For Founders

You don’t need more advice.
You need a real partner.

You’ve got traction, but revenue isn’t growing fast enough to satisfy your investors — or yourself. Nobody taught you how to turn early wins into a real sales pipeline — and the people around you keep saying “great idea!” instead of helping you figure out what’s actually working and what isn’t.

I’ve been in your chair. I co-founded and exited a company, mentored 100+ startups, and then went deep on enterprise sales. Now I work side-by-side with founders like you — one full day a week, for 60–90 days — to build the customer discovery and revenue skills that nobody else is teaching you.

Book a free call → See your rights first
Dan Weeks
100+
Startups mentored
5 yrs
Teaching Entrepreneurship at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
1
Founder exit — BrightScope (2016)
16 mo
Enterprise sales (TCV-backed)
The gap nobody teaches

You’re not the problem. The missing tools are.

You’re smart, you’re driven, and you’re doing everything you can think of. But somewhere between “great idea” and “paying customer,” there’s a gap that effort alone won’t close.

“Everyone says it’s a great idea”
Friends and colleagues tell you they love it. But they’re not the ones who’ll write a check. Real validation means talking to actual buyers and hearing things you might not want to hear — and most founders were never taught how to do that.
Revenue goals keep sliding to “next quarter”
You don’t have a sales muscle and you know it. You’ve tried cold emails, LinkedIn, demos — but nothing sticks. A pipeline isn’t a spreadsheet of hope. It’s a process you haven’t been given yet.
You pivoted, but the old assumptions stayed
After a pivot, everything about the customer might be different. But the clock is running and the pressure to show progress means you skip redoing discovery. The customer you’re building for may not exist anymore.
You’re working alone on the hardest part
Your investor writes checks but can’t coach you through a sales call. Your mentors give 30 minutes of advice and move on. You need someone embedded — in the room, at the whiteboard, every week — who’s done this before.
Your Rights

The Founder’s Bill of Rights

Whether you hire me directly or your investor sponsors the engagement, these commitments are for you. Here’s exactly what you can expect when Pismo Point Advisory works with you.

It starts free.
The Sprint Readiness Check costs you nothing. Using the CHAIN™ diagnostic framework, I’ll interview you and your investor separately to understand the real situation, identify the riskiest assumptions, and surface the true bottleneck. You’ll receive a CHAIN™ Readiness Report with a clear diagnosis and recommendation — yours to keep whether or not you proceed. No pitch. No obligation. Just clarity.
I show up in person.
I work two half-days a week or one full day with you — embedded, not remote. I have a home in San Luis Obispo and in San Diego County, and I prioritize partnerships in both regions so I can sit in your office, walk through problems at the whiteboard, and build trust the way it actually gets built: face to face. This isn’t a fixed weekly meeting — it’s an ongoing relationship that intensifies when you hit a knothole and eases when you’re moving. Most founders describe it as having someone who always knows where things stand and shows up fully when you need it most.
These seven commitments are non-negotiable. They define how I work with every founder.
1
I work for you.
My daily work, my loyalty, and my coaching are for you — full stop. Whether you’re paying directly or your investor is sponsoring the engagement, I’m an embedded teammate, not a consultant reporting to a board, and not a fixer sent to clean up a mess. One of the most experienced angel investors I interviewed told me the most important thing an advisor can do is tell the founder upfront: “My goal is to make myself obsolete.” That’s my goal. When the sprint ends, you should never need me again.
2
No reporting behind your back.
Every metric, every pipeline update, every piece of progress — you see it first. If your investor is sponsoring the engagement, you’re in the room whenever we present to them, and there is no separate narrative about your company’s health. An angel who ran a dozen executives-in-residence at a cleantech accelerator said it directly: “I would always want the founder to see the person as working for them.” That’s the only way this works.
3
You keep everything.
The prospect lists, the CRM, the cadence sequences, the interview data, the MBR dashboard — it’s all yours. Built in your Google Workspace. Using your accounts. I don’t take anything with me. The whole point is that after 60–90 days, you own a repeatable system and the skills to run it. The tools I bring replicate a $600/month enterprise sales stack at zero cost. They stay in your Drive forever.
4
Data instead of guesses.
I replace “hope and hustle” with structured evidence. In the Discovery Sprint, that means real customer problem interviews — not pitches, not demos — where we separate assumptions from facts together. In the Revenue Sprint, that means a pipeline dashboard with named opportunities, conversion rates, and a 30/60/90-day forecast your investor has never seen before. The data gives you confidence. It also gives your investor an objective view of where the company actually stands — not what you hope is true.
5
A safe place to be honest.
Founders go quiet when things aren’t working. I know — I’ve been there. I’m the person you can be honest with. If the customer isn’t right, we’ll figure that out together. If the product needs to pivot, we’ll build the evidence. You can be candid, get feedback, and know nobody’s going to judge you for what you’re struggling with.
6
You can walk away.
Thirty days in, either of us can say “this isn’t working” and we’re done. Your investor has spent $1,500 — not $50K on a bridge round with no new information. This protects you from an unproductive engagement, and it protects me from pouring effort into a situation where the fit isn’t right. If the Sprint Readiness Check tells me you need a fractional CFO, a different hire, or a hard conversation with your investor — I’ll tell you that directly instead of selling you a sprint you don’t need.
7
I’ll be honest with you.
If what you’re building doesn’t solve a problem anyone will pay for, I’ll tell you. If the right call is to wind things down, I’ll help you navigate that conversation — with your investor if there is one, or with yourself if there isn’t. I’ll tell you what the data says, even when it’s not what you want to hear. That’s what a coach does.
Two ways to engage

