John is considered to be one of the premier coaches in Silicon Valley, having coached executives from companies like Apple, Nike and Twitter, as well as new venture founders from companies like Zesty, BloomThat and Townsquared to name a few. He has coached CEOs and senior executives for over 20 years, with a specialty in coaching start-up CEOs in the early stages of their funding cycles. He started his first coaching company, ExecutivEdge of Silicon Valley, almost 20 years ago, and it is recognized as one of the most respected executive coaching firms in the Bay Area. John transitioned to his new company, Edgeman Coaching in 2016 to continue his work with established companies. He considers his 25 years of coaching work at Apple, during their fast growth period to present, to be among his most significant coaching achievements.
John’s passion for developing entrepreneurial leadership resulted in the formation of a new company, Velocity Group, with his partner Ben Tauber in 2015. His early study of start-up CEOs, Survival in the Fast Lane, provides a research-backed conceptual and practical framework for coaching start-up CEOs around critical leadership issues at various stages of the company and product development cycle. John brings a strong business perspective to his work, helping leaders leverage their natural talents and expand their skill sets to the next level. John is passionate about innovation and change and helping leaders to scale and transform their organizations. CEOs have found his advice, counsel and practical tools very helpful in scaling their companies and avoiding many of the pitfalls along the way.
John holds a PhD in Organizational Communication and Leadership from Purdue University. He spent 17 years on the faculty at San Jose State University in the College of Business and was named Outstanding Professor of the entire University during his time there.