Founders and investors
The team that got you here is not yet the team that scales.
After a funding round, everything speeds up. The founding team becomes a leadership team, layers get added, and the truth starts to travel slower. We bring what Daniela learned shaping new Google offices, from culture to hiring: how to build the leadership team that scales, add layers without losing your best people, and keep the truth moving while you grow.
Sound familiar?
Growth is on plan. The team is not.
The founders still decide everything
What made you fast now makes you the bottleneck, and the team waits for your call.
New executives, old circle
Experienced hires arrive. The founding team closes ranks, and the newcomers stop saying what they see.
The board hears the polished version
Investors get the update that keeps the next round safe, not the risk that is already visible inside.
The pitfall before scaling
Today's team is rarely tomorrow's leadership team.
Founders tend to assume the people around the table now will lead the company later. As you scale, you add layers. Your head of business development does not automatically become your chief sales officer. You may need more firepower there, and that person may end up reporting to someone who reports to the CEO.
Handled late, that moment costs trust, speed and often the people you most want to keep. Handled early and openly, it becomes part of the plan.
Shaping new offices at Google, now with founders
At Google, Daniela helped shape new offices, from their culture to who moved there and who was hired. Today she teaches founders at the HSG START Accelerator what that taught her.
HSG START Accelerator ↗What we offer
For founding teams, and for the investors who back them.
Founding team offsite
Elephants in the Room for founding teams: name what the team senses but does not say, and leave with actions, each with an owner and a timeline.
Leadership team check
Confidential interviews and a short survey show how the team really decides and where truth gets stuck. Useful before or after an investment.
Founder coaching
Investors bring Daniela in to coach the founders they back: building the leadership team that scales, adding layers without losing people, and staying steady under pressure.
Portfolio leadership program
Sessions for the leadership teams across your portfolio, so the people you back learn to lead under pressure before it gets expensive.
What founders say
From startup teams and accelerators.
“She did an amazing job of creating trust and at the same time helping us get to the core. I’ve rarely experienced such a productive and moving and important team development session.”
“The session in our accelerator was fantastic, Daniela! Our startups, which are in the process of building effective and efficient teams, greatly benefited from your inputs.”
Daniela teaches founders at the HSG START Accelerator and works with the Mindfire Foundation. Read how an investment firm moved psychological safety from 10th to 1st
Questions leaders ask
Before we start
What do founders most often get wrong when scaling?
They assume the people around the table today will lead the company tomorrow. As you scale, you add layers, and the person who runs business development today may end up reporting to someone who reports to the CEO. Named early and openly, this becomes part of the plan instead of a crisis.
Why do investors bring you in?
To coach the founders of the companies they back, drawing on Daniela's experience shaping new Google offices, and through portfolio leadership programs for several companies at once.
How does this relate to psychological safety?
As a company grows, the truth starts to travel slower. Founders stop hearing what their team sees, and the team waits for decisions. Our work keeps the truth moving while you grow.
Scaling a team, or backing one? Start with a short call with Linda, who sets up the right conversation with Daniela.
Book a first call