Nucleate
Mentor
Mentor biotech and medical companies going through Nucleate
Farzad Khosravi
Fractional COO/CPO : GTM and Startups : Executive Coach
New York, United States (-05:00 UTC)from Louisville, United States
Usually responds in 14 hours
Free
Price per hour
30 min
Time Blocks Available
4.97
175 reviews / 243 sessions
Tue
10
Next availability
Farzad is the best mentor ever! It was clear from the first minutes that he really wants to help and tries to understand the business, the needs and give a concrete actionable advice, not just some general tips and recommendations. I will definitely book another consultation, as Farzad has a lot of knowledge and experience with SaaS growth strategies.
Marta Rogach
Probably THE BEST Growth Mentor session I had since I joined this awesome community!! I'm having a hard time writing something that doesn't start with "f***** awesome" 😁 The way he helps you visualize your user research process is mindblowing, I mean top top top. I have to rewatch the recordings 2x just to glean over what we've talked about. In a nutshell what Farzad provided: - mindmap with our current user research process - he identified issues and areas to improve asap - gave us a list with questions to ask during our user interviews - answered some of our most burning questions - a look inside a user research process that actually works - resources to go over to have a better understanding of how we should talk to our users (the one from Y Combinator is top)
Daniel Pirciu
Farzad is by far the best mentor I worked with on this platform. His approach is very structured through making sure we visualize where we stand to better understand the challenge at hand and to easily spot bottlenecks and through asking the right questions to tailor the recommendations. It is impeccable how efficient the sessions with him can be and the amount of points we can cover in only 30 minutes. He makes sure that we get actionable points and that the sessions don't get too descriptive. Not only this, but he will make sure to ask if he can improve the sessions and if he can help beyond that. Totally recommend him for the community, and looking forward to our next sessions. Thank you Farzad.
Sirine Karray
Bio
Hi, I’m Farzad—and I’m here to get you from ‘figuring it out’ to actually making it happen. I help founders and leaders gain clarity on their next steps, validate ideas fast, build with confidence, and scale without burning out. Whether you’re trying to find your first customers, build a killer onboarding flow, or figure out what’s actually holding you back from being a great leader — I’ll help you get unstuck and start moving. 3x Founder & Advisor: Mentored at Intel Ignite and GrowthMentor, helped 500+ founders validate ideas, build teams, and grow revenue. No BS Approach: Cutting the fluff so you get tangible, data-driven action steps and breakthroughs in record time. Deep Expertise in Emotional Intelligence: Because mindset matters just as much as strategy when you’re scaling a business. What We Can Do Together: Do Marketing & Growth Strategy - Email & Deliverability Mastery: Build campaigns that convert, from IP warm-up to segmentation. Copywriting & Positioning: Craft persuasive pages, funnels, and messaging that resonate. Growth Campaigns: Identify your top acquisition channels (including “hidden gems” like Reddit) and scale sustainably. Outcome: A clear, data-backed marketing funnel that consistently brings in (and keeps) the right customers. DoCustomer Experience & Success - Onboarding & Retention: Map the user journey, optimize touchpoints, and reduce churn. Team-Building: Hire, train, and develop your Customer Success org from scratch. Upsells & Advocacy: Convert happy users into evangelists for organic word-of-mouth. Outcome: Loyal, engaged customers who fuel your growth with referrals and case studies. Do Sales Strategy & Execution - Sales Playbook Setup: Cold email templates, CRM workflows, and prospecting tools. Sales Team Coaching: Sharpen pitch techniques, demos, and psychological triggers that close deals. Pipeline Optimization: Spot friction points and turn them into revenue accelerators. Outcome: A predictable, scalable sales machine that drives higher conversion and ROI. Do Business & Executive Coaching - Idea Validation & Venture Thinking: Test assumptions fast to avoid costly missteps. Leadership & Mindset: Break limiting beliefs, set strategic OKRs, and lead with confidence. Strategic Planning: Evaluate business models, competitor landscape, and growth roadmaps. Outcome: Crystal-clear direction, focused execution, and a leadership style that propels your entire team. Why Me? Real-World Experience: I’ve built and sold companies myself—so I know exactly what you’re facing. Holistic Growth Approach: From marketing funnels to mindset, I tackle the full spectrum of startup success. Proven Track Record: 100+ five-star reviews and countless success stories from B2B SaaS to consumer apps. No BS Startup Guide (https://nobsstartupcoach.com/startup-guide/): If you prefer to go solo, my guide has the frameworks, checklists, and templates you need—zero fluff.
Expertise
Building a team
I've helped hire, train, and onboard dozens of people across over 8 companies. From DTC and B2C or B2B. Organizational psychology is the science of building a team. I believe that you should always be using evidence-based approaches to hiring, onboarding, training, and managing your team based on the latest in the field of organizational psychology.