Some founders come to me through their angel investor — the angel sponsors a 30-day discovery or revenue sprint because they want their portfolio company to find repeatable revenue faster. Others come directly, funding the engagement themselves because they’d rather move now than wait for investor alignment.

Both work the same way. The sprint is built around you, the deliverables belong to you, and the pace is set by you. The only difference is who signs the invoice.

If you’re not sure which path makes sense for your situation, that’s what the first call is for.

Step 1 — Free

Sprint Readiness Check

Before anything starts, I talk with you and your investor — separately — to understand the real situation. Using the CHAIN™ diagnostic framework (validated across 700+ companies), I separate your assumptions from your facts, find the bottleneck, and give you a clear-eyed view of where things stand.

Four possible outcomes
AI Autopilot Sprint
You’re busy, not effective
You know AI matters but don’t know what to build first. Foundation sprint — install the leverage before any other sprint.
Discovery Sprint
Your customer isn’t validated
You need structured discovery before anything else makes sense. Let’s find out if the problem is real.
Revenue Sprint
Customer is known, pipeline isn’t
You know the customer but can’t convert. You need a process — and a coach to help you build it.
Honest Redirect
Not a sprint problem
Maybe you need a fractional CFO, a different hire, or a hard conversation. I’ll tell you directly.

The CHAIN™ Readiness Report is yours to keep — whether or not you proceed with a sprint. Most founders have never had someone separate their assumptions from their facts. That clarity alone is worth the conversation.

The sprints

AI Autopilot Sprint OS™, Discovery Sprint OS™ & Revenue Sprint OS™

Start with AI Autopilot to build the leverage that powers everything else. Move to Discovery to validate the problem. Graduate to Revenue once the foundation is solid. You do the work and keep the tools — whether you’re paying directly or your investor is sponsoring.

AI Autopilot Sprint OS™
I work side-by-side with you to install the AI operating cadence that powers everything that comes next — three Claude Projects in daily use, Cowork agents running weekly loops, and one full day a week back.
Before the projects: the foundation most founders skip

Before installing Claude Projects or building cadence, you need to answer four questions.

