Impact
Quotes from founders
The impact for me personally was big. Q2 was very very difficult on so many levels and the individual and group sessions really helped me with that. And it impacted my business in a really positive way, I got great feedback from the employees as well as customers, actually.
The group sessions were awesome (…) great discussions and real-life examples. It gave confidence there is not one right way, we are all trying to build and do the best we can.
The facilitator/coach is open and a warm person (…) She brings out one’s strengths, and doesn’t sugarcoat. If something needs changing, she brings it up in an empathetic and solutions-oriented way, to the benefit of me, my surroundings and my business.
(After the program) I have finally gotten myself setup with a coach! It proved to me how much it does for me and my company and I therefore searched and found a permanent coach to help me stay on track.
Here's how it works
Founder coaching
Discovery session
The first session is "on us". Get clear on whether a coaching journey is something for you as a startup founder. In this session we will talk through the goals and desired outcome of the coaching journey.
Choose your coach
After the first session, we will propose three different coaches we believe would be great matches for your unique situation. If you accept, we will then brief the coach about your goals for the coaching journey and introduce you to each other.
Strength-finder test and feedback
Prior to the first session, we will ask you to take a Gallup StrengthFinder test. You will receive feedback on your test characteristics during the first session, and we will start the coaching journey focused on your goals.
Individual coaching
Depending on your schedule, we will now meet online on a bi-weekly basis. We will discuss your 'homework' assignments from the last session, and we will go into more detail with your focus areas. We will always have a clear objective in mind.
We work with founders on a daily basis
Case study
We are proud to be working with byFounders VC and their portfolio companies. byFounders reached out to Session in 2021 with an ambition to offer select founders from their portfolio companies access to a structured program of facilitated group discussions and individual coaching.
Here is the high level structure of the program (courtesy of byFounders).
- The program consists of five group sessions and five individual coaching sessions, during which founders will receive feedback on their strengths and work through real-life dilemmas.
- The program begins with a 2-hour group session focused on getting to know each other and establishing the ground rules for the program. Prior to the second group session, everyone will take a strength-finder test and meet with the coach for feedback.
- From there, the group will decide on the topics for the remaining group sessions, in which founders will present their dilemmas and receive feedback from the group.
- Our structured program combines group sessions and individual coaching to help founders elevate their leadership skills and achieve their goals.
One of our core pillars at byFounders is Founder Compassion: we invest in our founders, not only financially but also in our long-term relationship with them.
Recognizing that a healthy company needs a healthy steward at the wheel - someone in touch with themselves and reality - we strive for transparency and candor in all our interactions with founders. As a result we have invested in coaching program that we offer to our portfolio company founders.
To run the program we selected the founder coaching program from Session. It has been very successful for our portfolio companies and we've received great reviews and feedback. The program has helped our founders develop more of the leadership skills they need to grow and succeed, and they have built strong bonds with each other. We're confident that it will continue to have a positive impact on our portfolio companies, and we're excited about our continued collaboration with Session.
