Herb Cogliano, Founder and Executive Coach
I give founders options by turning operators into architects.
I work with founders of $3 million to $50 million companies who have the start of a leadership team and want to build the team that can take them to $100 million. Together we build a leadership team that runs the business, write down who decides what, and put guardrails in place that make that autonomy safe. The founder gets to choose what comes next: stay and scale, hand day-to-day leadership to the team, take time back for family and health, or one day sell.
Why I do this work
For nearly four decades I’ve worked full-time inside founder-led companies. As CEO of Sullivan & Cogliano, my family’s staffing and education firm founded in 1966, I led the company through three Inc. 5000 appearances and multiple Boston and South Florida Business Journal Best Places to Work awards.
For years I was also the person most decisions waited on. What changed the company was building a leadership team that owned those decisions. That is the work I now do with founders, and I call it Founder Independence.
How I work
Every engagement starts with a diagnostic that names the one or two constraints keeping the business dependent on the founder. From there we work in 90-day priorities inside a 12-month engagement, with the founder and often the leadership team, through the CEO Program or the Leadership Team Program. As a Certified Scaling Up Coach, I use Scaling Up tools where they serve that goal. As a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), I make sure the work builds value whatever path the founder chooses.
I keep the practice small on purpose, so every client works with me directly.
The book
My book, Founder Independence, with a foreword by Verne Harnish, launches in early 2027.
Credentials
- Certified Scaling Up Coach
- Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA)
- Two-time founder
- Previously taught the Scaling Up Master Business Course
- BSBA, Boston College, 1987
- MBA, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 2016, Beta Gamma Sigma honoree
Service
- Board of Advisors, Carroll School of Management, Boston College
- Former Board of Directors, American Staffing Association
- Past President, Massachusetts Association of Staffing Services
- Former board roles at Employment Resources, Inc. and Junior Achievement
Outside the office
Black belt in Kenpo Karate, three marathons and the Wisconsin Full Ironman.
Let’s see if we’re a fit
If your company still runs through you, let’s talk. Schedule a call at meetings.hubspot.com/herb1.
Herb Cogliano, Founder and Executive Coach
781-953-3355 | herb@aspiregrowthadvisors.com
