Most founders learn the hard way. You don't have to.
Skip the mistakes. Build the thing.
I work with early-stage founders to sidestep the avoidable mistakes — the costly, obvious-in-hindsight ones. Whatever you're wrestling with, I've watched a few hundred founders through it. Let's get it right the first time.
Built and sold Waggly. Now I back and advise pre-seed founders across ANZ.
You're making the biggest decisions of your founding life with the least information you'll ever have.
No board. No playbook. Feedback that's either too kind to be useful or a one-line “not for us” with no reason attached. So you guess, you Google, you ask other founders who are guessing too — and you find out which calls were wrong about six months and a lot of money too late.
The mistakes aren't exotic. They're the same handful, made by smart people, over and over, because no one was there to say don't — I've watched this exact thing play out a hundred times.
That's the part that's fixable.
I've made the mistakes so you don't have to.
I built my own company before I advised anyone else's. I took Waggly from nothing to a seven-figure exit, sold to a listed company. Founding it taught me everything the pitch decks leave out: the messy first hires, the pricing you get wrong twice, the board conversations nobody prepares you for.
Now I sit on the other side of the table too. I invest as an angel and advise a small, deliberate group of founders — so when I tell you something's a problem, it's not theory. It's the same judgement I use with my own money.
"The mistakes early founders make are remarkably consistent — and almost all of them are avoidable with the right person in your corner."
I work with founders not as a cheerleader, and not as a consultant with a generic playbook — but as someone who's actually done the thing, in your seat, recently enough to remember how it felt.
One engagement, built around you.
Every engagement is one-to-one and shaped around your company — never a generic course or a template. I meet you where you are and flex to what you actually need:
The mistakes, before you make them.
A few hundred founders in, I know where the avoidable losses hide: the hire, the feature that eats six months, the co-founder conversation you keep dodging, the validation you think you have but don't. I'll see them coming so you don't.
The blindspots you can't see yourself.
That's the whole problem with a blindspot — you don't know it's there. I'll name it plainly, the thing no one else in your corner will say out loud.
Confidence, where it's earned.
Not cheerleading. The kind that comes from someone who's done it telling you which of your instincts to trust — and backing the calls that deserve backing.
Whatever the work needs.
Customer validation, strategy, a tough decision, a pitch, knowing whether you’re ready to raise — or whether you even should. You set the agenda; I bring the judgement.
And when it's useful, the investor's read.
I'm an active angel investor, so if raising is on your map I can give you the read you'd otherwise only get as a rejection — what's working, what's not, what I'd need to see. Most founders never get that while there's still time to act on it. You will.
We work out what fits — and what it costs — once we know we're right for each other. Start with a free 15-minute call. No hard sell.
Honest fit, both ways.
This is for you if…
- You're building at pre-seed and making real decisions, not just thinking about it
- You'd rather hear the hard truth now than the polite version too late
- You want someone in your corner who's actually done it — and still does
- You’re coachable, fast-moving, and serious
- You’re raising, not raising, or genuinely not sure yet — all welcome
This isn't for you if…
- You want a cheer squad
- You’re looking for someone to do the work for you
- You’re not ready to act on honest feedback
- You’re “just exploring” with no intention of building
I work with a small number of founders at a time, by application. The filter is the point — it's how I keep the bar high for everyone in.
Founders I've worked with.
Kate said the one thing my whole team had been dancing around for a month. Uncomfortable in exactly the right way — and it probably saved the raise.
I came in worried about fundraising and left realising my real problem was a hire I’d been avoiding. That one reframe changed the whole next quarter.
The difference is she's actually done it. The advice isn't theoretical — it's specific, and it's usually the thing no one else will say.
Honest without being harsh. Kate tells you what your investors are thinking but won’t say to your face.
Cheap insurance against expensive mistakes. I make decisions differently now — slower where it counts, faster everywhere else.
Bring the founder's-eye view to your room.
The Mistakes Founders Keep Making
The patterns I've seen across hundreds of companies — and how to dodge them early.
Raising Without Losing Yourself
What investors actually evaluate, told plainly from both sides of the table.
From Operator to Exit
The unglamorous decisions that compound into a company worth buying.
Building a Company That Lasts
Durability over hype — and why the boring fundamentals win.
Good to know.
How does this work?
Start with a free 15-minute discovery call so we can both see if there's a fit. If there is, you apply, and I'll come back to you on how we'd work together and what it costs.
Why a discovery call first?
Because this only works if we're right for each other. Fifteen minutes tells us both more than any form can.
What stage do I need to be at?
Pre-seed and actually building — idea-stage through early traction. Not sure? Book the call and we'll work it out.
Do I need to be raising?
No. I work with founders who are raising, who never plan to, and who aren’t sure yet. The help flexes to what you need.
Can I trust you with my idea?
I treat everything as confidential by default. Ideas are cheap anyway — it's the execution I'm here to help with.
How much does it cost?
We cover that once we know we’re a fit. The discovery call is free, no strings.
Let's build something that lasts.
Tell me where you are and what's keeping you up at night. I read every note myself.