Executive Coaching
1-1 and group coaching for founders, VCs and executives in transition
1-1 and group coaching for founders, VCs and executives in transition
I coach founders, investors, executives and people navigating career transitions. I've been Hudson Institute-certified as a coach since 2017, and have spent three decades on every side of the table: founder, operator, investor, board member. I've built companies, sold companies, backed 100 companies as an investor, sat on boards through hard years, and made tough calls. When I work through something as your thought partner, I bring all that experience to bear.
I work 1:1 with clients, and run peer coaching groups. I am currently running Meridian, a six-month program for senior women making career pivots. To set up an exploratory meeting or learn more, email ab@annabarber.com.
Some of my core ideas that come up again and again, drawn from twenty-five years of building, investing, and getting it wrong before getting it right.
Warmth and candor are not opposites. The most useful feedback comes from someone who clearly wants you to win.
Strong opinions, loosely held. The strongest leaders are the ones most willing to be wrong.
No great company is built on fear. Plenty are built by people who felt it and moved anyway.
Everyone has an opinion, no one has the answer. Listen widely, synthesize, then decide for yourself.
Control what you can control. Focus on the step in front of you rather than the finish line.
You can't take the emotion out of a hard decision, so use it. Feelings carry real data when you stop to read them.
"I'm here to get it right, not to be right."Brené Brown
"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don't go back to sleep."Rumi
Essays on the human side of company building, published at annawbarber.substack.com.
When to pivot, when to sell, and when to hold on, and why this is the founder's loneliest decision.
Read → EssayWhat a first-time Ironman, finished on a borrowed bike, taught me about the traits that actually separate great founders.
Read → EssayA field guide to running a fundraise on your own terms, from an investor who has sat on both sides of the table.
Read →I grew up in Chelsea in New York City, the daughter of a book editor and a literary agent, and have never stopped reading or writing.
I began my career as a corporate lawyer and a McKinsey strategy consultant before leaving in 1999 for a startup. Over the next twenty-five years I was an operator and founder: an early employee at Petstore.com, founder and CEO of Scribble Press, and a product and partnerships leader across several venture-backed companies. I raised capital, built teams, grew revenue, sold companies, and managed a wind-down, and know what each of those feels like from the inside.
For a decade I was an investor. I was an investing partner at M13, Managing Director of Techstars LA, and a Venture Partner at Everywhere Ventures. I backed more than 100 companies and was named to the Forbes 50 Over 50.
I became a Hudson Institute-certified executive coach in 2017, drawing on the coaching I wish I'd had as a CEO. Coaching is now the center of my work.
I hold a BA and a JD from Yale. I've slept in an igloo for thirty days, traveled solo around the world, and raised four members of Gen Z. After a long run in Los Angeles, I'm a New Yorker again.
“Anna is a founder-first board member with a rare ability to help us cut through the noise and focus on what's important.”
- portfolio CEO
“Working with Anna helped me identify the old stories holding me back and redefine my definition of success. I came out of this coaching in a much stronger place than I expected.”
- former coaching client
“I really appreciate the way Anna can bring in her past experiences to help me see things in a new way, but totally non-judgmental. She's always curious and lets me lead.”
- current coaching client