Running a company is lonely in a specific way.
Your board wants performance. Your team wants certainty. And the people who have known you longest saw the funding announcement and quietly filed you under rich, which means the thing keeping you up at night has become unsayable at dinner.
The money is not yours. It is a clock, and you are the only person in the room who can hear it. But saying that out loud sounds like complaining from inside a life most people would take in a heartbeat, so you do not say it. You carry it, and you get very good at looking fine.
Almost nobody in your life wants the unedited version. I am the person you can hand it to.
Who I work with
Founders and CEOs of startups, usually past the earliest stage and into the part where the problems stop being about the product and start being about people, including you.
Between them, the people on my roster have raised over $100 million. That is their achievement and not mine, and I mention it only so you know the altitude of these conversations before you book one.
I keep the roster small on purpose. If we work together you are one of a handful, not one of a hundred.
How it works
Retainer, not sessions sold by the hour. You get a standing conversation and access in between it, because the thing you need to talk about rarely waits for the calendar.
Fill in before launch: cadence (weekly? biweekly?), call length, whether between-call access is text, voice notes or both, and how you want to handle price on the page: stated, banded, or on request. I did not want to invent numbers and put words in your mouth.
Where we usually end up
Every engagement is its own thing, but the recurring territory is the decision you keep deferring, the person you have not confronted, the story you are telling yourself about why now is not the time, and what you actually want out of the next few years.
What people say
Working with Julien has truly been a game changer for me. He pushes me to get ahead of future issues while also having the deep operational background that helps me with the day to day. Julien helps me to articulate my weaknesses, the impact that they have on my company and to construct plans to resolve them. But most important, I know for a fact that I'm a better CEO because of my work with Julien and that my company has materially improved through our work together.
RJ, exited founder
Hi Julien - raise is done!! Got all the wires over night. Thank you SO MUCH for all the help, you've taught me everything I know about fundraising and I couldn't be more grateful.
MK, Series C founder
Starting
A first conversation costs nothing and commits neither of us. Pick a time that suits you, or write to me first if you would rather.