Innovation Advisor

Innovation Advisor for Social Impact Executives

Your trusted partner in driving meaningful initiatives for social good
We help strategic and reflective leaders build empowered teams, compelling visions, and financially sustainable ventures with our unique approach, blending Silicon Valley go-to-market and product wisdom with Harvard PhD-level insights
 
 
Dan Wu, Innovation advisor
 
Trusted by
 
Logos of companies and organizations that trust our strategy and innovation consulting services
 
 
Speaking on responsible innovation
 

Dan Wu, JD/PhD

Lead Innovation Advisor

SVP of Product & Chief Strategy Officer. As a go-to-market-focused product leader, I’ve led and launched products and teams at tech startups in highly-regulated domains, ranging from 6 to 8 figures in revenue
Led core products and product marketing key to pre-seed to E raises across highly-regulated industries such as data/AI governance, real estate, & fintech; rebuilt buyer / user journeys to triple conversion rates; Won Toyota’s national startup competition
Harvard JD/PhD focused on responsible innovation for basic needs & cross-sector social capital formation, with a strong background in mixed-methods research
Selected as a National Science Foundation fellow & published on responsible strategy and innovation in outlets like Oxford University Press, Fast Company, & Techcrunch (more here)
First-generation college student prioritizing inclusion and belonging in his practice
I was raised by a single mother without a high school degree. I’m passionate about mentoring and coaching using methods that “works with” (versus “do to”), sensitive to one’s constraints and experiences.
 
 
Published in
 
Publications where we’ve published on strategy and innovation consulting
 
 
 

How innovation advising drives sustainable business model innovation

 
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Hiring & management
 

Team

Scale sustainably with a repeatable operating system
  • Align your team on the most impactful 20% of priorities and initiatives
  • Design the right roles, make new A-team hires, and de-risk their success and onboarding
  • Systematize ownership and accountability to balance alignment with faster learning loops
Example artifacts
Strategies, processes, and tools for:
  • Team/role design, recruitment, and onboarding to validate culture & skill fit to reach goals while retaining high-quality talent
  • Strategic planning on an annual and quarterly basis to incorporate learnings and align cross-functional teams towards the same north star
  • Team/1x1 meetings, executive-level dashboards, and lightweight playbooks to promote ownership, continuous growth, and repeatability
 
💡
Strategic vision
 

Storytelling

Prioritize critical unmet needs you’re best positioned to solve
  • Listen to and systematically learn from the voices of those you serve as well as your team and strategic partners
  • Create a compelling & bold vision that uniquely sets you apart in your industry
  • De-risk your venture through early sales or usage and a compelling customer journey
Example artifacts
Pitch deck / white paper with vision, business case, and alignment strategy incorporating:
  • Market analysis clarifying the key segments most furthering your strategic priorities
  • Voice of Customer Research using both qualitative and quantitative methods to deeply understand the unmet needs of top markets segments
  • Competitive Intelligence to understand the extent these needs are unmet given direct and indirect competitors
  • Internal Capabilities & Stakeholder Research to align with top internal priorities, building a coalition for change, while clarifying which needs you can best solve given your strengths and weaknesses
  • Vision refinement by testing new value propositions with customers and partners using best practice sales techniques
 
 
 
 
🛠
Agile innovation
 

North Star

Clarify key steps to delight users and grow smarter
  • Sharpen your scope and truly align it with key stakeholders to prevent last-minute delays
  • Collect useful feedback throughout your journey, measure your impact, and make evidence-based decisions
  • Embrace “agile:” Craft a plan and swiftly adapt in response to new challenges and opportunities
Example artifacts
Strategies, processes, and tools for:
  • Customer Journey Mapping to understand the biggest blockers and opportunities to your customer’s “north star”
  • Prioritizing & roadmapping key milestones and projects to align stakeholders on a clear path
  • “Agile” product and innovation development best practices to rapidly create and release new ideas with rigorous scoping
  • Collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data for continuous improvement
 

Our proven innovation advising process

Three essential steps to impactful initiatives
 
Step 1
Step 1

Innovation Roadmap

Prioritize your top challenges and opportunities, resulting in a roadmap clarifying your path & avoiding major missteps.
 
Mini Case Study
  • Avery, an executive director and head of innovation at a tech nonprofit, realizes too late that they neglected some extremely risky assumptions, resulting in poor user adoption.
  • After going through my audit, Avery recognized the need to sequence go-to-market validation earlier, de-risking adoption concerns
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Step 2
Step 2

Innovation Guides

Jumpstart high-quality execution, customizable with expert guidance.
 
Mini Case Study
  • Alex, a housing startup founder, spent significant time creating innovation workflows from scratch, creating superficial sales & product team alignment. Multiple delayed launches later, Alex fears her funding is at risk.
  • With our guides and templates, Alex gets both clarity and alignment faster, avoiding common pitfalls. This frees her up for strategic planning to retain and grow customers and close large customer sales with the confidence that she can follow through successfully.
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Step 3
Step 3

Innovation Coaching

Get thought partnership and accountability to stay on track and overcome myriad obstacles.
 
Mini Case Study
  • Charlie, a foundation executive, is flooded with strategic decisions and research tasks. He fears that his capacity-building initiative around the use of emerging technologies will stall.
  • Charlie regularly communicates with a vetted executive coach about his progress and the challenges that hinder his commitments. This strategic thought partner helps him brainstorm solutions and generates targeted analysis on end users, helping him stay on track.
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Innovation advisory options

If these rates don’t align, please still apply. There may be a strong fit, and we can explore alternative arrangements.
 

Innovation consulting

 

$4-8k+ / mo

 
  • Audit & Roadmap
  • Guides & Templates
  • “Done for you” services
 

Innovation coaching

 

$1-2k / mo

 
  • Audit & Roadmap
  • Guides & Templates
  • Task requests
  • Async coaching and accountability
  • Live coaching (pay per session)
 
 

