Douty Consulting · Est. 2010 · Portola Valley, CA

I have sat in the CEO seat four times. I help founders move faster in theirs.

Not slides. Momentum. Two ways I work with founders and CEOs: redesigning the company around AI, and building the commercial company around dual-use and deep-tech technology. Start where you are.

Book a conversation About Steve

Artemis I · NASA/Joel Kowsky

§ 01 — The practice

Two ways I work

01 / AI-First

Redesign the company around AI

A company of 20 can operate like 50, but only if the scaffolding is built for AI from the start: canonical documents, virtual organizations, orchestration, and a redesigned operating cadence.
Explore AI-First
02 / Dual-Use

Build the company around the technology

For dual-use and deep-tech founders. Finding the market that will actually pay, running lean enough to reach it, making the sales motion repeatable, and being ready when it is time to raise.
Explore Dual-Use

I have been in the seat you are in — four times as CEO, and dozens more as the person the CEO calls when things need to move.

Hotmail. MSN. Yahoo!. Moxie. I have built products used by hundreds of millions, raised the money, closed the acquisitions, and repositioned companies that had lost the thread. I know what it takes because I have had to do it myself.

Today I work with a small number of founders at a time, as a fractional operator, an advisor, and a peer. The through-line across every engagement: turn strategy into decisions, and decisions into momentum.

4×

CEO

$120M

Capital raised

$900M

3 exits

20+

Companies advised

Not sure which fits? Start with a conversation.

Tell me where your company stands. We will figure out the two or three moves that matter most in the next ninety days, fit or no fit.

Book a conversation

I have sat in the CEO seat four times. I help founders move faster in theirs.

Two ways I work

Redesign the company around AI

Build the company around the technology

Not sure which fits? Start with a conversation.