1
Where Time Goes
A real audit, not a guess — the baseline for hours-reclaimed measurement.
2
What Repeats
Which workflows happen weekly? Recurring is what compounds with AI.
3
Context Claude Needs
Docs, transcripts, CRM, brand voice — the project knowledge that makes output trustable.
4
What “Good” Looks Like
Your quality bar. Without this, AI output is “fine” but never trusted.
Principle: You build the projects with me, not after me. I coach the technique; you ship the cadence loops. After 45 days, you can run the whole system without me — and teach the next person on your team.
Built on credentialed Anthropic methodology. Four Anthropic Academy certifications already in hand — AI Fluency: Framework & Foundations, Introduction to Claude Cowork, Claude 101, and Introduction to Agent Skills. The remaining two — Teaching AI Fluency and AI Capabilities & Limitations — are in progress. What gets installed in your sprint isn’t opinion about what works. It’s the same curriculum Anthropic uses to train its own ecosystem.
1
Claude Projects (×3)
A Discovery project, a Sales/Pipeline project, and a Founder OS project — each loaded with your real docs, transcripts, CRM exports, and voice. The Discovery and Sales projects are deliberately scoped so they hand off into Discovery Sprint and Revenue Sprint when you graduate.
2
Claude Cowork Agents
Agents running specific knowledge-work loops on a schedule you own — investor update, pipeline review, customer interview synthesis. The exit-clause gate at Day 30 is one full Cowork loop running end-to-end.
3
Anthropic Skills Library
5+ reusable Skills tied to your recurring workflows. Documented in Thinkific so you can teach the next person on your team without me.
4
Anthropic Academy + Pismo Point Thinkific
Co-requisite curriculum — Anthropic Academy AI Fluency tracks alongside Pismo Point’s Thinkific modules drawn from five years of “learn by doing” entrepreneurship teaching at Cal Poly SLO. Live debriefs after each module, not lecture-only.
5
Time Audit + Reclaimed-Hours Baseline
Google Sheets. Phase 1 captures your “before” week. Phase 3 measures the “after.” The gap is the budget that funds Discovery or Revenue Sprint — one full day a week.
6
AI Operating Cadence
Daily (15 min), weekly (45 min), monthly (90 min) AI rhythms documented in Thinkific. The system you run on your own after Day 45.
Days 1–15
Time audit baseline + Anthropic Academy + Thinkific foundation modules + first Founder OS project live
Days 16–30
Discovery, Sales, and Founder OS projects live; first Cowork loop running end-to-end — exit-clause gate
Days 31–45
Expand to 3+ Cowork loops; ship 5+ Skills; document the operating cadence in Thinkific
Day 45 MBR
We present hours-reclaimed, projects in use, and hand-off plan to your investor — real metrics, not promises
3
Claude Projects in daily use
3+
Cowork loops running weekly
8+
Hours/week reclaimed — one full day
45
Days to a working AI cadence
What you walk away with at Day 45
🤖
3 Claude Projects
Discovery, Sales, Founder OS
⚙️
3+ Cowork Agents
Weekly loops you own
📚
5+ Skills Library
Documented in Thinkific
⏱️
One Day Back
Measured, not estimated
📋
Operating Cadence
Daily / weekly / monthly
The 30-day exit ramp: If you haven’t completed at least one weekly cadence loop end-to-end through Claude (typically the investor update or pipeline review) and finished the Anthropic Academy + Thinkific foundation modules by Day 30, we stop. Not as punishment — as protection. A founder who can’t run one loop in 30 days won’t run ten in 90. Your investor has spent $1,500 — not 45 days waiting for the spark to land.
Discovery Sprint OS™
I work side-by-side with you to validate whether you’re solving a problem worth solving — before you burn another quarter building features nobody asked for.
1
Problem Interview Framework
Mom Test + CHAIN methodology. I design the script, sit in on the first 3–5 interviews live, and debrief every one with you.
2
Evidence Tracker
Google Sheets. Every interview logged, patterns tracked, kill-signal monitoring, weekly synthesis sessions with me.
3
Offer Testing
Can you articulate value — not features — to a specific customer through a specific channel? I role-play as different stakeholders. We test interest before building.
4
Validation Scorecard
Go/no-go decision with evidence. Validated problem, customer profile, tested value proposition, channel identified. Clear recommendation for what’s next.
Week 1
We design the interview script together; I model the first 3–5 interviews live
Weeks 2–4
You run interviews; I debrief every one and coach your technique
Weeks 5–7
Deeper interviews; offer testing begins; weekly synthesis; patterns emerge
Week 8
We present validated findings + offer test results + recommendation together
3–5
Interviews where I sit in live
20–30
Total problem interviews
10+
By Day 30 with patterns emerging — or we walk
60
Days to a validated answer
What you walk away with at Day 60
📋
Validated Problem
Evidence-backed
👥
Customer Profile
From real interviews
💰
Value Prop Tested
Not just validated
🎓
Channel Identified
Where revenue comes from
✅
Go / No-Go
Revenue Sprint or pivot
The 30-day checkpoint: If you haven’t completed at least 10 customer problem interviews with initial patterns emerging by Day 30, we stop. Not as punishment — as protection. If the interviews aren’t happening, something bigger is wrong and a sprint won’t fix it.
Revenue Sprint OS™
I work side-by-side with you to build your first real approach to generating revenue — from value proposition through pipeline to paying customers.
Before the pipeline: the foundation most founders skip

Before building a cadence or opening a CRM, you need to answer four questions.