Strategic and innovative leaders we’ve helped

What they’ve said about our advising
 
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I look forward to my discussions with Dan more than any other. After each call, I come away with tangible work products that we can immediately apply.
Dan Wu is incredible. His CEO coaching has been transformative for me. He adeptly, patiently, and carefully facilitates conversations so that we both come away with new insights, to which he immediately follows up with strategies and practical steps. While we started work on product managing, Dan uncovered that my priorities shifted to go-to-market, sales, fundraising, and operations, and was able to step in all these other domains to provide support.
I look forward to my calls with Dan more than any other. After each call, I come away with tangible work products that we can immediately apply. His questions, content, and templates elegantly clarify problems, break them down into smaller pieces, and generate new experiments to test. Our work together has resulted in faster learning and growth across these critical and diverse domains. Maybe most importantly, our work has instilled a new sense of progress, hope, and energy that is so valuable in the ups and downs of being a startup CEO. His capacity to distill challenges, unlock creative solutions, and his keen ability to make individuals feel heard and valued has been a major reason for our productive sessions.
He’s a light, helping me see with more clarity where to spend my energy and how to move us forward. I highly recommend Dan to others seeking coaching for their startup, in GTM, product, sales, or all of the above!
  • CEO, Brightlines (women-own/led) & former Partner, Truman National Security Project
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Dan helped me tremendously improve my strategic positioning and website; my network has already complimented me on how much clearer and more compelling my offer is.
He helped me navigate through the complexities of the larger ecosystem in which my work is embedded to simplify what matters most for my local market, authentically reflecting my approach. Dan’s workshops helped me understand what I needed or didn’t need and speak to a broader audience, outside of a very slim academic one. The clarity and cohesiveness he brought to my messaging, especially around the 'Co-Cities' framework, have been invaluable. In addition to his live workshop sessions, he shared very useful guides and templates in advance that I could easily understand and apply, helping me sharpen core concepts like what success means for my website, the differentiated value proposition, and the call to action. Dan truly cares and I’m grateful for this opportunity to work with him and I’m dedicated to finding more ways to work with him on more projects. If you're looking for someone who can help you cut through the noise and truly amplify your message, Dan Wu is the strategic expert you need. Highly recommended.
  • Executive Director of LabGov-US; Law & Public Policy Professor at Columbia and Georgetown
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There were moments when I could not see light at the end of the tunnel. I survived because of his guidance and support.
Dan Wu has been an exceptional executive coach. In short, there were moments when I could not see light at the end of the tunnel. I survived because of his guidance and support. He has provided invaluable strategic guidance with a diverse array of problems — including target market selection, GTM opportunity prioritization, operational efficiency, grant proposals, sales, pricing, negotiation, product strategy, & board management — helped me secure new revenue and validate emerging business models. His responsiveness, project management skills, and proactive approach have also helped me enhance organization, focus, and clarity to our GTM and revenue operations. Dan's coaching has been instrumental in tackling challenges in real time, and his ability to pivot seamlessly based on new information has proven invaluable. He is also a pleasure to work with. In summary, I wholeheartedly recommend him to any organization seeking transformative growth.
  • Executive Director, JustFix (funded by Robin Hood, Open Society, & Chan Zuckerberg)
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Dan is a brilliant, strategic thinker that is capable of rigorously optimizing any product, tactic, GTM plan, or business process.
For instance, his product strategy and roadmap concisely synthesized user and buyer data, aligned sales, product, and customer success, and helped us boost user adoption and conversion rates.
  • Cofounder & Head of Engineering, Stake (Series A)
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Dan showed me the power of an excellent coach, introducing me to fresh models, novel approaches, and assuming the roles of both thought partner and accountability advocate.
I've always approached coaching with a certain skepticism, believing that the value lies in someone who has outperformed me by tenfold. My work with Dan as a CEO coach has dramatically altered this perspective. Dan showed me the power of an excellent coach, introducing me to fresh models, novel approaches, and assuming the roles of both thought partner and accountability advocate. His guidance has been pivotal in driving me towards strategic objectives that often slip down the priority list, but with his insights, are now achieved more swiftly and thoughtfully.
For instance, Dan’s coaching has been invaluable in accelerating our fundraising and recruiting process. His proactive approach in identifying our most pressing priorities, prioritizing our top jobs-to-be-done, and linking them to our success criteria to our hiring process has already made a significant impact. With his assistance, we not only pinpointed an exceptional candidate but also nimbly steered away from potential pitfalls.
Furthermore, what sets Dan apart as an CEO coach compared to others I’ve worked with is his ability to translate blockers and priorities into action in real time. The artifacts we craft together in our sessions build upon prior work, setting us up for immediate impact and continuous progress and learning. I highly recommend him and am grateful for his expertise. I’m excited to refer him to my portfolio companies.
  • Managing Partner & Co-founder at Third Sphere VC (formerly Urban Us)
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With Dan, you get great strategic thought partnership, high emotional intelligence, and excellent execution.
Dan is an excellent product leader. His work as our product lead for our major partnership with a global, public digital workflow company was outstanding. He owned this strategic project with minimal onboarding and delivered results weeks ahead of schedule. Because Dan generated the trust he could lead the project, he ultimately freed up my time to focus on broader co-founder-level priorities & advanced us in a big way towards one of our major strategic GTM goals. Dan is willing to not only roll up his sleeves to create detailed API specs but also think broadly about project risks and success. For instance, he thoughtfully helped us avoid a potentially suboptimal experience with a major lead and made progress, despite coordination challenges, by working with the devs on both teams directly. Ultimately, his focus on GTM/CS-aligned product management is a breath of fresh air. I’m excited to work with Dan on more projects as a thought partner. He made a difficult project look easy!
  • Co-Founder & CEO (City Innovate-Series A) and ex-Chief Innovation Officer (City of San Francisco)
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Dan is both a standout researcher and strategic thought partner whose innovative thinking and systematic approach truly set him apart.
His ability to generate diverse ideas -- drawing from his own lived experience at the intersection of law, technology, and business -- while applying a rigorous methodology was helpful in our recent law review publication about digital transformations in legal departments. What impresses me most about Dan is his free-thinking nature and creativity. He's not afraid to go off the beaten path and explore new possibilities, all the while demonstrating an admirable level of maturity and thoughtfulness. More generally as a thought partner, he has a brilliant approach to quickly create clarity and insights. For instance, in one workshop with me, he listened carefully and sharpened raw ideas quickly, triggering new thinking, insights, and practical action points to clarify a major strategic decision I was contemplating. In summary, I highly recommend Dan and am eager for more conversations and collaborations.
  • SVP at GSK, public company and global leader in biopharmaceuticals (70k employees)
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Dan Wu is a masterful product strategy consultant. His approach, with a strong focus on business and GTM strategy, helped us prioritize product features throughout our product portfolio.
His unique methods helped develop alignment and business value before jumping into technical details. Together we crafted clear workback plans and roadmaps, which have been incredibly helpful for our strategic product decisions.
He specifically helped me navigate complex thoughts on a new version of a product into a presentable format, skillfully trimming unnecessary details that wouldn't relate to others not in the weeds. Dan also excelled at keeping meetings on track and ensuring everyone's feedback was heard and addressed, keeping us aligned and focused on our objectives.
Working with Dan was an invaluable experience. If you need someone who can create alignment on and drive progress on strategic objectives, Dan is your go-to person. Excited to work with him in the future!
  • SVP Product & Delivery, Cecilian (Series A)
 
 

