I’M Gv FREEMAN
Startup coach, author, speaker & facilitator.
Having an idea is the easy part. I can help with the rest.
Startup Coaching
Let’s work 1-on-1 to help you launch a new idea, optimize an existing one, or uncover why you’re not happy running the one you’ve already built.
Online Learning
Start your own Product Founder’s Journey and transform your idea into to business model and pitch ready for funding or an accelerator.
Coaching
Every captain needs an experienced co-pilot and when you’re just starting out that’s hard to find.
Training
I offer both online and in-person training and workshops for both pre- and post-revenue founders.
Speaking
From a 45 minute keynote to a 2 day workshop, I would love to help increase the impact of your event.
Consulting
Sometimes you just need is an experienced, multidisciplinary problem solver to help you see the forest through the tree.
What Is Startup Coaching?
As your life coach how to improve your churn rate. [blank stare] Ask your Executive Coach how to do alternate nostril breathing and to take you on a guided meditation. [blank stare] The way I coach founders and entrepreneurs is the intersection of the two. Founders in the pre-startup and startup phases of their business experience very unique and unfamiliar challenges that they’ve never experienced as as an employee. Time and time again, founders share two primary struggles. First, the list of “unknown unknowns” when launching a startup is long and confusing. Second, being a founder is a lonely, stressful, and overwhelming job. My service to you as a coach is to support you through both of those.
Who Needs A Startup Coach?
The reality is we all need a coach; the trick is finding the right one at the right time. If you’re a startup founder or entrepreneurs struggling with where to start or what to do next, I can offer a battle-tested roadmap for operationally launching a startup. If you are struggling with physical and emotional stress, confusion, overwhelm, or despair I can offer a compassionate ear and practices to improve your physical, mental, emotional & spiritual self. What kind of coach do you need now?
Gv’s workshop was fantastic! Not only did it help our founders, but it came at just the right time for me as well. The workshop was incredibly informative and interactive. There’s not many people who can deliver this type of content to a group of highly technical founders but Gv’s understanding of both technical and self-care elements makes this very pertinent to a community that desperately needs more compassion and self-care.
Justine Marchand, Program Manager
In the Startup Bootcamp we organized at TechHub Bucharest, we needed someone that could introduce first-time founders to what building a tech startup is all about. Gv not only achieved this in a 1-day workshop (I mean really, how do you condense all the knowledge you need to be aware of when starting a company…), but he did it in a way that demonstrated he has extensive startup experience and that he is a master trainer.
Liviu Cadariu, Event Manager
“Burnout” is one of the most important and fundamental issues affecting startup founders and company employees today, yet it is not spoken about enough. It’s rare to work with someone who consciously accepted the same radical challenges as you, and thus deeply understands your motivation, whilst also looking out for you to ensure that you didn’t get more than you bargained for.
Jonathan Allen, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, EQ
What stage of the journey are you in?
I want to build something but don’t know where to start.
Launching your first startup can feel incredibly overwhelming. There are millions of articles and hundreds of hacks but none of them are in order and no one is willing to take the time to understand your idea. If you’re in this stage, I can help with 1:1 coaching, group coaching, and the Product Founder’s Journey curriculum. If you’re ready let’s go on the journey together.
I’m making money but my business
needs help.
For the past 20 years I’ve been helping companies with strategy, process and alignment for marketing, sales, and product development. When these three departments are not full aligned revenue decreases and expenses increase. If you’re in this stage, I can help with 1:1 coaching, cross-department consulting, as well as intensive workshops that produce immediate takeaways.
I built what I thought I wanted but now I’m
still unhappy.
Look up the definition of the the “American Dream” and see if it includes the word “happiness.” Many of us strive for and achieve the highest levels of income and power only to find that once we’ve got it there’s still something missing. If this is where you’re at then let’s have a heart-to-heart chat about building some joy into the company you’ve worked so hard to build.
Latest Blog Entries
10 Taboo Subjects About Becoming An Entrepreneur
In this webinar, Gv discusses 10 of the most common topics entrepreneurs don't talk about...until...
