CTO · VP Engineering · Head of Engineering

CTO Coaching: Sparring for the Calls Only You Can Make

Most weeks bring one call that lands on you alone. Ship the rewrite or kill it. Defend the delivery number or reset it. Promote the loyal director or the right one. Your exec peers all have opinions about engineering, and sitting in the seat is a different thing entirely.

Coaching here starts somewhere unusual, which is that I answer first. I've held the seat, so early sessions run in mentoring mode: concrete moves with the reasoning attached. The coaching questions get their turn once the urgent fires are out and the work moves on to how you decide rather than what you decide.

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Rated 9.17/10 on average across 300+ reviews.

The expensive mistake is hiring the wrong one

A coach asks questions until you find your own answer and needs no background in your domain. A mentor has held your seat and hands you moves that were tested under fire. Both are legitimate instruments, and the costly error is buying one when the situation called for the other. Textbook coaching is slow at precisely the moment the board deck is due on Friday. Pure mentoring, run too long, leaves you leaning on somebody else's judgment instead of sharpening your own.

So engagements here run mentoring-first and drift toward coaching as your context builds. You get the direct answer while the pressure is on and the harder questions once there's room for them. The full argument, with a three-question test for which one you need this quarter: mentoring vs coaching.

What lands on my calendar

Six situations cover most of it. Each one has its own page setting out why the obvious answer usually fails and what I would do instead.

The hub with all six, the FAQ, and the questions CTOs ask most: CTO coaching & mentoring

What it costs

Pricing is public, so you don't have to book a call to find out a number: 430 EUR per session, or 361 EUR per session if you're in the ELC community. A first quarter is 2,580 EUR for 6 sessions over 3 months.

You only pay for a session you rate 7 out of 10 or higher. Set against CTO cash comp, one avoided director-level mis-hire or one board meeting that lands will cover years of it. Full pricing.

Why this coach

Built Mews into a $2bn+ unicorn: 8 to 80 teams, roadmap still shipping. Led engineering at Manta before IBM acquired it. 4+ years in the Bay Area as Principal Software Architect at Databricks. The pattern data behind the advice comes from 3,400+ unique sessions with engineering leaders in 17+ countries.

Still highly technical. Bullshit me on estimates, code quality or architecture and I'll ask to see the code. The full story.

Frequently asked

How is this different from the CTO mentoring page?+

Same person, same calendar, same price. The difference is emphasis: mentoring hands you the move, coaching builds the system you'll use to make the next one, and a real engagement starts mentoring-heavy and drifts. The mentoring page maps the six situations in depth, so start from whichever page describes your week.

Do you coach VPs of Engineering and Heads of Engineering too?+

Yes, and the title matters less than the scope: an org somewhere between 30 and 300 engineers, a board or a CEO to answer to, and delivery that lands on you. The VPE-specific ground is mapped in the VP of Engineering role guide.

What does CTO coaching cost?+

Public pricing: 430 EUR per session, 361 EUR per session for ELC members, or 2,580 EUR per quarter (6 sessions over 3 months). You only pay for a session you rate 7 out of 10 or higher.

How often are sessions?+

Every two weeks is the default. Weekly while something is on fire or a board date is approaching. I don't run monthly engagements at this level, because the gap swallows the context and we spend half of each session catching up.

VPE-specific ground: VP of Engineering: what the role owns

The one discount

16 minutes. 16% off.

The First quarter lists at €2,580. Build the inquiry with my AI and the same six sessions come to €2,166 — €361 a session. No more than 16 minutes from the first question to a formal itemized offer in your inbox.

Get my offer → or connect your own AI assistant

Ready to start?

Free 30-min intro, and no pricing conversation on the first call. We work out whether I can move the thing that's currently stuck. That's the whole agenda.

Book the intro →Or email marian@marian.coach