More Go-to-market / Product Strategy Testimonials

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I would gladly hire Dan for a C-Suite role in any future startup. Dan is a game-changer, an invaluable asset for any startup looking to level up their pitch and fundraising game.
Dan is curious, he is focused, he is organized, and he helps balance teams by offering a rare, complementary skill set - driving change through critical inspection without a battle of egos.
Dan's pitch coaching and fundraising strategy sessions have been a blessing. As a startup founder actively fundraising while operating full-time, iterating on our strategic narrative can be exhausting. But with Dan's guidance, we were able to turn "gallons of water" -- e.g. whiplash from endless feedback -- into joyful sips of wine. It's pure alchemy; he helped amplify our signal in just a few sessions, and helped ensure every. single. word. counts.
  • CEO (Viva - TechStars, 1 prior exit)
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His intelligence, insight and analytical skills are among the best I've worked with. Dan is a talented product leader.
Dan also has an incredible attention to detail and ability to manage a complex set of tasks efficiently. He’s also of high integrity, hungry to learn, a fun team member to work with!
  • VP Platform, Zus Health (Series A) and former GM, Immuta (Series E)
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I don't believe that I could offer a higher compliment than referring to someone as impactful. Dan Wu is impactful.
He is relentless in his mission to find and solve customer pain. Dan's use of data is excellent. Our product team is a better, more impactful team because of Dan's leadership.
  • VP Product, Immuta (Series E)
 
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Thanks to his coaching, I've been able to clarify my vision and niche, and I'm excited to walk my partners through it.
My first meeting with Dan was priceless. From the first meeting, he astutely captured my core challenges and identified clear next steps, all while having little context on my business and market. His systematic and rigorous approach to defining a niche and talent to break down complex concepts into actionable steps impressed me greatly. Dan's disciplined focus on sequencing is a crucial part of our strategy to minimize execution risk and maximize our chances of customer success and future revenue growth. Overall, I highly recommend Dan for anyone looking to take their GTM/Product strategy to the next level. I am excited to continue working with Dan to bring our vision to life
CEO (Taproot Foundation) & Venture Advisor (Social Impact Capital)
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Dan Wu has been instrumental in transforming our UX designer into a product leader, demonstrating his ability to nurture talent and drive positive change within teams
Dan Wu has been instrumental in transforming our UX designer into a product leader. His coaching has helped them double their product strategy and strategic thinking skills, allowing them to make meaningful contributions to the product team beyond design, positioning them as a key resource for key strategic areas like personas and product insights. This growth demonstrates Dan's ability to nurture talent and drive positive change within teams.
On a personal note, Dan’s coaching has also been an important asset to my own progress. His reflective approach has encouraged me to clarify and tap into my own insights, which I believe is the essence of effective coaching. His very human approach to inquiry, brainstorming, and synthesis has prompted me to align better with my values and re-examine some core assumptions, providing thoughtful guidance on professional and executive-level challenges — ultimately helping me make more informed and confident decisions on complex topics. I highly recommend him.
CTO & Co-founder, Motivo (Series A)
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His agile working style greatly strengthened our product and regulatory strategy -- and contributed to the success of a mission-critical partnership.
I highly recommend Dan for mission-critical projects at the intersection of regulation and innovation. He delivered a time-sensitive strategy and regulatory brief -- it was very well received by a number of senior federal government executives. He communicated his ideas clearly, sought out feedback early, synced through my concerns live, and listened carefully -- all the while maintaining a positive attitude. Because of his responsiveness and listening skills, he accelerated the brief's quality. Beyond his responsiveness, he built rapid-fire relationships with our target reader. Despite having no prior contacts in this field, he found subject matter experts, triaged top concerns and benefits, maintained confidentiality, and developed responses to top risks and amplified the benefits. It was fantastic collaborating with you, Dan!
CEO of Bilt Rewards (Series B - unicorn) & CEO of Kairos Venture Fund (incubated $6.5bn worth of companies)
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Dan's product & GTM acumen has been very illuminating for nonprofit tech CEOs like myself. I initially approached our meeting with some uncertainty, but Dan's insightful approach quickly changed my perspective.
His ability to reframe questions to get to the deeper underlying issues, provide immediate valuable feedback, and articulate our key challenges with clarity has been truly impactful. Dan’s thoroughness and the prework questions he posed beautifully crystallized our pain points, enabling us to focus on high-impact efforts. Additionally, Dan's background in social impact and policy provided a uniquely contextualized perspective that enriched our discussions and strategy development. For nonprofit tech CEOs seeking a thought partner who can provide strategic guidance and help ensure alignment on critical issues, Dan has proven to be a valuable resource I highly recommend to others.
Founder & CEO, Change Machine (funded by MetLife Foundation)
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I have personally worked with some of the best Fortune-100 executive GTM/Product coaches, and I can confidently say that Dan's work is right up there with the best of them.
His ability to create a welcoming and safe space allowed me to freely express my thoughts and ideas, which he expertly synthesized, reflected, and prioritized. Dan has helped our executive team align our business to our core values, surfacing new, under-considered markets and strategies, resulting in a sense of excitement and possibility that has stayed with me long after our sessions were over. If you're looking for a coach who can help you take your business to the next level, Dan is your guy. He is a true gem in the executive coaching industry and I cannot recommend him enough for GTM/Product strategy.
CEO, Together & COO, Dropmodel, (exit to House Canary)
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You translate insights into action with a fluid, organized approach with surgical precision, leaving little room for confusion.
Simply put, I am extremely grateful for your role in my life. You have been able to break down some very complex challenges of my business into manageable parts, and do it in a way that was direct, but very human. You made our work together feel as though my opportunities for growth were also your opportunities. The personal touch you brought removed artificial (protective) barriers I created around my business strategy and has been invaluable in building the confidence necessary to make important decisions that impact it.
Thanks to you, I now have greater clarity on my market and the problems that matter most. Through your thoughtful questions and insights surrounding pricing and consulting vs product, you’ve provided me with a set of clear next steps to an additional stream of revenue that have proven invaluable. Your attention to detail is fantastic, translating insights into action with a fluid, organized approach with surgical precision, leaving little room for confusion or a place to hide.
Dan, your time and energy means the world to me. Through an empathetic approach, you created space for me to share the emotional journey as well. Another tremendous help that I can’t share enough gratitude for. I highly recommend others for your GTM/Product strategy coaching and am thankful that I know where to turn when I inevitably encounter more roadblocks.
Founder & CEO, Scuttlegov & former Head of People, Immuta (Series D)
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Dan's autonomy as a flexible strategic resource was critical to the success of a strategic partnership with a leading public company -- which was especially helpful due to my own time and resource constraints.
I recently had the pleasure of working with Dan Wu on a challenging project that required an owner to take end-to-end responsibility for all aspects of the work.
Dan kept a close eye on the project, communicated regularly through Slack and shared minutes with me, and made sure we stayed connected throughout the project. This level of trust allowed us to confidently hand over the reins to Dan, knowing that the project was in good hands and would be delivered successfully on time.
Dan seamlessly worked within our team and managed relationships with our engineering team, a key sales architect, and his counterparts at the public company. He delivered on key milestones -- such as scope alignment, data maps, user stories, ticket creation and unblocking, demos, and user acceptance testing.
Beyond the day-to-day tasks, Dan kept the bigger picture in mind, raising and proposing solutions to concerns that could threaten the project's overall success. This helped us stay on top of any potential risks and enabled us to create solutions that mitigated bigger GTM and revenue risks.
Overall, the project was well-managed, and we always knew what was happening, thanks to Dan's clear communication and updates. I highly recommend Dan for any project that requires a strategic, autonomous, and flexible product leader. Thanks again, Dan, for making it all look easy!
Former Co-founder & Chief Product Officer of SeamlessDocs (Series B, acquired by Kofile)
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His structured approach to GTM is an invaluable resource for founding teams. His use of qualitative and quantitative evidence is the gold standard.
Additionally, his structural knowledge of the American Real Estate space is truly unmatched.
Head of Growth, Viva (Techstars)
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Dan managed me while we launched a web app, mobile app, and site. He consistently brought out my best.
His iterative, building block approach to challenges makes complicated problems approachable. Dan a remarkable talent and you'd be lucky to have him on your team!
Head of Design, Stake (Series A)
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One of the most productive GTM / Product coaching calls I ever experienced.
Dan helped me and Aryeh (our CTO) think more intentionally about who our target market and strategy to reach them. I left the call feeling energized with a clear action plan.
Head of Customer Success, 6degrees (Pre-Seed)
 
