What Coaches and Mentors Can Learn from Mastering the VC Game
When her calendar emptied out, career coach Renata posted a polished offer on social media and waited for clients to book, treating every stranger who clicked as an equally good fit. Half her intro calls went nowhere because the people booking barely understood what she did. Her colleague Devon built his practice differently, spending a year showing up in a professional community, answering questions generously with no pitch attached, referring people elsewhere when he wasn't the right fit. When he opened availability, the people who reached out already trusted his judgment and knew what working with him would be like. Renata filled her calendar too, eventually, but it took twice as long, and she noticed how much easier every conversation was for Devon, because the relationship had already done half the selling.
The whole book, compressed
This edition works through 4 core lessons — take them one at a time, not all at once.
What's different for your conditions
Tap whichever ones sound like you. Nothing here is sent or saved — it's just for your own noticing.
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The core lessons, applied to you
Earning trust before anyone needs to hire you
Waiting until your calendar is empty to start building visibility puts you in a reactive, needy posture that people can sense even through a screen. Coaches who consistently share real value and show up in their community long before anyone is ready to hire them build a reservoir of trust that converts far more easily than any cold pitch.
Practitioners who only appear publicly when they need clients come across as transactional, and prospective clients sense the neediness even in a well-written post.
Answer one genuine question in your professional community this week with real substance and no pitch attached.
Choosing the client who is actually the right fit
The client willing to pay the most is not automatically the right one if their goals do not match what you do well, or if the relationship will drain far more than it pays. Screening for fit as seriously as ability to pay protects both your reputation and your energy long term.
Practitioners take on any paying client out of financial anxiety, then spend months managing a mismatch that damages both the outcome and their own reputation.
Write down the three qualities of a client who gets real results with you, and use them explicitly in your next intake conversation.
Structuring how you attract and select clients
A sustainable practice benefits from a real process: a clear description of who you help, a defined intake conversation, and a deliberate way of saying no to poor fits, rather than accepting whoever inquires on a slow week. This structure protects both your time and the outcomes you can promise.
Practitioners without a defined process say yes to whoever asks first, out of scarcity thinking, and end up with a client roster that does not reflect their actual strengths.
Write a short, honest description of who you do your best work with and use it to screen every new inquiry before the first call.
Keeping the relationship strong after they hire you
Signing a client starts an ongoing relationship, not a finish line, and how you handle setbacks and stay in touch after an engagement ends determines whether that person refers you to others or quietly disappears.
Sometimes the client who is easiest to close right now is not the one who is the best long-term fit, and financial pressure can tempt you to prioritize the quick yes. When that tension shows up, weigh fit as seriously as urgency, since a mismatched client costs you more in the long run than a slower month does.
Name one thing, honestly
Which part of your practice currently runs on whoever happens to show up, rather than a deliberate process for who you actually want to work with?
Good. Now look back at the "Try this" line under whichever lesson feels most connected to what you just wrote, and treat that as this week's actual assignment — not all 4 at once.
The practices from this edition
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Run this for seven days
Write a short, honest description of who you do your best work with and use it to screen every new inquiry before the first call.