$17bn+
of infrastructure deals advised on
Executive coaching for founders and CEOs
Stop being the bottleneck. Win your next customers.
Executive coaching and go-to-market support for founders and CEOs of companies from $1m a year, from someone who has built four companies, had one exit and advised on more than $17 billion of deals.
Ben Sheppard, executive coach to founders and CEOs. Based in Barcelona, working with leaders across the world.
200+
founders and leaders coached across 25 countries
4
of my own companies to $1m ARR within 16 months, one exit
$1.75m
in qualified leads sent to one client
since February 2026
What clients say
“Our profit margin was -97%, our client satisfaction survey was 15% and we were $50k in debt. Ben dove in and helped us to surgically resolve all the root causes and stabilize the company. Now our company is profitable.”
Hassan M
Founder, Enigma
“Every single suggestion Ben has made to plan my business and help me grow and manage my team has proven on point and very effective. He was able to see things clearly where I could not and give me mature, balanced advice that I could action and was well perceived with the team.”
Guillaume D
Founder, ASP
“You predicted a 3-month window to gain traction and for inbound leads to begin rolling in. I launched the strategy in January, and as of March, your logic has been validated: I am now converting inbound leads into real clients.”
Tim Bright
Founder, Brightline IP
“Ben brings sharp strategic clarity and real operator credibility. He asked the right questions, challenged our GTM assumptions with concrete examples, and gave direct, actionable feedback from day one.”
Taskin Karlar
Founder
“Ben has provided me with valuable insights and knowledge around fundraising, pitch deck development, the structuring of cap tables, and SAFEs. He has also been a great sounding board for strategic planning and go-to-market.”
Michail A
Founder, Roam Network
“Ben has a rare ability to listen deeply and respond with clarity that cuts through complexity. He is someone I have trusted at key moments, and for good reason.”
Juanita C
Founder, Jool
“He has helped me exit a venture I needed to set aside with more upside than I would have ever asked for.”
Darren Alderman
Founder, Amblemind
“Ben is a brilliant person to work alongside. Incisive, deeply experienced, very hard working, and just a joy to be around. He brings energy and dedication to most everything he does and I'd recommend bringing him on to a project every time.”
Shiv Malik
Founder, Pathaka.ai
“We had loads of problems which we couldn't see until we sat in that workshop Ben had put together. He's one of the best in the business and I absolutely recommend him.”
Shiv Malik
Founder, Pathaka.ai
“Ben is great! He asks the right questions and has helped our business a lot after struggling with market, direction and strategy. He gave us a clear path and all what is left now is proper execution.”
Omar Adel
Founder, Bolder
“Ben provided exceptional mentoring that was instrumental in helping me settle in my first tech director role.”
Stephanie Itimi
Director, Age UK
“Ben has really brought great experience, sound judgement and focus to our business. He is engaged in your success and a really strong mentor for any business owner looking to get to the next stage.”
Guillaume Debauchez
Founder, ASP
“Our profit margin was -97%, our client satisfaction survey was 15% and we were $50k in debt. Ben dove in and helped us to surgically resolve all the root causes and stabilize the company. Now our company is profitable.”
Hassan M
Founder, Enigma
“Every single suggestion Ben has made to plan my business and help me grow and manage my team has proven on point and very effective. He was able to see things clearly where I could not and give me mature, balanced advice that I could action and was well perceived with the team.”
Guillaume D
Founder, ASP
“You predicted a 3-month window to gain traction and for inbound leads to begin rolling in. I launched the strategy in January, and as of March, your logic has been validated: I am now converting inbound leads into real clients.”
Tim Bright
Founder, Brightline IP
“Ben brings sharp strategic clarity and real operator credibility. He asked the right questions, challenged our GTM assumptions with concrete examples, and gave direct, actionable feedback from day one.”
Taskin Karlar
Founder
“Ben has provided me with valuable insights and knowledge around fundraising, pitch deck development, the structuring of cap tables, and SAFEs. He has also been a great sounding board for strategic planning and go-to-market.”
Michail A
Founder, Roam Network
“Ben has a rare ability to listen deeply and respond with clarity that cuts through complexity. He is someone I have trusted at key moments, and for good reason.”
Juanita C
Founder, Jool
“He has helped me exit a venture I needed to set aside with more upside than I would have ever asked for.”