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Dan is one of those rare people whose intelligence and passion are eclipsed only by his kindness.
His diligence never mars his gift to empathize or connect with others. He spearheaded many cross-functional product-led growth projects, catalyzing business impact. I was lucky enough to collaborate with him on a handful of these projects, and no matter what we tackled together, he always ensured that all voices were heard, consistently encouraging me (and others) to challenge his insights. Dan is a thought leader, there is no question. But what I most admire about him is that he's an incredibly good person. I'm honored to have worked with him.
Senior Training and Technical Writing Lead, Immuta (Series E)
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Dan is thoughtful, special, and humble — a pleasure to work with.
I had the great privilege to work with Dan on several projects and highly recommend him!
For instance, I can tell he's a great advocate for customers. He rolls up his sleeves to understand their problems and communicate with them clearly.
With one of our major European customers, he helped spark further buy-in with major data leaders. With a cross-functional team, he translated a 400+ page policy into a digestible action plan and workflow, told from the customer's perspective. They told him and our company this work was highly useful. I cite his work in many of my customer meetings.
From that in-depth customer experience, he documented key user and product insights that are still informing our product today. During a lunch and learn, he presented the story of his experience to our product and software teams, who, after, wanted more content like that from him. They are typically very selective about their time.
SVP Sales Engineering at SalesLogic
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Each meeting with Dan leaves me inspired, energized, and ready for action and is tremendously enjoyable.
I didn't know there was a thought partner out there who could so quickly ramp up, understand my context, and reach actionable next steps, all within our first meeting. Dan's lived experiences as Head of Product and his breadth and depth of understanding of both product development and go-to-market set him up well to advise on the top challenges my startup has been reckoning with. In just our first meeting, Dan helped me reach clarity on how to prioritize growth channels AND restructure my team to best tackle our top-level company goals. In our second meeting, Dan helped me identify what was impeding our go-to-market strategy and advised on user research tactics to unblock us. Dan is an amazing listener. He asks well-informed questions, creates structure to help make the conversation productive, and needs very little information to "get" it. During all this, Dan brings kindness and empathy to every conversation. Most of all, the time we spend together is tremendously enjoyable -- the thought partner and friend you wished you could work with full-time!
  • Co-founder & VP Product, Honeycomb (Seed, HBS MBA)
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I wish I had talked to Dan earlier! Our workshops were some of the best I've had in a long time and would have saved me so much money.
His strategic and experimental approach is of 'ready-aim-fire' versus 'fire-ready-aim.’ He asks the right questions to help me dig deeper into my own thoughts and ideas. He helped me sculpt the mosaic in my head and into something even more valuable for our buyers. I appreciated the gentle way he asks questions yet still pushes for conceptual clarity.
I was impressed by his go-to-market and product acumen. And he's willing to roll up his sleeves on copy too. He helped me piece together a stronger narrative based on the specific challenges that needed to be solved and the value we were trying to generate for our buyer.
  • Former Chief of Staff (LiveRamp) + Office of CEO (Open AI)
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Boosted our portfolio’s impact. His evidence-based insights positively influenced our strategy and future.
I’m constantly surprised at how we accomplish so much in such a short amount of time through his workshops. Overall, Dan is an exceptional listener and facilitator. I love his thinking process; he’s constantly pushing us to consider new perspectives and gently asking thought-provoking questions.
  • CEO, Lesar (leading housing consultancy, 1 exit)
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You were a fantastic coach. Your organized and thoughtful approach truly stood out.
From encouraging us to source an impactful story early on to shape our narrative, providing helpful tips during practice presentations, and synthesizing heaps of feedback, you were instrumental. Your guidance helped us focus on strengths, weaknesses, and areas for revision, prioritizing key elements that ultimately led to our success in securing a spot in the finals. Thank you, Dan, for your invaluable support in helping us shine on such a critical stage.
Director of Development, Eskaton Foundation, leading regional nonprofit aging services provider (2k employees)
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You’re just not going to meet many people in this world that mesh analysis, depth and mindfulness like a Dan Wu.
He’s the guy I turn to when I want to pressure test something. It’s mind boggling; this dude is just operating at another level. Despite his generosity and raw intellect, is also a pretty damn good human.
CEO, Jupe (Series Seed, YC) and former CEO, Kasita (Series A)
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Incredibly empathetic. Great leader around bigger product and project questions. Highly recommend working with him.
Dan was a pleasure to work with. From laying out user journey end to end on a much more complex system based on users with different roles, to helping scope down what was the most crucial for our MVP, he contributed massively to crystallizing and shipping our v1.
Former VP of Engineering, Polywork (Series B)
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Very impressive strategic and product skills, ensuring an achievable, customer focus. We are so lucky to have him!
He’s overseen the build of our prototype, helping our design and engineering team run with it in a matter of weeks.
CEO & Cofounder, Sugarwork (Pre-seed, ex-McKinsey partner)
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Daniel is one of the most compassionate and intelligent individuals that I have ever met.
I met Daniel while studying at USC and was astounded by how hard he worked towards his goals of social equality and economic justice for all. A star student in college, Daniel was dependable for his in- depth analysis of any topic ranging from public policy to human rights.
Daniel is reliable in every aspect. His communication is detailed, his thoughts are profound, his work is organized, and his sense of right and wrong are properly positioned. The organizations that he has started on campus and elsewhere are thriving because of his foresight. His dissertation has received numerous commendations from both academic and political officials. I highly recommend Daniel in any work or team setting that would require a dedicated, caring, intelligent, and thorough individual.
CEO HomeOptions (Series Seed), ex-CFO (Athena Bitcoin)
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I can't thank you enough for the invaluable insights and guidance you've provided during our coaching calls.
