I’m a former VC turned sometimes coach, critic and builder of new things. Here is my backstory.

What I do these days:

I write.

Since 2004, I’ve been writing on technology, investing, politics, and whatever else comes to mind…

I work with ambitious and aspiring venture capital investors through my coaching practice VCto11.

Venture capital is an incredibly competitive industry—not only to break into but to succeed at. In most jobs, you can turn in a solid 8 or 9 performance most of the time and do pretty well, with 10’s allowing you to get to the top. VC demands… more.

I am open to connecting with a limited number of venture professionals and those looking to join the industry interested in committing to a coaching process—people with six-month-plus professional goals in mind.

My current coaching clients fall into three categories:

• New-ish associates or professionals aiming to get one of these roles.

• Principals who are aiming for partner in the medium term trying to figure out their lane and navigate internal and external competition.

• GPs at emerging funds (or in new markets for existing funds) figuring out how to manage teams, staff their pipeline and platform and raise capital.

My specialty is in narrative, strategic positioning and community engagement. Much of my advice will be centered around thought leadership and audience engagement. I'm not a great fit for someone who doesn't ever want to put themselves out there.

“Charlie left me with clear actionable insights for improving my pitch and my pitch deck so I would be more attractive to VCs. I came away from our workshop having learnt more in my time with Charlie about VCs and fundraising than I had in 6 months of consuming every online resource I could find, and pitching to 100’s of investors.” - Ben T.

Are you raising or about to raise and feel like you aren’t getting any real feedback from investors—or that it’s all over the board?

I tell founders the truth about their prospects for raising.

Fair warning: This isn’t a service meant to give you a better deck.

If you have a real shot at a raise, you’ll definitely have a better deck at the end, but I might also walk you through my opinion of why you’re not going to be able to raise venture or how your startup needs more work.

No amount of fixing the deck is going to solve the problem of a broken business model or a startup idea that is far from the most promising opportunity for a VC to make money.