Leadership Coaching
from a Seasoned Product Executive in Silicon Valley
I'm Yue Zhao, a leadership coach who helps women and minority leaders accelerate their careers and reach the C-suite. I'm a Chief Product Officer with 15+ years of experience across growth-stage startups and tier-1 consumer tech companies, and I'll help you unlock your potential and accelerate your growth to executive levels.
I help aspiring executives reach the c-suite
Career Strategy
I am not growing. I take on more but don't see change. How do I put myself on a different path and position myself for growth over the next 3-5 years?
Team Performance
My team is constantly spinning due to conflicts and debates. I feel like I am jumping from fire to fire and juggling too many issues at one time. How do I better anticipate and resolve conflict?
Building a Narrative
I want to be perceived as a leader and rising star at my company. Currently, I'm viewed only as a strong executor. How do I change how others perceive me?
Mental Health & Resilience
I have too many priorities on my plate and I am feeling overwhelmed and overworked daily. How do I get my work into a manageable load?
Strategy & Leadership
don't have the buy-in of senior leaders at my company. My decisions don't stick. My ideas aren't heard. How do I manage up to my leadership?
Combating bias
I am not viewed as leadership material. Others take credit for my work. Mistakes are blown out of proportion. I get feedback that I am aggressive or intimidating. What is the best way to manage these biases?
About me
Coaching Experience:
I am a leadership coach for Directors, VPs, and SVPs who aspire to the C-suite. Since 2016, I have coached hundreds of clients through successful promotions to VP+, landing step-up roles at their target companies, and growing their leadership toolkit.
My style is 50% inquiry-based and 50% tactics and advisory based on my own successful operating experiences. My unique background as an entrepreneur, operator, venture capitalist, and a woman and minority in the C-suite in Silicon Valley is invaluable to having me as your coach.
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I am a published author (The Uncommon Executive: Breakthrough to the C-suite as a Minority), an executive coach for Women In Product, CHIEF, and AWCC, and an instructor at Reforge and Maven.
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Professional experience:
I was the Chief Product & Technology Officer with Fuzzy Pet Health ($88M raised, series C, Matrix, Greycroft). I ran a 100+ person organization including PM, design, engineering, and research. I was also a PM manager at Meta and Instagram and was promoted twice in four years. Prior, I was the first Product Manager at Thumbtack (backed by Sequoia & Google Ventures) where I helped the company 10X in 5 years.
Outside of product, I am a venture partner now advisor with LifeX Ventures, an $100M early-stage fund investing in Healthtech and Climatech. I have co-founded a failed wine startup and began my career at McKinsey and Company. ​
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I have a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Coaching High Achieving Leaders at Top Tier Companies
Ways We Can Work Together
1:1 Executive Coaching
We meet for 60 minutes every month. We will do an in-depth intake process to assess your strengths and areas for improvement before the first session. I will also conduct 360 reviews with 3-4 influential stakeholders. Along with the coaching sessions, you will access async via Slack and email, and receive an invite to my exclusive community of clients and students. 6-month minimum commitment.
Group Coaching
8-week Group Coaching program where you'll learn how to unlock your full potential and put yourself on the fast track to executive levels. Includes a unique blend of curriculum, coaching, and community focused on women and minorities in executive leadership that you will not find anywhere else.
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Learn how to become a top 1% leader and perform at your best.
5 star reviews
Yue was invaluable to me in thinking through and facilitating my move to VP, and then coaching me through the challenges I faced. She helped me better understand how I was limiting myself and my opportunities, and how to adjust it to reach my full potential. I've always appreciated Yue's honesty and 'realness' above all else; it is refreshing and balanced, and I always leave our sessions feeling a renewed sense of clarity and direction.
VP, Consumer Tech Public Company
Yue brings invaluable experience having served as a product leader at both hyper-growth and big tech companies. This means I trust her perspective as a product coach. From our very first session, she provided transparent feedback on where I'm at and practical guidance on what I need to do to work towards my long-term work and career goals.
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Product Leader, Series C Enterprise SaaS startup
Yue has been instrumental in guiding my transition into product management from previous roles in product and operations. In just two sessions, Yue skillfully navigated through my short-term aspirations and long-term objectives, offering invaluable insights to craft a clear path forward.