I can't thank you enough for the invaluable insights and guidance you've provided during our coaching calls. Your ability to more sharply define what I intuitively believed and uncover the "what now" has given me the confidence and conviction to take action and mitigate risks around my entrepreneurial endeavors. For instance, your observations about possible blind spots were a wake-up call. Your validation has been incredibly impactful, hitting me with the truth I needed to hear. Moreover, these calls have allowed me to develop my thoughts and engage in much-needed self-reflection, which can be difficult to carve out when you’re running at a thousand miles an hour. I highly recommend you to others seeking an executive coach and can't wait for more future sessions. Thank you for always showing me a measurable way to validate my intuition and instill conviction in my decisions.
Former General Manager (Room, Series A)
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His exceptional ability to offer insightful perspectives brought immense value to our collaboration, which focused on business model design, strategic narrative, and fundraising.
Working closely with Dan Wu was a fantastic experience. Through his coaching, we refined our challenges and considered new opportunities and ideas we never thought of before. For instance, he helped us sharpen Madelon’s core narrative about our differentiated value proposition and business model, ultimately creating a more consistent and compelling story. We highly recommend Dan to anyone seeking a knowledgeable and dedicated partner. We very much look forward to future collaborations.
Co-founder & COO (Madelon) & former Cofounder & VP of Sales (Roam, Series Seed - backed by CRV & Collaborative Fund)
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Not only am I thrilled with the insights gained but he reinvigorated my enthusiasm to tackle the space I'm in.
Booked Dan for a call and not only did I have a great time, but came out of it with actionable insights. As a new founder, I was feeling stuck on how to build sustainable traction towards product-market fit, but he helped me gain the clarity I needed to move forward — and uncovered some real gems. Dan is a structured thinker. His insightful approach to digging deeper into my top challenge uncovered an incompatibility between value prop and market, leading to practical experiments that will help grow our two-sided marketplace. His recommendation to combine our go-to-market strategy with our market strategy was also invaluable, providing an experimentation sequence to channel, outreach, and value proposition selection. Dan did all of this while taking top-notch notes and expertly managing our time to ensure I got the most out of our time together. Not only am I thrilled with the insights gained but Dan reinvigorated my enthusiasm to tackle the space I'm in. I highly recommend him for GTM/product strategy coaching and am already looking forward to our next call!
General Manager (Checkout 51 - Graph Ventures & $XXm exit)
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His ability to streamline processes and workshop useful artifacts for key business processes (like our outreach efforts) made a huge difference.
Dan Wu is unbelievable. He’s talented, highly responsive, and deeply thoughtful. His ability to streamline processes and workshop useful artifacts for key business processes (like our outreach efforts) made a huge difference. Dan provided invaluable support on key strategic and technical aspects of my work, helping us improve our velocity. Starting from first principles, he helped me create a strategic roadmap and build an even stronger foundation. His attention to detail and focus on getting things right from the beginning is refreshing. I’d refer Dan to any good friend, stranger, or future portfolio company. If you want someone who can think big picture and deliver concrete results, Dan should be your first call. I only wish we started working with him from Day 1. Highly recommend.
CEO (If Ventures Impact Fund)
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Highly organized, strategic, and most importantly empathetic to our users.
Dan is an extremely strong product leader. As SVP of Product at Stake, Dan contributed to the Stake platform in many important ways and was highly organized, strategic, and mostly importantly empathetic to Stake’s users.
Dan built out Stake’s user research practice to compile data and insights on both Stake’s business users (real estate asset managers, property managers, etc.) and consumer users (apartment renters). The user research was highly valuable in improving Stake’s product strategy and go-to-market strategy.
Dan also oversaw the development and management of Stake’s product roadmap. While developing the roadmap Dan organized and prioritized insights from user research, top client requests, and internal user needs and developed a twelve-month plan to develop Stake’s mobile app for residents and Loyalty Cloud dashboard for asset managers and property managers.
Finally, Dan served in a critical cross functional role, aligning Stake’s engineering, customer success, sales, and marketing teams for a number of product launches including the roll-out of the Stake Visa Debit card – our Cash Back checking and debit solution for renters.
I highly recommend Dan as a product leader.
VP Growth/Ops, Stake (Series A)
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His strategic thinking and ability to identify potential challenges in advance have saved our team from unnecessary disruptions and allowed us to focus on delivering exceptional results.
I had the privilege of working closely with Dan Wu, and I can confidently say that he is a strategic, coaching powerhouse! Dan's expertise in product strategy and the development process is truly remarkable. He helped me think through complex reasoning, providing practical and actionable insights. It’s amazing how much we get done in our workshops together. One thing I particularly appreciated about Dan is his ability to create a sense of calm and clarity during challenging times. He took the time to understand my needs and aspirations, and crafted an executive coaching plan that resonated. Overall, he’s been a lifesaver at my high-growth startup. He's helped me maximize both my impact and ability to work sustainably so I can contribute for the long-term.
Dan's dedication to mentorship and collaboration is outstanding. He not only guided me through the intricacies of product strategy but also empowered me to explore and figure things out on my own. His support and encouragement have been instrumental in my personal and professional growth.
What sets Dan apart is his exceptional organizational and coaching skills. He always goes above and beyond to ensure that I am empowered with best practices — from user stories, acceptance criteria, and backlogs to stakeholder management, product metrics, and strategy — I need to create products that are well-defined and executed seamlessly. His strategic thinking and ability to identify potential challenges in advance have saved our team from unnecessary disruptions and allowed us to focus on delivering exceptional results.
I wholeheartedly recommend Dan for his expertise, dedication, and passion for helping others succeed. He is a true asset to any organization or team. Working with Dan has been an absolute pleasure, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn from him!
Head of Product, Viva (Techstars)
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Dan is a wonderful product manager with strong skills in leadership, organization and is a highly creativity thinker.
He has helped me grow at identifying challenging problems and finding elegant and authentic solutions. Dan also brings an upbeat and personable attitude.
Sr UX Engineer, Immuta (Series E)
 