1
Value Proposition
Can you articulate the value — not features — to a specific customer?
2
Channel
Where does the first revenue actually come from?
3
First Customer
Can you get one person to pay attention before you try fifty?
4
When to Walk Away
Can you qualify out a non-buyer early — before a tire-kicker drains the pipeline?
Principle: You generate first sales. I coach the technique and build the system — you run it and prove it works. After 90 days, you understand the process well enough to hire the right salesperson and manage them.
1
Close CRM (Pipeline)
$35/mo — the startup-designed CRM Dan uses for Pismo Point Advisory. This tier unlocks marketing outreach automations you need to run cadences at scale. 8 pipeline stages, MEDDPICC qualification, weekly pipeline review with me. Keeps you working on the business, not just in it.
2
Close CRM (Cadence Engine)
Replaces Salesloft. 9-touch sequences over 21 days. I write the first cadence emails with you — not a template handoff.
3
Close CRM (MBR Dashboard)
Replaces Salesforce Reports. Pipeline value, conversion funnel, velocity metrics. Monthly review I lead with you.
Week 0
Value proposition workshop + channel identification — the foundation before outreach begins
Day 1 Setup
I build the prospect list with you; we write the first cadence together
Daily + Weekly
You execute the cadence; I coach messaging. Weekly: we walk every deal together
Monthly MBR
We present pipeline data to your investor together — real metrics, not promises
$35
Tool cost / month (Close CRM)
25%
Discovery calls that close (benchmark)
2+
Named opps by Day 30 — or we walk
90
Days to a repeatable process
What you own after the sprint
📊
Close CRM
Your pipeline, yours to keep
🔄
Cadence System
Yours forever
⚡
MBR Dashboard
Real metrics
📈
The Skills
To run it yourself
The 30-day checkpoint: If we don’t identify at least 2 named revenue opportunities in the first 30 days, we stop. You’ve invested $1,500 worth of your investor’s money — not $50K on a bridge round with no new information.
After the sprint: Quarterly pipeline reviews to keep the system honest. No retainer required — just a standing check-in to make sure the habits stick and you stay working on the business.
Accountability to Action

What Gets Measured, Gets Moving

Every engagement runs on a 30/60/90-day KPI cadence. Not conversations — outcomes. Each milestone is visible to you and your investor, every week. You own the work; the KPIs keep the work honest.

“It needs to be concrete enough that I know this isn’t just people having conversations for a month. There’s accountability to action.” — Angel Investor

AI Autopilot Sprint OS™

~45 days. Foundation sprint — built for when you know AI matters but don’t know what to build first. The goal: install the AI operating cadence Discovery and Revenue both run on top of.

