Over the past few months, I’ve been hearing more early-stage founders say they have coaches. Some sought coaching on their own. Others did so because it was suggested.

I’m a fan of coaching and have experience with it myself. Quite a few of my founder friends have also been coached. It’s a great way to foster self-awareness and work toward becoming the kind of founder you aspire to be. It’s not always fun or easy. A good coach will tell you things you don’t want to hear and have you do exercises you’d rather not do. But the effort is usually worth it in the end.

It’s great to hear more early founders openly discussing coaching. I think this a big plus for them, and I hope the trend continues!