Content marketing
I can help you with copywriting, blog post ideas, how to do research to determine what content to write, where to expose and post your content, auditing your content marketing
Customer success
This is my bread and butter. I've started customer success teams from scratch and scaled them. I've also helped half a dozen companies build and scale their customer success orgs from scratch as a consultant.
Email marketing
I've been working in email marketing for 7 years. I can help you build email cadences, divide your segment, clean your lists, improve your sending reputation and deliverability, and create email templates and copy.
Growth marketing
I can help you design a data-driven awareness and acquisition campaign using traditional organic channels or less traditional ones like Reddit. Setting up the right campaigns for activation, retention, growth, and evangelism are key for any growth marketing strategy.
Idea validation
I'm a 3x founder and been an adviser to many others. I've been helping startups with idea validation since 2012 when I founded my university's Entrepreneurship Club. I've worked with companies across dozens of industries and been an active resource to entrepreneurs online on Reddit, Slack, Hacker news, and other places
Sales
I've built and scaled the ops (CRM, prospecting tools, etc) and strategy of sales at multiple companies. I'll help you divide sales into outbound and inbound activities, set up email tools (Apollo, etc.), CRM (Salesforce, etc), analytics, campaigns, copy, and best practices
User research
More than anything nowadays I help people with user research. I find more and more that people are failing to talk to their users and keep them as loyal and trusted partners throughout development. It's something that has been empirically shown to be #1 reason for startups failing in "Why Startups Fail" by Tom Eisenmann
Venting frustration
Everyone always tells me I should have been a therapist. I excel at listening and creating psychological safety. It's something that gives me joy. Too many of us live life feeling misunderstood and misheard. It would be my pleasure to give you a time where you feel safe and heard.
Toolkit
Customer.io
I think this is the best email tool out there. We can use it to make just time, behavioral notifications for your customers. Even better, you can use it for all your email and notification needs.
Mailchimp
I've used Mailchimp across all the businesses I've founded to start building a community with my users. Nowadays Mailchimp is so robust that it stands toe to toe with SendGrid's API.
Salesforce
I've been using Salesforce as an employee for years. But now I've had the opportunity to set it up for two organizations. Building flows for sales teams, but also entire customer experience management through Salesforce. I can help you understand what is possible
Industries
Mobile Apps
Throughout my career, I have gained extensive experience in the consumer mobile and web app industry. Specifically, I have launched two successful apps and have had the privilege to assist numerous other founders in this field. My experience has taught me valuable lessons about what it takes to create and maintain a successful app, and I am always eager to share my knowledge and expertise with others.
SaaS
I have gained valuable experience working in sales and customer success, particularly in the SaaS industry. I have had the pleasure of working with some of the top SaaS companies, and have always strived to deliver exceptional results. Furthermore, I have had the opportunity to provide mentorship and coaching to more than 100 SaaS founders, helping them to navigate the challenges of running a successful business.
Software
I have gained valuable experience working in sales and customer success, particularly in the SaaS industry. I have had the pleasure of working with some of the top SaaS companies, and have always strived to deliver exceptional results. Furthermore, I have had the opportunity to provide mentorship and coaching to more than 100 SaaS founders, helping them to navigate the challenges of running a successful business.
Experience
No BS Startup Coach
Fractional CPO and COO• Served as a fractional Marketing, Product, and Sales executive for 50+ B2B/B2C AI/ML and SaaS companies from Seed to Series C—including 4 YC startups—providing strategic recommendations, running technical product teams, and building Sales and Marketing functions to drive growth. • Unlocked outsized capital and revenue wins for early-stage teams: doubled Bricks & Bytes’ raise to $300K while cutting dilution from 35% to 9%; vaulted Flightfox (YC S12) from $9M to $25M ARR and 0 to 100+ inbound leads with one hire and zero extra spend; added $500K in revenue and landed major investments for SLS3 in 12 months; coached Humoniq.ai into YC S25 and $8.5m Seed; and 10×-expanded Sorcerer Earth’s ICP-qualified pipeline (YC S24). • Coached 50+ CEOs (including 9 Series A and 4 YC), 8 Salesforce VPs, 22 Salesforce Enterprise AEs, and executives at PayPal, HP, ServiceNow, and other Fortune 500s on strategy, leadership, sales, product, and customer success. • Fractional CPO and raise adivsor for Chief Rebel, where I hired and managed engineering and sales team. Raised over $1.5M and hit 30K MRR. • As Fractional COO at Traversaal AI (founded by exGoogle AI scientist / Stanford professor), I defined the 0-to-1 platform vision for an agentic GenAI API/SDK, aligned engineering and GTM on a roadmap of enterprise automation and custom workflow use cases, hired and led the Engineering, and grew API product usage to 8 customers. • Built and led 12+ distributed Sales, Product, and Marketing teams from scratch; rolled out OKR-driven strategic planning in eight organizations; and engineered project management frameworks to ship projects faster. • Designed and launched ~20 data-driven GTM engines, validating ICP fit, high-leverage growth channels, team architecture, and execution playbooks. Propelled every client to hit early revenue milestones and secure follow-on funding. • Architect full-funnel revenue engines, codifying ICP-based outreach
Chief Rebel
Fractional CTO/COOHiring and leading the product and sales team. Seeing product strategy.