Sales-First Marketing Automation
With long sales cycles and multiple stake holders, enterprise B2B deals are the most difficult to...
Three Guiding Principles in Times of Crisis
The world is a little crazy at the moment and I'll be writing a bit more in the near future. But...
Two Monks and a Maiden
A simple tale to help us explore non-judgmental awareness.
80% Operations
20% Self-Care
#stopcrushingit
The limits of your business are bound by the limits of you! For too long the tech and entrepreneurial ecosystems have thrived on the idea that founders have to “crush it”, “kill it” and have a “side hustle for their side hustle.” I won’t argue that starting a business is hard and it’s going to take more than 40 hours a week to change the world but these industry tropes are dangerous. Research shows that entrepreneurs are 10x more likely to develop bi-polar disorder, 6x more likely to develop ADHD, and 2x more likely to have suicidal thoughts. Is that a good enough reason to stop crushing it?
The antidote I use for these challenges is the 80:20 rule. This ratio has become the foundation for both my personal practice, my program, and the bulk of my coaching and workshops. Some days we may spend 80% of our time focused on your personal well-being because that’s what you need. Other days that 80% may how to make your business grow. In the end it’s your time and I’m here to support you.
What is The Process Like?
You’ve probably heard of the Pareto Principle but probably by another name…the 80/20 rule. During our sessions we will strive to spend 80% of our time together focused on running your business and 20% focused on your self-care. While every founder and session is different here is a general framework that will help outline our time together.
1. Clarifying your needs.
The first step in the process is having a mutual understanding of what it is you need; both personally and professionally.
2. Assessing where you're at.
Next comes and assessment of where you’re at in the Product Founder’s Journey. We will look at both internal and external circumstances to help establish where you’re at.
3. Evaluating resources, options, and opportunities.
Once we know where you’re at and where you’d like to go, the next step is evaluating all the options you have to get there. These resources may include items such as time, energy & money as well as rest, diet, and meditation.
4. Document an action plan.
Developing and documenting a plan to achieve your goals is the next step in the process and will help you and I stay on course.
5. Motivation and accountability.
As your coach I will do my best to hold you accountability and provide motivation. This can be done through phone calls, emails, text messages, and our weekly coaching calls.
6. Course correction.
Using tools like progress reports and journaling we will both monitor your progress through the various stages of launching your startup.
7. Celebration and joy.
In the startup world, our goal post are always getting moved. With every new achievement, a new task is right around the corner. We will work together to pause and celebrate the important moments.
You’re perfect and you’re right on time!
About Gv
With over 20 years’ experience living at the center of a product, marketing, sales, & self-care Venn diagram, Gv is returning to his true passions—coaching, education, and service. Gv currently serves as a founder, a mentor, and a turn-around expert. He frequently consults with software and professional service companies to better align their marketing, sales, and product development processes. After years of studying the most important success factors and failures of the companies he advses, he authored the Product Founder‘s Journey Framework — a systematized and streamlined approach to quickly validate an idea, launch, and operating a tech startup.
After discovering Yoga in 2012 and becoming a certified teacher in 2013, Gv has devoted significant study to many spiritual and self-care disciplines. By incorporating these techniques, practices, and traditions into his work, he often blurs the line between business and mindfulness in an effort to promote healthy, well-balanced leadership.
Gv created the Product Founder’s Journey and Software Field Manual to empower new founders to launch startups in a healthy way. He believes that if self-care can become a core value of the founder then it can also become central to a company’s culture.
What Really Matters
Ciprian Borodescu, MorphL
“I met Gv back in 2016 while going through a startup accelerator in St. Louis, Missouri and I did not expect the journey that followed.
Gv became a mentor for my entrepreneurial journey ever since and a trusted advisor at my newest venture, MorphL. Gv takes time out of his schedule to meet with me and give extremely helpful advice on steps to take and things to look for. He has a positive outlook on life and encourages me to put things into perspective. It’s a relief to have someone in my corner who went through highs and lows of his own and can be a huge source of inspiration for me and my team.
I’m humbled and honored to have Gv by my side as a mentor, advisor and friend.”