Speaking & Writing Testimonials

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You were extremely engaging. I can tell from the conversation that took place after you left that you got the students thinking very critically about the material.
On behalf of the entire class, I want to thank you so much for joining us yesterday! Your comments were extremely engaging and I can tell from the conversation that took place after you left that you got the students thinking very critically about the material. You do a great job of laying out the ethical implications of urban tech and innovation. Thanks again.
COO, Therme Group US | Adjunct Assistant Professor, Columbia University
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Dan is the ideal collaborator. In addition to his impressive intellectual acumen, Dan is proactive, well-prepared, motivated, and goes the extra mile to share ideas and receive feedback in advance.
I met Dan 2-3 years ago after he reached out to me to find out more about LabGov’s work on the “co-cities” framework that my international applied research team has experimented in cities around the world (and reflected in my forthcoming MIT Press Book, Co-Cities). Since then, Dan and I have shared ideas and coauthored an article together that is a nice cross-pollination of our interests and thinking on urban innovation at the community level. This naturally led to our collaborating on several writing projects.
Sparked by his initial proposal for an article, together we looked at how smart cities can be reimagined as “co-cities.” We have looked at how this shift allows for innovative community-driven development and revitalization through the pooling of efforts by communities and other urban actors (such as local agencies, civic organizations, and the private sector). We shared these ideas on a blog for Shareable and in an article, From Smart Cities to Co-Cities: Emerging Legal and Policy Responses to Urban Vacancy in the Fordham Urban Law Journal. In the article, we argued that cities should reconfigure policies to address urban vacancy, such as Chicago’s Large Lots program, to favor institutions such as community land trusts, before selling these vacant lots to private, for-profit developers.
I have loved sharing ideas and working with Dan. He is the ideal collaborator. In addition to his impressive intellectual acumen, Dan is proactive, well-prepared, motivated, and goes the extra mile to share ideas and receive feedback in advance. As one example, Dan took the initiative to interview local officials about the Chicago program that was the subject of our article instead of just regurgitating what he found online. Dan is also a creative problem-solver. I am impressed by the way that he applies his diverse experiences to the fields of technology, data, and law to identify novel approaches to creating and financing commons-based approaches to a range of urban challenges that impact vulnerable communities. For our article, Dan helped identify and describe solutions ranging from crowdfunding platforms to match small, purpose-driven investors to strategic partnerships with community development corporations.
It has been wonderful working with Dan and sharing ideas over the years. I look forward to further collaboration.
Professor of Law and Public Policy, Georgetown University
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My congratulations once again on your excellent key note. You gave fantastic practice examples, especially in the Sidewalk example. Keep up the good work!
My congratulations once again on your excellent key note - we are indeed at an entirely new inflection point with technology where thoughtfulness and social responsibility have be factored into the values, strategy & governance of technology companies. All the better to instill that at this stage! I would absolutely recommend his keynote to others.
I liked very much how you started with the big challenge & question we must face with these technologies. These are foundational, and we can no longer just ignore them. Then beyond the darkest manifestation in China, the examples of how this must be factored into corporate strategy were great. You gave fantastic practice examples, especially in the Sidewalk example. Keep up the good work!
Chief Product Officer, Connexient (Series A - acquired by EverBridge)
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We'd absolutely invite him again. It is evident that Dan's clear presentation, compelling storytelling, and message about ethics in the planning & building of smart cities struck a chord with the audience.
For the last three years, I am working at Upward, leading operations and startup scouting at Upward Labs. Our mission is to reinvigorate second-tier cities by attracting a new generation of talent through startups and innovation to the city. Before that, I've been a product manager and creative director at a technology company for six years. As a result, I'm an expert on storytelling, presentations, and product strategy.
Upward Labs is grateful to have had Dan Wu as the keynote speaker for the first UL cohort Demo Day. We'd absolutely invite him again. Dan successfully reached the goal of stimulating a conversation within our community about what it takes to make Smart City innovation actionable and stable. It is evident that Dan's clear presentation, compelling storytelling, and message about ethics in the planning & building of smart cities struck a chord with the audience. Thank you Dan - it was a pleasure having you and we are very grateful!
Director of Corporate Innovation & Scouting (Upward Labs - accelerator & VC fund focused ESG in proptech)
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Your keynote on building trust in the Fourth Industrial Revolution at was extremely thought provoking.
I’ve been a market researcher for my entire career, and have a high bar when it comes to compiling data, bringing a story to life with that data, taking into account implications of that data and moving your audience. You nailed it on all fronts! I would highly recommend your keynote to others! Looking forward to crossing paths again!
CEO (Cloud9 - Seed) & former SVP (Travelers)
 
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Dan Wu's executive coaching workshop for Youtube on agile goals was a game-changer, with a 86% net promoter score, one of the highest we’ve seen for a workshop like this.
The pace was perfect, and the exercises were incredibly helpful in reflecting on our core values and identifying the intrinsic motivations that drive us. I appreciated the clear and well-structured instructions that made it easy to follow along, and the theory behind the concepts was enlightening. Dan's ability to call out exactly which projects participants should focus on and how to map them to their core values was incredibly insightful. I especially appreciated the value assessment and scoring process that helped me constantly rethink participant priorities and motivations. The balance between art and science in this approach was impressive, with formulas and confidence values coupled with a deep questioning of personal values. The materials provided were comprehensive, and Dan was always quick to respond to any questions participants had in the chat or on-air. I was impressed by the iterative process that helped us create a plan that tied our goals together with our motivations. Overall, I highly recommend Dan Wu's executive coaching workshop to anyone looking to better understand their core values and achieve their goals.
Product Lead (Youtube, Head of one of the largest Employee Resource Groups)
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In the past five years of event organizing, few individuals have made such a strong impact as Dan.
I had the pleasure of inviting Dan to moderate our event on behalf of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. As our panel moderator, Dan was prepared and well-researched, going out of his way to coordinate with all speakers well in advance of the event. He made the speakers the center of attention and asked the appropriate questions, going as far as to supply relevant articles and research to stimulate discussion. He was an excellent host and paid attention to the audience's feedback. I can confidently say that Dan truly made our event a success and we look forward to working with him again in the future.
Deputy Director at Public Art Fund & Trustee at the Stevens Institute for Technology
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I would highly recommend others who are considering working with Dan on writing and publication projects
Dan Wu was a fantastic co-author on our Harvard Business Review article regarding diversity and productivity. There are a few things that stand out about Dan.
First, he's a clear writer and thinker. He ably simplified complex statistical methods and organizational sociology concepts for a wider audience. Through his work, we were able to sufficiently educate the editors about this work and its importance for both other researchers and practitioners.
Second, he's very organized. He kept me informed about his plan and made sure to ask for help only when needed. For instance, he provided outlines from start, incorporated my feedback on the argument, and drafted the article in a timely manner.
Third, he had great contributions to add from the literature. In response to editor's feedback questioning a mechanism or two about the connection of diversity to productivity, Dan scoured numerous papers, summarized them, and drafted new material that identified key mechanisms that bolstered the research -- and sufficiently met the editor's concerns.
Professor, Harvard Business School, Teaches the Leadership course in the MBA curriculum
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Dan was a terrific partner on both research and writing projects. I recommend him to others seeking collaborators…
I have had the privilege this year of working with Dan Wu on a webinar and on a subsequent white paper, “GDPR is Just the Beginning: How to Stay Ahead of the Curve,” available at https://www.immuta.com/gdpr-is-just-the-beginning-7-legal-principles-to-stay-ahead-of-the-regulatory-curve/.
Dan was a terrific partner on both projects. I recommend him to others seeking collaboration on [research and writing] privacy projects.
First, I was impressed by Dan's research skills. We collaborated on an ambitious whitepaper where we surveyed new tools and complex data regulations around the world. First, he made sure that we aligned on the topic. Then, he provided a well-written draft of both the webinar deck and the following white paper, which creatively identified new types of tools to streamline compliant analytics.
Second, Dan is a great communicator of complex material, as I saw during our webinar on the topic above that reached 700 people across the nation. Despite the complex topic, Dan designed a visually-engaging presentation and delivered a story that broke down complex ideas simply.
Finally, despite being hundreds of miles away from my team, Dan smoothly managed these projects. He created clear timelines, expertly problem-solved issues as they arose, and exhibited a positive and enthusiastic attitude.
Thank Dan! I look forward to working with you again.
Partner & Co-chair data and privacy, Arent Fox Schiff
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Dan is a stellar writer, thinker, and designer. He is able to leverage law, policy, tech, to bring multiple lenses to bear on complex problems. And with all of that, he is able to laugh at himself, maintain a deep sense of humility, care for those around him, and stay centered in community.
Dan, at that early stage in his life as a leader and thinker, brought more depth of vision to his questioning and design process than many adult professionals do. I was truly privileged to be able to share part of Dan's journey with him, and it's been a delight to continue to serve as a friend and mentor as he pursued his multiple advanced degrees and strove to find a professional home for the nexus of his passions. When Dan was an undergraduate student, he founded a student organization that was dedicated to equitable development of the neighborhood around USC's campus. I mention that because his keen intellect has always been guided by an ethic of care and depth of critical compassion. It's that brilliant combination that guides his work today, focused on inclusive cities, affordable transit, and so much more. Dan is a stellar writer, thinker, and designer. He is able to leverage law, policy, tech, to bring multiple lenses to bear on complex problems. And with all of that, he is able to laugh at himself, maintain a deep sense of humility, care for those around him, and stay centered in community. He is forever questioning. I am full of love and admiration for Dan, who was one of my "kids," and who now inspires me with his creativity and brilliance.
Former Chief Learning Officer and Director of the USC Equity Institutes
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Very impressed by Dan’s insights on housing and social impact, his ability to work with others, and his writing and analytical skills.
At Urban Us, we helped forge and define the emerging category of urbantech and smart cities technology. So I’ve seen a lot and have invested in category-defining startups.
With this context, I’m very impressed by Dan’s insights on housing and social impact, his ability to work with others, and his writing and analytical skills. I highly recommend others to work with him!
For instance, we coauthored a piece for Multifamily Executive, identifying key startups developers can partner with to build more affordable units. It was met with positive reception and included a survey of dozens of startups Dan researched and categorized into understandable developer use cases. Working with him on this, I witnessed his responsiveness to feedback and willingness to grow.
Building on this work, Dan wrote a thorough three-part series in TechCrunch on inclusive housing innovation. It’s become a top resource in the emerging housing tech field, shared with startup cohorts like those at Blue Ridge Labs. I've also heard top investors in the space such as Metaprop and Enterprise Community Partners sharing this resource.
Much like my work with him at Multifamily Executive, this strategic field scan is compelling, comprehensive, and clear — all the while identifying useful strategic risks and benefits for startups tackling housing for good.
It’s been a pleasure working with and advising Dan Wu, who is now an expert on housing tech and social impact in his own right.
Managing Partner & Co-founder at Third Sphere VC (formerly Urban Us)
 