~45 Days · $1,500/mo
1
Days 1–15
Audit & Foundation
  • ⏱️
    Time Audit Baseline Captured
    One week of tracked hours by category — sales, ops, content, founder admin. The “before” number that the Phase 3 reclaimed-hours metric measures against. You own the data; I install the structure.
    Gate: Completed by Day 7
  • 📚
    Anthropic Academy + Thinkific Foundation Modules Complete
    Anthropic Academy AI Fluency tracks alongside Pismo Point’s Thinkific curriculum drawn from five years teaching entrepreneurship at Cal Poly SLO. Live debriefs after each module — not lecture-only.
    Gate: Foundation modules by Day 14
  • 🎯
    Top 5 Repeating Workflows Identified
    Ranked by frequency × time × quality variability. Recurring is what compounds with AI — one-off tasks don’t earn project investment. The five workflows where leverage compounds fastest.
    Gate: Ranked list by Day 10
  • 🤖
    First Claude Project Live: Founder OS
    Loaded with your brand voice, current strategy doc, and operating cadence. Tested live in session. The command center for everything that follows.
    Gate: Live by Day 15
The audit is the unlock. Without a real baseline, “AI helped” is a feeling, not a fact.
2
Days 16–30
Build the Three Working Projects
  • 🔍
    Discovery Project Live
    Loaded with interview transcripts, ICP hypothesis, CHAIN™ assumption map. You can synthesize an interview or design new questions in under 10 minutes. Hands off into Discovery Sprint when you graduate.
    Gate: Live by Day 20
  • 💼
    Sales / Pipeline Project Live
    Loaded with CRM exports, prospect research, your voice on outbound, objection patterns. Drafts cadence emails, preps discovery calls, summarizes deals. Hands off into Revenue Sprint when you graduate.
    Gate: Live by Day 25
  • ⚙️
    First Cowork Agent: Weekly Cadence Loop
    One weekly knowledge-work loop running end-to-end through Cowork — typically the investor update or pipeline review. You kick it off; agent drafts; you edit and ship. This is the exit-clause gate.
    Gate: One full loop completed by Day 30 · Exit clause triggered if not met
Three projects in daily use beat ten projects sitting unused. The Discovery and Sales projects are deliberately scoped so they hand off into the next sprint.
3
Days 31–45
Cadence & Compounding
  • 📅
    AI Operating Cadence Documented
    Daily (15 min), weekly (45 min), monthly (90 min) AI rhythms documented in Thinkific. You run this without me after Day 45 — and can teach the next person on your team.
    Primary deliverable
  • 🤖
    Cowork Agents: 3+ Weekly Loops Running
    Expand from the Phase 2 first loop to at least three: typically investor update, pipeline review, and customer interview synthesis. Each runs on a schedule you own.
    Gate: 3 loops by Day 42
  • 📚
    Skills Library: 5+ Reusable Anthropic Skills
    Custom Skills tied to recurring workflows (interview synthesizer, weekly investor update, pipeline review prep). Documented in Thinkific so you can teach the next person on your team.
    Gate: 5 minimum by Day 40
  • ⏱️
    Time-Saved Baseline: 8+ Hours/Week Reclaimed
    The “after” number. Re-run the Phase 1 time audit. The gap is one full day a week — the budget that funds Discovery or Revenue Sprint without writing a second check.
    Gate: 8+ hrs minimum, measured
  • 📊
    45-Day MBR Delivered to Angel
    Hours reclaimed, projects in use, agents running, skills shipped, before/after workflow examples. Your investor sees what their $1,500 actually bought.
    Gate: Delivered Day 45
  • 🚀
    Hand-Off to Discovery or Revenue
    Decision documented: which sprint comes next, and which Claude Projects + Cowork agents already built will power it. The foundation work is literal foundation.
    Gate: Decision by Day 45
One day a week is the budget for what comes next. A founder who can’t find 8 hours a week with AI doesn’t have an AI problem — they have a workflow problem the next sprint won’t fix either.

Discovery Sprint OS™

~60 days. Built for when you’re still validating who actually pays and why. The goal: replace your assumptions with data — and walk away with evidence.

