dermalogica, L'Occitane BGS/Africa Surf International USA, 2020-2024 ➤ World's pioneering water sports competitive performance training program for girls ages 7-17 ➤ CEO media training, feat. by CNN, Good Morning America, BBC - Sports Illustrated, Webby Awards honoree ➤ Brand deals secured: Hulu, Hurley, Disney, McDonald's, incl. a national TV commercial and short documentary for the $300M blockbuster "The Little Mermaid" Happy Meal campaign