Make Any Room Care About What You Do.
A ten-week working program for founders who are ready to become stronger commercial leaders—not just better builders. Develop the narrative, judgment, presence and commercial conviction to lead investors, partners, customers and stakeholders toward action.
Founders are no longer only builders.
As the company grows, the founder becomes part of what investors, partners, customers and employees are evaluating. Technical expertise may have created the business. It does not automatically create the commercial clarity, executive presence or conviction needed to lead it through the next stage.
The business needs the founder to become someone other people can understand, believe and follow.
Founder Leadership develops that capability against the founder's actual company—not through generic presentation theory.
Four questions sit underneath the room.
Whether the audience is an investor, partner, customer or stakeholder, the founder has to create conviction—not simply transfer information.
Conviction
Strengthen founder identity, credibility and the ability to speak from a clear commercial point of view.
Clarity
Translate what the company does into a narrative that makes value understandable to people outside the product.
Connection
Build trust, relationships and communication that move beyond explanation into genuine stakeholder engagement.
Conversion
Carry conviction into capital, partnerships, customer conversations and concrete commercial action.
Tools that become habits—not worksheets that disappear afterward.
The program turns the Commercial Conviction Method into practical systems founders can continue using long after Week 10.
Founder Narrative
A durable way to explain the company, the problem, the value and why this founder is positioned to lead it.
Objection + Q&A System
Build composure and clear responses around the hard questions that investors, buyers and partners actually ask.
Relationship System
Turn networking from occasional activity into an intentional commercial practice with follow-through.
Ten weeks. One progression.
Each week builds on the previous one so the founder leaves with an integrated commercial leadership system rather than ten unrelated lessons.
Identity Shift
Move from builder thinking toward commercial leadership.
Making Them Care
Turn what you do into value an outside audience can understand and feel.
The Company Narrative
Build the durable story the company can carry into multiple rooms.
The Investor's Mind
Understand what investors are evaluating beyond the product itself.
The Pitch
Rebuild the pitch for clarity, conviction and confident delivery.
Q&A + Objections
Handle difficult questions without losing composure or credibility.
The Funding Landscape
Think more broadly about capital, revenue, partnerships and funding pathways.
Relationships + Network
Build a repeatable system for creating and advancing commercial relationships.
Executive Presence
Develop the presence and judgment that hold up when the room gets difficult.
Commercial Conviction Showcase
Bring the work together in a capstone presentation and real-world application.
Not a certificate. A working commercial system.
The program is designed to produce assets and capabilities the founder continues using: clearer communication, stronger preparation, better relationships and greater confidence in high-stakes commercial rooms.
A practical system the founder can continue using after the cohort ends.
A clearer, more durable way to communicate why the business matters.
Not merely new slides—the ability to carry the message with conviction.
Prepared thinking for the questions and resistance the founder actually encounters.
A broader approach to capital, commercial relationships and next-step opportunities.
This is not a recorded course.
The work is intentionally live, small and connected to what founders are facing inside their companies right now.
Two hours each week spent discussing, building, practicing and applying—not passively consuming lessons.
Cohorts stay intentionally limited so founders can work through real situations and receive meaningful attention.
Fieldwork is applied to the founder's actual narrative, pitch, relationships, challenges and commercial opportunities.
Develop the leader. Then build what the business needs around them.
Founder Leadership is distinct from Rice Revenue's Fractional Sales Leadership work. One develops the founder's commercial leadership. The other builds and leads the company's sales organization. In some businesses, one eventually exposes the need for the other.
Build commercial conviction, communication and leadership.
Build process, pipeline, qualification, messaging and operating discipline.
Add leadership, coaching and infrastructure as the company grows.
Operator. Leader. Teacher.
Founder Leadership draws on Mark's experience leading people, commercial organizations and teaching others to operate with greater confidence.
Small on purpose.
Founder Leadership runs as a live cohort rather than an always-open recorded product. Talk with Mark about current or upcoming cohort availability and whether the program matches your stage and goals.
Talk With MarkFounder Leadership FAQ
Who is Founder Leadership designed for?
The program is designed for founders who need to become stronger commercial leaders: communicating the business, navigating investors and partners, building relationships, handling difficult questions and leading important rooms with greater clarity and conviction.
What is the weekly time commitment?
The live working session is two hours per week for ten weeks. Founders should also expect fieldwork applied to their own company. A realistic overall commitment is roughly three to four hours per week.
Is the program recorded or live?
It is designed as a live, small-group working program—not a passive prerecorded course.
Do I need to be raising venture capital?
No. Investor communication is part of the program, but the underlying capabilities also apply to customer conversations, partnerships, stakeholder relationships and broader commercial leadership.
How is this different from Fractional Sales Leadership?
Founder Leadership develops the founder as a commercial leader. Fractional Sales Leadership addresses the company's sales system, team, pipeline, coaching and commercial operating infrastructure. They solve different problems.
When is the next cohort?
Cohort timing and availability change throughout the year. Talk with Mark for the current schedule and upcoming availability.
What does the program cost?
Cohort structure and availability can vary. Talk with Mark about the current program, eligibility and enrollment details.
The company grew. Now the founder has to grow with it.
If the business is asking you to lead rooms, conversations and commercial decisions you were never trained for, Founder Leadership may be the right next step.
Talk With Mark