Kind words

Val Agostino

CEO, Monarch

Ryan brings a rare combination of thoughtful/conscious leadership practices combined with rigorous operating principles learned in the trenches of running his own companies. His coaching significantly helped me uplevel as a leader and his practices improved the execution of our broader team. You will be hard pressed to find a better spiritual and strategic partner along the startup journey!

Cal Brunell

CEO, Everyday Speech

We have close to three times the revenue we had when I started working with Ryan, with about the same number of employees. What’s changed the most is my capacity to have hard conversations and be clear about what I want and what the business needs. Working on yourself is probably the best thing you can do for your business, no matter the stage.

Amar Kumar

CEO, KaiPod Learning

Working with Ryan has been one of the most valuable investments I've made as a CEO. He has a rare ability to help me see where I can actually be most effective as a leader and where I might just be keeping myself busy. What I value most is that he keeps me centered in my strengths and values as a leader, while helping me discover the tools to make hard calls quickly. I come out of every session clearer, steadier, and more in tune with myself.

Fred Stutzman

CEO, Freedom

It has been a pleasure to know and work with Ryan over the past few years. If you ask my team, they can identify the before and after: Processes were non-existent, leadership was scattered, and we spent our time chasing one thing after another. Working with Ryan, I've professionalized our company, our executive team, and the way we operate to create sustainable growth that has been resilient to the AI-driven shifts reshaping our industry. Even more important has been how Ryan has helped me grow as a leader, find my passions, and learn to listen to myself. I can't recommend him enough.

Nick Neuman

CEO, Casa

Working with Ryan has been incredibly valuable. He has helped me navigate the many critical decisions and difficult situations that you inevitably run into as CEO. He never says “here’s what you should do”, but consistently helps me reach the right conclusions through detailed questioning and exploration. I strongly recommend working with Ryan for any CEO that wants to grow and improve themselves (which should be every CEO!).

Neel Popat

Co-founder & CEO, Popcorn

I started working with Ryan to address some deep-rooted issues I faced as a founder. He helped me shift my perspective and approach challenges at work with greater clarity. With a calmer, more conscious mindset, I was able to navigate difficult situations with a deeper understanding of myself. It’s like playing the piano: as you understand the composition more deeply, you find the freedom to improvise and bring your own expression to each piece. Ryan has a gift for guiding that process; helping you recognise your own patterns and find your own way forward.

Tom Mumford

CEO, Undergrads

Working with Ryan has returned value that is nearly impossible to quantify. I started my engagement with him entirely lost, without clear direction, and not knowing what great looks like. Ryan helped guide me there and enabled me to unlock the path forward for myself and my business. No hidden tricks or gimmicks. He has a keen understanding of people and what they need to get themselves to the next level on a personal, professional, and psychological level. The person I am today and the business I run are entirely unrecognizable from when we started working together, and I have Ryan to thank for that amazing transformation.

Martin Berg

CEO, DX

Working with Ryan has been a transformational journey that's helped me rapidly grow as a leader, solve practical scale-up challenges along the way, and ultimately (and most importantly) understand myself better and bring clarity to what I want from my company and how I want to live my life.

Chris Fredericks

CEO, Empowered Ventures

Working with Ryan has become essential to living my best life and building the kind of organization I want to build. Ryan’s approach is genuine, insightful, deep, fun, supportive and encouraging. After every discussion I understand myself better and have clarity on the next steps on my growth path as a leader and human.

Johnny Ji

Co-founder, Distru

I was honored to work with Ryan as my executive coach for over a year. Ryan is an exceptional coach who has a natural talent for helping founders uncover unique ways to approach problems they are facing. His willingness to share his own experiences as a former startup founder helped bring a level of relatability that I truly appreciated, especially during turbulent times. Ryan’s guidance and support were instrumental in my growth as a founder/executive, and I highly recommend him to anyone looking to get to the next level!

Janay Brower

CEO, Public Thread

Thank you for your continued kindness and support of me and my work. Some days I am steel tough and nothing can get me and some days, man it's right there on the surface. Our time always helps me bounce back and move forward more whole. For this I am so grateful.

Edmond Delude

CEO, E7 Solutions

Collaborating with Ryan has been a wonderful journey and beautifully transformational. Working together has been as natural as having a conversation with the part of myself that challenges me to grow.

Ty Walrod

Partner, On Deck

Ryan, with his rich background as a founder, brings a profound depth of understanding to the entrepreneurial journey’s complexities. His keen insight and empathetic nature allowed him to connect with my unique experiences as a founder myself, making our sessions not only productive but personally meaningful. In my experience, it’s rare to encounter an executive coach who embodies such a potent mix of empathy, intuition, and wisdom.

Hari Raghavan

CEO, Abstract Ops

Ryan is a coach who gets right to the heart of things with his clients. He knows when to poke, when to set boundaries, and when to gracefully give people space. He led some of the most profoundly deep sessions I’ve ever been a part of — I didn’t know people could go that deep and be that vulnerable with each other. And finally, he has been there / done that — a former founder who knows the journey, inside out (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun)… so you know he’s coming at it from a place of deep understanding and empathy. And that makes a big difference.

Xiao Wang

CEO, Boundless

Working with Ryan Vaughn has been a transformative journey for two years across a group of CEOs. Navigating the dynamics of a diverse group of leaders is no easy feat, but Ryan does it with a level of finesse that feels completely natural. His leadership style, marked by genuine vulnerability, lays the foundation for the rest of us to be more authentic and transparent in our interactions.

Jordan Frank

VP of Growth, Graphite

Ryan was an integral part in my development as a leader, and I could not have reached my growth goal without his mentorship. Our work together was transformational -- he helped me gain clarity and confidence both professionally and personally. If you are serious about your growth and are considering working with a coach, I strongly recommend Ryan.

Ryan Kilpatrick

Founder & CEO, Flywheel Companies

Ryan has an incredible skill for asking good questions, listening intently, and then asking the next deeper question. He gives good advice. But you're really in the sweet spot with Ryan when the questions he asks help you solve your own problems, just by thinking about them from a slightly different perspective. He has an uncanny way of helping you drill down to the true core of an issue, look at it objectively, and decide on an action. I highly recommend spending time with Ryan Vaughn.