What truly sets Yue apart is her ability to foster a nonjudgmental environment where she genuinely delves into who we are, understanding our unique interests and motivations, and tailoring her guidance accordingly. Prior to working with Yue, I had never engaged with a career coach, but her blend of coaching prowess and extensive PM expertise proved to be an absolute game-changer and a wise investment. I wholeheartedly recommend Yue to anyone seeking to embark on a journey into product management.
Head of Growth, Hyper-Growth Startup
Yue is on my speed dial. I was recently promoted to manage formerly my peers and I had a bad case of fright and imposter syndrome. Yue helped me think through what type of manager I want to be before jumping into a plan or even reading resources.
She really cares for people and is a solid visionary and executor!
IC7 Product Manager, Amazon
I wanted to thank you for the wonderful coaching sessions you gave me this year.
Those lessons have helped me up-level, not only as a PM but also as a person seeking clarity in his personal journey.
* On the professional side, I found your "managing up" and "written communication" strategies to be particularly helpful. Those helped me communicate at scale in an increasingly complex org.
* On the personal side, your encouragement nudged me over to starting a startup. Recently, I got a term sheet from a VC. Although the terms aren't ideal ($1M on $6M cap) and I may pivot, the most important lesson is getting started on this track.
So, thank you so much for the wonderful help you gave me this year.
Founder and Entrepreneur
Yue was a phenomenal mentor and coach. She dug deep into my motivations and shared how I could validate these interests through my ongoing work. She also shed light on the different career trajectories to consider based on my passions and skillsets, which was so valuable for me to understand and think about the long-term direction. As we established a monthly meeting, Yue was never short of spot-on questions, and honest feedback and genuinely cared for my growth and well-being. All in all, I can't say enough about Yue's wisdom, knowledge, and support for my career development, and would highly recommend working with her!
VP of Product, ClimateTech
Yue is an amazing coach! Yue gave me a way to think about what I wanted long term and worked with me through how to negotiate the transition in terms of levels and comp. She was vital in every step of the process, from creating a vision of where I wanted to be to the tactical compensation negotiations. Highly recommend!
Director of Engineering, Series C Healthcare Startup
I reached out to Yue when I was at the crossroads of my career. She gave me a framework and exercises to help me think through different scenarios. We then put those scenarios to practice: I worked with her on various topics, such as leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and managing up. She helped me level up my thinking and made a tremendous impact on accelerating my promotion timelines
PM Lead at LinkedIn
Our convos have really helped me the past few weeks; becoming a new mom has been challenging and workshopping things with you, hearing about your own experience, and learning to shift my mindset has been clarifying. Looking forward to future discussions and thanks for everything so far!
Head of Product, Tier-I Financial Services Startup
All testimonials are confidential and I will not provide live references to maintain the privacy of my clients.
1300+
Hours coaching & teaching
300+
Clients served;
3-6 months
median time to promotion or new role
50%-200%
Increase in compensation
90%
Renewal & Upgrade rate
The Uncommon Executive
Breakthrough to the C-Suite as a minority
One of the most challenging, emotional, and time-consuming topics that come up in career conversations is how to break through from middle management into executive levels –VP or C-Suite. It is one topic where I get consistently bombarded with doubt, confusion, and fear.
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This book seeks to provide a path forward through that doubt and confusion and be a guide for aspiring executives to follow in their journey to the top. It shines a light on what being an executive truly entails, what hiring committees look for, and what skills are truly critical for success. It then offers off-the-beaten-path (e.g. not white-male-centric) examples and tactics on landing stretch assignments, overcoming biases and stereotypes, finding your superpower, and finding role models in less obvious places.
More Resources
More about me​
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The Uncommon Executive: Breakthrough to the C-suite as a Minority
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Maven Cohort-Based Courses: Mastering Executive Presence & Unleashing Your Leadership Superpower
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Product & Leadership Programs​
Is Coaching Right for me?
Confidentiality
I take confidentiality very seriously. All interactions which take place in the setting of career coaching are considered confidential. This includes requests by telephone, all interactions with me, and any progress notes that I take during your sessions. I will not verify that you are a client or use your name or situation publicly in any identifiable way.