Executive Coaching for Founders & Technology Leaders

I’m Sara Hicks, an executive coach for startup founders and technology leaders with more than 20 years of operating experience. I work with founders, CEOs, and leaders across product, design, engineering, sales, marketing, operations, and other functions.

Whether you’re facing a difficult people decision, a company growing faster than your leadership practices, or a role that no longer feels like the one you signed up for, coaching gives us a confidential place to think clearly and decide what comes next.

Schedule a free introduction

Some of the roles and transitions I support

I especially welcome women, LGBTQIA+, and other underrepresented leaders navigating environments that weren’t necessarily designed with them in mind. You don’t need to fit neatly into one of these categories. I care much more about the problem you’re trying to solve than your title.

“What I especially valued was Sara’s combination of directness and empathy. She challenged my thinking and was willing to tell me when she saw something differently, but I never felt judged.”

Read full testimonial from Charlotte Swead

What we can work on

Every coaching relationship is different. These are some of the personal, professional, and organizational challenges we can explore together.

How this works

Weekly or Biweekly

Via Zoom, phone, or in person in Los Angeles.

3–6 months to start

Goals and a plan shaped around your situation.

Support between sessions

Email, text, phone, and shared docs as things come up.

Sliding-scale fees

Whether your company is paying or you’re paying your own way.

We establish goals and measures of success, then develop practical experiments to move you forward. My approach combines operating experience with storytelling, design and visual thinking, writing, meditation, psychology, and a hint of spirituality. We examine both the organizational challenge and the personal patterns influencing it.

Where it serves our work, we can use AI to explore alternatives or support practical experiments, while making room for reflection, curiosity, and the conversations that need to happen between people.

I’m an advocate of nonviolent communication, inclusive language, and continuous feedback. I’m not a fan of assessments, values exercises, jargon, or unnecessary rigmarole. There isn’t an average process that works for everyone; we find what works for you.

I’ve never turned anyone away for budgetary reasons. I also reserve a small number of free coaching spots, especially for folks from underrepresented backgrounds. We’ll start with a free introductory conversation and talk about what feels workable for you.

“Sara has helped me become a stronger leader without feeling like I needed to become someone else in the process.”

Read full testimonial from Ivonne Karamoy

I’ve been on the other side of the conversation.

I co-founded Reaction Commerce and served as its CEO, raising venture capital and building the company from the beginning through its acquisition by Mailchimp. After the acquisition, I eventually became Mailchimp’s Chief Product Officer and Product Advisor. Earlier in my career, I held product and design leadership roles at companies including Etsy, Media Temple, Yahoo!, and GeoCities.

Today, I’m the founder and CEO of HappyHQ, a founding partner and executive coach at The Intentional Organization, and co-author of The Intentional Organization: A Leadership and Management Guide. Here’s a longer bio, along with talks, interviews, and published writing.

I’ve experienced the ambiguity of zero to one, the pressure of building an executive team and working with a board, and the uncertainty of acquisition. Your experience will be your own, but you don’t have to spend half the session explaining what these situations feel like.

Leading people has been among the most rewarding parts of my career, and sometimes among the loneliest. Being a female founder in tech has sometimes deepened that loneliness. Having my own coach and a small group of mentors continues to be invaluable, in startups and larger organizations alike.

A little of how I think

In Your solution is in your past, I share how my own experience of coaching helped me recognize the patterns I brought into leadership, and why understanding those patterns is part of the work.

My writing includes a coaching conversation about whether to pivot, a hiring mistake I made as CEO, and working through a difficult employee situation. In Accountability Needs Friction, I explore how a useful coaching conversation can challenge our assumptions about someone else’s ownership. Flexing our Feedback Muscles offers practical ways to prepare for giving and receiving feedback, starting with everyday conversations. You can find more in the executive coaching archive.

“I’ve also deeply appreciated that Sara creates a space where I feel comfortable being completely candid about what’s going well and what isn’t. Starting from the very first time we met, I’ve always left our conversations with more agency, confidence, and perspective than I had going in.”

Read full testimonial from Varun S.

More testimonials from coaching clients →

Are you ready?

Start with a free introductory conversation. Choose a time below and answer a few questions about what brings you here. I’ll get back to you within 48–72 hours to confirm our meeting or ask a few follow-up questions.

If you’d rather connect via email at first, please get in touch. I appreciate your patience.