Executive / Leadership Coaching Testimonials

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His very human approach to inquiry, brainstorming, and synthesis has prompted me to align better with my values and re-examine some core assumptions, providing thoughtful guidance on professional and executive-level challenges
Dan Wu has been instrumental in transforming our UX designer into a product leader. His coaching has helped them double their product strategy and strategic thinking skills, allowing them to make meaningful contributions to the product team beyond design, positioning them as a key resource for key strategic areas like personas and product insights. This growth demonstrates Dan's ability to nurture talent and drive positive change within teams.
On a personal note, Dan’s coaching has also been an important asset to my own progress. His reflective approach has encouraged me to clarify and tap into my own insights, which I believe is the essence of effective coaching. His very human approach to inquiry, brainstorming, and synthesis has prompted me to align better with my values and re-examine some core assumptions, providing thoughtful guidance on professional and executive-level challenges — ultimately helping me make more informed and confident decisions on complex topics. I highly recommend him.
CTO & Co-founder, Motivo (Series A)
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Dan is an absolutely brilliant executive career coach. Nearly every career conversation I've had with him has been transformative.
There have been times when I've had specific career questions, and he helped me problem solve the issues and build a concrete set of next steps. There have also been times when we would brainstorm career topics in an unstructured way, and he would help me spot key opportunities and challenges. Each of the many decisions Dan has helped me make resulted in greater job satisfaction and clarity in purpose and goals.
Whether you're contemplating high-level career changes or more domain-specific issues, whether you're looking to optimize for financial outcomes or work-life balance, and whether you've got your thoughts structured or not, I could not recommend Dan more strongly as a thought partner and coach.
Engagement Manager, McKinsey
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Dan Wu's executive coaching workshop for Youtube on agile goals was a game-changer, with a 86% net promoter score, one of the highest we’ve seen for a workshop like this.
The pace was perfect, and the exercises were incredibly helpful in reflecting on our core values and identifying the intrinsic motivations that drive us. I appreciated the clear and well-structured instructions that made it easy to follow along, and the theory behind the concepts was enlightening. Dan's ability to call out exactly which projects participants should focus on and how to map them to their core values was incredibly insightful. I especially appreciated the value assessment and scoring process that helped me constantly rethink participant priorities and motivations. The balance between art and science in this approach was impressive, with formulas and confidence values coupled with a deep questioning of personal values. The materials provided were comprehensive, and Dan was always quick to respond to any questions participants had in the chat or on-air. I was impressed by the iterative process that helped us create a plan that tied our goals together with our motivations. Overall, I highly recommend Dan Wu's executive coaching workshop to anyone looking to better understand their core values and achieve their goals.
Product Lead (Youtube, Head of one of the largest Employee Resource Groups)
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He’s like an executive/business therapist…His skillful questioning sparks realizations and forces me to examine my assumptions and explore new options.
Dan has been a very insightful and impactful executive coach for me. He also provides a unique decision-making framework, criteria, and assessment for any problem one may have. These frameworks have been instrumental in helping me identify gaps and develop new strategies to achieve my goals while minimizing risk. Lastly, Dan is a great listener and has excellent interpersonal skills to solve any challenges one may encounter. I highly recommend Dan's executive coaching services to others who are looking for a fresh perspective on problems they have been thinking about.
Director / Portfolio Manager, Top-5 Global Trading Firm ($1.5b revenue)
Dan's executive coaching is truly a gift for life.
Dan has a unique talent for empowering executives with tools and techniques to navigate and discover top priorities. Dan's approachable demeanor makes the sessions creative and fosters open communication. I highly recommend Dan to anyone looking to unlock their full potential and find fulfillment. Thank you, Dan, for your invaluable guidance and support.
Ex-Head of Quant & VP of a F500 global bank
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Honestly, from just this one session, you’ve helped me so much. This might be the difference between where I am and where I need to be.
You asked thought-provoking questions that empowered me articulate my thoughts in a way that I had not previously considered. Through your active listening and dynamic synthesis of my ideas, I was able to gain a clearer understanding of the why and mission behind my work. You helped me realize that sometimes it’s easy to not reflect on my strategy because it feels so intuitive. In fact, I’ve realized I built something amazing. Now, I can move from defending to just showing the true benefit of the metaverse product and promote better eye health awareness for more people!!!
CEO & Sales and Marketing Leader, Optical Metaverse
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I entered our conversation overwhelmed about the best course of action for my next steps, and walked away with a sense of calm and concrete action items.
Dan is excellent at providing life and career coaching. His thoughtful, empathetic, and engaging manner helped guide me through a pivotal moment in my career. I highly recommend Dan's counseling no matter what stage of your career you're in.
Managing Associate, DLA Piper (ex-Harvard Law, CFPB, & Yale)
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Dan’s pragmatic approach combined with his empathy and thoughtfulness helped me refine my vision, the starting point of my entrepreneurial journey.
His listening and analytical skills helped me honed in on the crucial elements. Would very much recommend!
Founding Partner, Radicle Law (ex-Harvard Law & Davis Polk)
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Appreciated how thoughtful and deliberate you were in your approach. I learned a ton from you. Thank you so much!
Dan, I am going to say this again, it was so wonderful working with you this week on coaching a startup on product through Product League! You are a phenomenal PM and I especially appreciated how thoughtful and deliberate you were in your approach. Gosh, I learned a ton from you!
Product Leader, Microsoft
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He truly wields “coaching magic,” driven by his curiosity, listening skills, and thoughtful questions.