Humoniq (YC S25)
Fractional COO/CTO#1 Employee at Humoniq (YC S25) and ran company operations as Temporary CPO, owning org design, hiring, agile product management, roadmapping, execution cadence, and cross-functional delivery while scaling an AI-powered travel support product. Put agentic LLMs into production with hands-on architecture decisions on agent workflow designs, prompting, and system boundaries. Built the evaluation + observability stack to stop argument-by-opinion: centralized Cloud Run logs, traces, and ticket artifacts; stood up regression-style prompt/agent tests; defined quality metrics (coverage %, resolution quality, failure taxonomy, drift signals); and created a repeatable release loop. Established an execution operating system that reduced decision-making thrash: clarified decision rights (DRI/RACI + lightweight ADRs), created written alignment artifacts to prevent "veto-echo loops," and implemented a cadence for prioritization, follow-ups, and accountability across Product/Eng/GTM. Built a high-signal hiring funnel and successfully hired 4 engineers across AI/LLM quality, platform/infra, and backend integrations with structured rubrics, predictive interviews and work samples. Partnered tightly with CEO/CRO to translate technical capability into revenue motion: crafted product story, demo flows, objection handling, and ROI framing so the product wasn't another "cool AI." Drove the YC + seed fundraising narrative end-to-end: tightened positioning, ICP, and "why now"; built the pipeline and materials; and secured ~$8.5M seed to fund core team buildout, product instrumentation, and early GTM motion.
Cicero
Chief Product Officer• Successfully founded and scaled the company, initially bringing on two technical co-founders and two engineers, and subsequently growing the team to six full-time employees. Successfully launched the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and a full product to thousands of users. Became revenue generating. • Fully responsible for the entire product roadmap and user workflow management, encompassing aspects such as signup, onboarding, email sequences, and in-app experience. • Conducted extensive customer development, research, and analysis. Performed in-depth interviews with dozens of customers for product validation using the 'Mom Test' approach, developed detailed user personas, and crafted a business plan for further validation. • Directed usability testing and user experience (UX) analysis, overseeing tasks from information architecture and interface design to wireframing, prototyping, analytics, and optimization, employing Agile methodologies and systems development life cycle principles. • Implemented key analytics tools such as Amplitude, Hotjar, and Google Analytics, and developed a comprehensive analytics strategy focused on critical growth metrics. Utilized both qualitative and quantitative data to validate the MVP. • Engineered a marketing strategy encompassing landing page optimization and SEO, resulting in a 500% increase in signups within a week, achieving a conversion rate of 15% for website visitors. • Managed the email marketing program, including segmentation, campaign planning, A/B testing, and detailed analytics. • Executed and refined online/digital acquisition strategies, optimizing channels for audience reach, engagement, and lead generation, and integrating SEO, content marketing, and social media marketing tactics
traversaal.ai
Fractional COO/CTOServed as Temporary COO (founded by ex‑Google AI scientist / Stanford professor), owning 0→1 platform strategy for an agentic RAG and MCP-powered GenAI API/SDK, aligning engineering and GTM on enterprise automation use cases, building and leading 5-person Engineering, and scaling the API to initial enterprise and SMB customers (2 enterprise, 6 SMB). Architected API-first platform strategy for real-time GenAI delivery, defining rate limiting, caching strategies, and CDN-like distribution patterns to ensure low-latency access for enterprise customers across geographies. Built the AI operating layer (evaluations, logging/observability, regression testing), weekly meetings with customers, and evaluated behaviors into product roadmaps Translated customer calls into contracts and specific shippable agent architectures and guardrails, ensuring production AI met exactly the use cases and led to contract fulfillment
Intel Ignite
MentorServ as a mentor for Intel Ignite founders. Intel Ignite helps turn cutting-edge ideas into industry-disrupting technologies by giving ambitious entrepreneurs the hands-on mentorship, technical support, and business acumen they need to build world-changing companies.
No BS Startup Guide
CreatorLaunch and grow your startup 3-5x faster with the No BS Startup Guide! Get +400 specific tactical activities that you can start doing today, to save 2,000 hours of research, and know exactly what to do every step of the way. Early adopters get a 70% discount on the guide with promo code NOBSPATRON – don't miss out!
