Coaching for Entrepreneurs to Support and Grow their Businesses and Professional Development

For over fifteen years, we have been working with entrepreneurs and businesses to support and grow their businesses. We recognize that it takes much more than financial support to get a company off the ground. Thus we assist in every aspect and allow business owners to take their businesses to the next level.

Coaching for Growth

What’s Your Next Move?

Understanding eCommerce provides the tools and coaching support to grow your business from a business plan to a profitable venture and beyond. Why go it alone? We offer a one-stop shop for the most critical business intelligence, best practices, and financial strategies for entrepreneurs who are serious about business.

With our business knowledge and experience, we can help you transform your vision into a business. We have managed and grown numerous businesses – some were stellar successes, some were not. We learned from both. Our executive team offers insight, experience, and a hands-on approach to cultivating, managing, and growing commercially successful businesses.

We are committed to providing the business resources and constant support necessary to transform great ideas into even better companies. We recognize that it takes much more than financial support to get a company off the ground; thus, we assist in every aspect along the way, allowing you to develop and grow a profitable business.

One key to success is knowing what has and hasn’t worked elsewhere. We bring business knowledge and experience from across multiple industries to suit your unique needs. From providing short-term business advice to becoming your long-term partner, we can offer solutions to grow your business.

Coaching for Entrepreneurs

Michael P. Doherty – Founder

Mike Doherty, the founder of Business Coach for Executives, has over 25 years of finance, business development, strategy, and planning experience. Mike has launched and managed several ventures personally, so he understands the challenges of managing day-to-day operations while remaining focused on growth opportunities and the bottom line. He has also worked as an investor and a lender and recognizes these parties’ demands and expectations to the mix. Mike’s clients benefit from both perspectives.

Mentor at enpact – supporting responsible entrepreneurs with our innovative mentor programs by creating entrepreneur spaces and analyzing cities’ startup friendliness.
Mentor at SBC Digital Health – Startupbootcamp Digital Health Berlin is the leading program supporting innovative companies combining medical knowledge with smart technologies, with a special focus on behavior change, diagnostics, and genomics, big data, and analytics.
Expert at the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program – Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation program ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020) – in addition to the private investment that this money will attract. It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries, and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market.

Mike has an extensive background in corporate investments, including evaluating and underwriting over $100 million in venture debt financing for emerging growth companies. Before Business Coach for Executives, he was a director at Third Coast Capital, a venture lending organization that committed more than $125 million in venture debt investments. Mike was one of the first employees when Third Coast was established in 1996 with an initial investment by Cargill, Inc., the largest privately held company in the United States. His focus was originating and underwriting venture staged debt products.

In 1998, the group sold Third Coast Capital to DVI, Inc. (NYSE “DVI”). Mike continued as a director through 2002. During Mike’s tenure at Third Coast, the company grew to become the 4th largest venture debt provider in the United States. The portfolio included 60 investments in 17 states and returned a time-weighted gross IRR of 33.2%. This performance level is in the top quartile of all venture funds for cumulative vintage year composite performance (upper quartile minimum 30.2%).

Before Third Coast Capital, Mike was a principal of Southport Systems, Inc., a consulting firm advising clients on asset management, leasing operations, and credit underwriting. Also, he has served as a portfolio manager for numerous leasing portfolios.

Mike has a BS in Commerce from DePaul University in Chicago. Mike is also an Alumnus of the 1997 Class of the Venture Capital Institute (VCI) and the 2006 Class of Leadership San Francisco (LSF). Mike has served on the Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA) boards and the SF Small Business Network (SBN). Mike taught finance, marketing, and business planning at the Renaissance Entrepreneurial Center and taught Entrepreneurship to At-Risk Youth in the Changing the Odds Program.

He currently resides in Berlin with his family.