~60 Days · $1,500/mo
1
Days 1–30
Surface the Real Assumptions
  • 🎯
    CHAIN™ Diagnostic Complete
    Context, Hurdles, Actions, Impact, Need mapped against your top assumptions. Every assumption ranked by risk.
    Gate: Completed by Day 7
  • 📋
    Top 5 Riskiest Assumptions Locked
    The 5 assumptions where being wrong kills the business — narrowed from the full CHAIN inventory, with a testing method assigned to each.
    Gate: Locked by Day 10
  • 🗣️
    10+ Customer Interviews Completed
    Real conversations — not surveys. Each interview follows a structured Mom Test protocol. Findings logged in a shared response-capture sheet.
    Gate: 10 minimum by Day 30
  • 💰
    Willingness-to-Pay Signal Documented
    At least 3 prospects asked the “would you pay?” question directly. Dollar amounts or proxies (budget authority, urgency level) logged.
    Gate: 3 signals by Day 30 · Exit clause triggered if not met
Investor checkpoint: a one-page summary of what the data shows — not what you believe.
2
Days 31–60
Validate & Sharpen the ICP
  • 🔍
    Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) Defined
    A written, evidence-backed ICP: who pays, what triggers the purchase, who in the org has authority, what competing options they consider.
    Gate: Written & agreed by Day 45
  • ✅
    Problem Statement Validated
    The core problem — as customers describe it — confirmed across 5+ interviews. Your original language vs. customer language tracked explicitly.
    Gate: Validated by Day 60
  • 🏆
    Top 3 Target Segments Ranked
    Segments scored on willingness-to-pay signal, access, urgency, and market size. One segment designated primary for the Revenue Sprint.
  • 📊
    Assumptions vs. Reality Report
    Side-by-side of what you assumed on Day 1 vs. what the data shows on Day 60. Delivered to your investor as a written brief.
    Gate: Delivered by Day 60
This is the moment most founders resist most — when the data contradicts the pitch deck. That’s when the sprint earns its value.
3
Days 61–90
Route to Revenue or Pivot
  • 🗺️
    Revenue Route Decision Made
    Clear go/no-go on each of the top 3 segments. One primary path selected with documented rationale. Pivot triggers named in writing if applicable.
  • 📞
    2+ Named Revenue Opportunities Identified
    Specific prospects — company name, title, conversation history — at a stage that could convert to paid within 60 days if you move to the Revenue Sprint.
    Gate: 2 minimum — prerequisite for Revenue Sprint handoff
  • 🔧
    Sales Toolstack Installed
    Close CRM seeded with prospect data ($35/mo — the startup-designed CRM Dan uses for Pismo Point Advisory, at the tier that unlocks marketing outreach automations). Cadence templates drafted, you’re trained on pipeline fundamentals.
  • 📬
    Sprint Findings + Recommendation
    Written summary: what was found, what was disproved, and the recommended next step — Revenue Sprint, pivot, or honest redirect. Shared with your investor.
    Gate: Delivered on Day 90
An honest redirect — “this isn’t a sales problem, it’s a product problem” — is also a successful outcome. You get the truth either way.

Revenue Sprint OS™

~90 days. Built for when you know who buys but can’t close repeatably. The goal: install a working sales motion — pipeline, cadence, and first revenue in.

~90 Days · $1,500/mo
1
Days 1–30
Build the Pipeline Engine
  • 📬
    Prospect List: 50+ Qualified Names
    Close CRM ($35/mo — the startup-designed CRM Dan uses for Pismo Point Advisory, at the tier that unlocks marketing outreach automations) seeded with 50+ prospects matching your ICP. Company, title, contact info, and trigger context logged for each. You own the data; Dan installs the structure.
    Gate: 50 minimum by Day 14
  • ⚙️
    Outreach Cadence Live
    A structured sequence — first touch, follow-up, LinkedIn, voicemail — running against the first 25 prospects. No spray-and-pray; each touch personalized by segment.
    Gate: Cadence running by Day 10
  • 💬
    2+ Named Revenue Opportunities Identified
    Named prospects with documented conversations who have budget authority, an identified need, and a timeline for a decision. Not “interested” — qualified.
    Gate: 2 minimum by Day 30 · Exit clause triggered if not met
  • 📈
    Forecast-to-Actual Baseline Set
    You commit to a 30-day revenue forecast. The baseline becomes the measurement line — not to punish misses, but to build forecasting muscle.
Investor checkpoint: a one-page pipeline summary — what’s in the funnel, what’s moving, what’s stalled and why.
2
Days 31–60
Work the Pipeline
  • 🔄
    Pipeline Velocity Measured
    Average days per stage tracked. Deals stalling in discovery vs. proposal vs. close identified. One bottleneck named and actively addressed.
    Gate: Reviewed in weekly 1:1
  • 🤝
    5+ Qualified Discovery Calls Completed
    Structured B2B-adapted CHAIN conversations — Context, Hierarchy, Alignment, Impact, Next Steps — completed with decision-making contacts.
    Gate: 5 completed by Day 60
  • 📝
    Proposal Sent to 2+ Prospects
    Structured proposals — scoped to what the prospect said they needed, priced against what they said they’d pay — sent and followed up on.
  • 🔁
    Objection Map Built
    The top 5 objections you’ve received — with a written response for each. You can now handle pushback without going dark on a deal.
The data from lost deals matters as much as wins. “Why they said no” is your next product roadmap.
3
Days 61–90
Close & Make It Repeatable
  • 🎉
    First Paid Customer (or Signed LOI)
    Cash in — or a signed letter of intent with a clear close date. “Interested” and “evaluating” don’t count. This is the signal your product solves a real problem at a price people will pay.
    Primary goal of the sprint
  • 📐
    Repeatable Sales Playbook Documented
    Written: ICP definition, outreach sequence, discovery call structure, objection responses, proposal template. You can run this without Dan — or use it to hire a first salesperson.
  • 📊
    90-Day MBR Delivered to Investor
    Monthly Business Review format: pipeline size, conversion rates, forecast vs. actual, deals won/lost, and the next 30-60-90 forecast. You own this going forward.
    Gate: Delivered on Day 90
  • 🚀
    Burn-Rate vs. Revenue Trajectory Aligned
    You and your investor see the same picture: at current close rate, what does the runway look like? Where does the line cross? What needs to change?
A repeatable sales motion is what makes your next hire — and your next fundraise — defensible.
The path forward
Start here
Sprint Readiness Check
Free · No commitment
→
If foundation needed
AI Autopilot Sprint OS™
45 days · $1,500/mo
→
If discovery needed
Discovery Sprint OS™
60 days · $1,500/mo
→
If revenue needed
Revenue Sprint OS™
90 days · $1,500/mo
$1,500/month — paid by your investor, not you. Approximately one full day per week of embedded coaching time. My goal is to make myself unnecessary — after the sprint, you own the tools and the skills. AI Autopilot is the foundation that funds what comes next: the 8+ hours/week you reclaim is the budget for Discovery or Revenue Sprint — so your investor doesn’t write a second check. If you’re currently raising, you can propose this as part of your funding ask — several founders have built the cost directly into their SAFE documents before the round closes, so it’s funded from day one.
From founders who’ve been where you are