Darren Alderman
Founder, Amblemind
“Ben is a brilliant person to work alongside. Incisive, deeply experienced, very hard working, and just a joy to be around. He brings energy and dedication to most everything he does and I'd recommend bringing him on to a project every time.”
Shiv Malik
Founder, Pathaka.ai
“We had loads of problems which we couldn't see until we sat in that workshop Ben had put together. He's one of the best in the business and I absolutely recommend him.”
Shiv Malik
Founder, Pathaka.ai
“Ben is great! He asks the right questions and has helped our business a lot after struggling with market, direction and strategy. He gave us a clear path and all what is left now is proper execution.”
Omar Adel
Founder, Bolder
“Ben provided exceptional mentoring that was instrumental in helping me settle in my first tech director role.”
Stephanie Itimi
Director, Age UK
“Ben has really brought great experience, sound judgement and focus to our business. He is engaged in your success and a really strong mentor for any business owner looking to get to the next stage.”
Guillaume Debauchez
Founder, ASP
Past clients and partners
Banks, companies and institutions advised
UnionBank
Rijkswaterstaat
UnionBankRijkswaterstaatClients and mentees, the last two years
Coriqo
Envoqe
Brightline IP
JoolAmblemind
Beat BunchPaperPilot
One55th ConsultingAgentsyProjexe
Roam NetworkPathaka.ai
CoriqoEnvoqeBrightline IPJoolAmblemindBeat BunchPaperPilotOne55th ConsultingAgentsyProjexeRoam NetworkPathaka.aiWHERE SHOULD YOU START
Where should you start?
The guide, three tools and two prompts we use with paying clients, free. If you get stuck, coaching with Ben. When the company passes a million, send an enquiry.
"I want to work on it myself first."
Start with the Next Customer Kit and the newsletter.
Get the Next Customer Kit"I'm the bottleneck in my own business."
Executive coaching to hand over the day to day and lead the company.
Enquire about coaching"Our growth still runs on referrals."
Stop Being the Bottleneck, then the Second Mile.
See the plan"We have a big deal or a launch coming."
Deal support and the negotiation workshop.
See the negotiation workshopTHE PATTERN
You'll recognise at least one of these.
01
Revenue concentration
One client is too big a share of your revenue, and the only person who can win the next one that size is you.
02
Decision bottleneck
Every decision routes through you, and the ones that matter most are ones you have never made before.
03
Confidence in your numbers
A number you trusted turned out to be wrong, and now you are second-guessing all of them.
At this stage growth comes from leading the company, not doing the work. That takes clear priorities, the right people and someone who has done it.
Tell us about your companyTHREE THINGS I HELP WITH
Three things I help with
Lead the company, not every decision
What to hand over, who to hand it to, the leadership team you need next, and the weekly rhythm that keeps it moving without you in every meeting.
Win your next customers
From founder-led sales to a team and a pipeline: who you sell to next, the offer that wins them, and the system that reaches them every day.
Land the big deals
Enterprise contracts, partnerships and investment, and the co-founder and equity deals that hold a team together.
THE RECORD
Twenty years of deals, before the coaching.
Adviser to HSBC, Macquarie, WWF, the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies, and to the UK, Dutch (Rijkswaterstaat), Vietnamese and Philippine governments, on deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Programme manager on the $9 billion M25, the UK's largest motorway public-private partnership of its time.
Management consultant at EC Harris, including work for the John Lewis Partnership, Waitrose and Dubai Holding's Sama Dubai programme.
Four companies of my own to $1m ARR within 16 months, and one exit.
Spoken at the World Economic Forum, WWF, Google and the UN Economic Commission for Europe.
On a panel at the UNECE conference on infrastructure, hosted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia.
HOW WE WORK TOGETHER
How we work together
Executive coaching
One-to-one, every month, on the decisions in front of you. Your rate is set on a call, from the size of your company.
See executive coachingThe Second Mile
We build your marketing and sales engine, run it with you, then hand it to your team and coach them.
See the Second MileFractional COO
Two to three days a week inside your business: operations off your desk, owners and targets set.
See the fractional roleWorkshops
Three hours, one subject, your own business on the table, and the plan filled in before you leave.
See the workshopsAWS can fund your next build.
See if you qualifyQUESTIONS FOUNDERS ASK
Questions founders ask
TELL US ABOUT YOUR COMPANY
Tell us about your company.
A few details so we know who you are and what you need. We read every enquiry and come back to you within one working day to arrange a call with Ben.