Nylas
Customer Success Lead- Ensured all customer success software included all customer conversations, including calls, support tickets, emails, product reviews, requests, notes, and QBRs. Outlined processes for identifying and reporting churn risk, upsell, renewal, and retention. Began tracking churn risk customers and implemented proactive strategies to retain their business. - Outlined and implemented an onboarding plan for the Director of CS and Director of Implementation Engineering, assisted in developing their OKRs and annual action plans. - Collaborated with the Product Team to improve customer accessibility and prioritization of resolving various issues. Onboarded the first PM and together pushed towards Agile product management. Served as the voice of customers to the Engineering and Product team. Formalized beta testing, validation, and ideation processes for product enhancements. - Advocated for the resources to improve the stability and reliability of our product. Compiled calls, emails, and support tickets from 25% of customers to demonstrate millions in lost revenue due to low reliability. - Consulted with the VP of Engineering, encouraged the automation of manual processes related to Google verification, estimated to facilitated +2M ARR in the first two quarters of 2021. - Integrated CRM with our support ticketing system, Zendesk, to ensure all customers were assigned to the appropriate SLA, CSM, and marked at onboarding when new, giving them priority help. - Collaborated with the Sales Engineering, Support Engineering, and Technical Writers to create the first technical onboarding checklist for customers. Determined various upsell opportunities for the Sales team. - Headed all ordering and set up of hardware and software for new employees in the Denver office, trained the use of standard tools and the Nylas platform.
Selador
Advisor- File transfer for the new space age. Communicate with your satellites and spacecraft at unparalleled speeds. - Built a team of three technical cofounders and managed the product roadmap. - Reached out to prospective customers for research, validation, and testing - Created the full sales process from discovery to closing business. Designed website and marketing strategy.
Nylas
Customer Success- Became the first CSM in company history, expanded and onboarded the team to include four CSMs, a Director of CS, a Director of Implementation, and a three-person technical onboarding team. - Oversaw the management of various accounts, beginning with 250+ accounts valued at $4M ARR and growing to more than 450 accounts worth $8M ARR, including 15 enterprise customers with over 500 employees and $70K+ MRR. - Utilized Retool, Kibana, and HoneyComb to investigate technical engineering and API issues, facilitating effective and timely resolution with minimal disruption to service. - Spearheaded a project with the top 20 customers to gain insight into significant pain points, monitored CS and engineering teamwork, scoped five months of product enhancement to hedge against $4M of risked ARR. Collaborated with three engineers and presented the project at our annual hackathon. Led to a revamp of engineering resources and the 2021 roadmap. - Launched innovative automated and regular NPS surveys, flagged detractors for investigation and contact, resulting in a double-digit increase in NPS within four months. Delivered a recommended action plan to executive leadership. Created customer happiness score based on CSAT, NPS, and CSM sentiment assessment. - Deployed the first onboarding plan in Nylas history, decreasing first-year churn, directing customers to desired outcomes efficiently, and reducing tickets per customer. Designed the first-ever customizable onboarding playbook that ensured timely integration and go-live for customers. Ensured alignment of sales and marketing material to customer needs. - Introduced a customer story program to gather case studies and public-facing reviews, improved score from 2.3 to 4.0 on G2 Crowd, identified five times more case study candidates, and multiplied our referenceable customer list by 20.
Twickle.co
AdvisorTwickle helps streamers gain, grow, and retain followers.
Monitordroid Inc.
Cofounder- Functioned as product owner and manager. - Used JIRA, Agile, and product roadmaps to guide software development. - Facilitated the acquisition of thousands of users, including paying customers (businesses and individuals) - Developed inclusive marketing strategies and analyzed user behavior. - Identified engineering priorities using Google Analytics, CrazyEgg, Mixpanel, Hubspot, A/B testing, and KissMetrics. - Utilized HTML+CSS to outline marketing, conversion optimization, SEO, and website development. - Oversaw all aspects of the user experience, including customer success, UX/UI, and onboarding.
CampusScene
Co-Founder• CampusScene was an app that served as the social hub for college students, connecting them to each other and their campus. Students can easily manage and keep track of their college life by keeping up-to-date with the events, publications, and social activities on campus • Engaged in product development and research; coordinated activities and motivated development • Runner-up at the Hamilton Pitch Competition
My best written content
- https://sapphire-creator-9e5.notion.site/The-Ultimate-No-BS-Guide-For-Startups-With-Dozens-of-Free-Resources-From-Ideation-Validation-and--abbb85905f3840feae634a42025af3d5
- https://farzadkhosravi.medium.com/science-and-kindness-can-radically-change-how-we-give-feedback-and-in-turn-peoples-mental-health-b9e9e37addf1
- https://farzadkhosravi.medium.com/in-defense-of-brave-souls-the-importance-of-individual-thought-in-a-world-that-values-conformity-1cf8c666e800