Dan is an excellent executive career coach. He has a unique blend of empathy and strategic executive experience that makes each session with him highly productive and effective. He helped me articulate my priorities and develop a framework to evaluate different paths I was exploring as I step into the next phase of my career. He also provided invaluable guidance as I embark on my own entrepreneurial journey. He also has a plethora of analytical decision-making exercises that I will be adding to my own toolbox as a product leader! I highly recommend Dan to anyone seeking an empathetic and strategic coach - you’ll walk away from each session with clarity and skills to tackle challenges.
Ex-VP of Product, Nava (Top GovTech PBC)
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He possesses a rare combination of a warm heart, extremely strong analytical and synthesizing skills, and remarkable insights to ask thought-provoking questions.
I had the fortune to work closely with Dan. He possesses a rare combination of a warm heart, extremely strong analytical and synthesizing skills, and remarkable insights to ask thought-provoking questions. These are the ingredients that made Dan such an exceptional coach and thought partner.
With Dan, his impact is refreshingly clear and significant. He empowered me to tackle new challenges in the next stage of my career. His workshops always yielded concrete and actionable steps, resulting in valuable connections, insights, and impact. He guided me through several critical decisions, and I could not have been happier with these decisions.
I can speak with confidence that Dan is one of the best executive and career coaches.
Ex-VP at BlackRock
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Thanks to our discussions, I'm now in talks about a promotion while collaborating closely with senior designers. The impact you've had is remarkable - none of these key artifacts existed before.
Our time together has been incredibly valuable, from teaching me how to effectively communicate and structure workflows to providing key artifacts like work updates, 1x1 agendas, monthly goals, and professional development guidance. Thanks to our discussions, I'm now in talks about a promotion while collaborating closely with senior designers. The impact you've had is remarkable - none of these key artifacts existed before. Your ability to get the most out of me and our meetings and keep us on track is truly impressive. The coaching workshops have been eye-opening, reminding me that my challenges are not unique and that there are solutions to overcome them. Your perspective has helped me understand that this is all part of the journey. I’ve seen an uptick in my performance on things my manager cares the most about — upticks my manager has confirmed — thanks in part to your guidance and approach to getting systematic feedback. I love how we address previous meeting points and discuss actionable items outside of our sessions to make tangible progress. I truly appreciate the time and effort you've invested in helping me succeed. I highly recommend you to others looking for a product and leadership development coach.
Product Leader (Lendtable, Series A, $24m raised)
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Goodness! I wish I had spoken to Dan years ago…Dan provided me with several practical next steps on approaching projects, some of which were nothing short of brilliant.
His probing questions and strategic framework empowered me to adopt a more proactive outlook, leveraging my unique advantages and sphere of influence. Through our workshop, Dan provided me with several practical next steps on approaching projects, some of which were nothing short of brilliant. Dan's expertise and guidance are invaluable, even as an experienced lawyer. I have no doubt that anyone who works with him will benefit greatly. Reflecting on my experience working with Dan Wu, I can confidently say that he is a masterful executive coach.
Executive Director & Head of US (Khaitan & Co, India’s #1 law firm)
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From just one conversation, he helped me prioritize where I could make the biggest impact and then transformed my strategic narrative into a more impactful one that I’d be excited to tell.
Daniel Wu is an outstanding executive coach who has a lovely ability to ask the right questions that make a real difference. Dan’s safe and reflective space created a sense of trust that allowed me to delve deeper into my thoughts and feelings, like a therapy session with actionable outcomes, while still challenging me to think differently. His approach to coaching never once made me feel like I needed to change who I was as a person, but rather empowered me to build upon my strengths and become the best version of myself. I wholeheartedly recommend Daniel to anyone who is seeking to take their career to the next level.
Head of Product, Emma Up (Venture of one of Europe’s top B2C sleep startups)
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I cannot recommend Dan highly enough for coaching if you feel like you could take your thinking process up a notch or, in my case, maybe 2 or 3.
Incredibly empathetic and thought-provoking chats. Having submitted over 200 applications, I'd been struggling throughout Covid to find a new career direction and to put a plan in place to achieve that. What Dan helped me to do, through asking really great questions, was to bring clarity and focus to not only my search but also to what I was bringing to the table and looking to get from my future role(s).
Director of Sales, Urban Real Estate Center
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At the end of the hour, I left with one epiphany and two clear action items I'm excited to test. A strong session that exceeded my expectations.
Dan is an excellent executive coach and facilitator. He guided me through exploring one of my toughest recent professional challenges calmly and empathetically. At the end of the hour, I left with one epiphany and two clear action items I'm excited to test. A strong session that exceeded my expectations.
Challenges your problem definition and solution design in a way that you don't feel that you are being challenged. Co-creates problem definition and quickly identifies the true core problems.
Product Leader, Ernst & Young (Emerging Tech) and author of The Art of Crafting User Stories
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I can attest to his genuine passion and business acumen…
Daniel is passionate, genuine, trustworthy, and outgoing. Daniel has been my tutor at Harvard Currier House for the last two years. He has shown consistent attention to students about their concerns and is a great listener. I can attest to his genuine passion and business acumen to provide an effective solution to solve the problem of housing affordability in urban cities. He has a great sense of humor, and he always takes an extra step to help others. I am confident that Dan is a great teammate, friend, and mentor to have around.
Youtube Strategy and analytics, ex-Bain
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Daniel has a rare combination of intellectual excellence, business acumen, and social skills.
Daniel has a rare combination of intellectual excellence, business acumen, and social skills. Daniel is passionate about the intersection of the law and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, Daniel is one of the best house tutors I have had. He is very helpful and always has positive attitude. With his penchant for producing tangible results and tackling tough issues, I am confident that Daniel can make significant contributions to the company he would work for or startup he would start.
CEO GenesisAI (Series A)
 
 
 
 

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