What they say.

Taught a process Changed direction
“I was stuck. I had the desire to help people and a general direction, but no clear path or way to measure if I was actually making progress.

Dan challenged my thinking early, pushing me to narrow my focus into something concrete I could test, execute, and iterate on quickly. Everyone wants to reach as many people as possible right away, but Dan helped me start small and expand out — that shift changed everything.

What stood out most was how his experience filled the gaps my passion couldn’t. I owned the research and execution, but his ability to analyze, ask the right questions, and reframe problems gave me a level of clarity I didn’t have before. He didn’t just give advice — he built a process I could rely on.”
Diana
Founder · Cal Poly CIE Accelerator
Built trust fast
“When we were first paired through the SBDC, Dan had a remarkable ability to put entrepreneurs at ease while drawing out their ideas and guiding them toward a compelling investor pitch. Despite the technical complexity of what my co-founder and I were building, he took the time to ask questions and truly understand it — rather than brushing us aside as others had. He is kind, thoughtful, and genuinely supportive, and his thoughtfulness left a lasting impression I still carry with me years later.”
Charlotte
Founder · SBDC
Taught a process Changed direction
“Dan brings a structured approach to early-stage customer discovery and does an excellent job making it practical and actionable. He translates his experience into a repeatable process that founders can actually execute — not just theory, but clear steps that drive real customer conversations.

He also isn’t afraid to tell you what you need to hear. During pitch rehearsals, Dan pointed out that my enthusiasm wasn’t coming through to the audience. I took his feedback, started recording myself practicing, and my presentation became noticeably more captivating as a result. He meets founders where they are while still pushing them toward more disciplined thinking — and that combination makes a real difference.”
Jeremy
Founder · Cal Poly CIE Accelerator
Changed direction
“During a 12-week intensive accelerator, I had the opportunity to pitch to Dan on several occasions. He always pushed us toward critical thinking with probing questions and thoughtful coaching, which sometimes led to key pivots in our approach. He was able to analyze our business plan at every level and provided feedback that helped us lock in a fantastic deck and pitch.”
Addison
Founder · Cal Poly CIE Accelerator
Taught a process
“Dan taught me customer discovery tactics that I still use today. One example: he showed me how to run paid ad experiments as a ‘horse race’ to compare pull across multiple customer segments — a process I’ve used repeatedly to find where real demand lives before committing resources.

On top of that, Dan is a genuinely great person to work with — kind, encouraging, and someone who makes the hard parts of building a startup feel a lot more manageable.”
Owen
Founder · Cal Poly CIE Accelerator
Taught a process Changed direction
“Dan played a pivotal role in helping me turn an early idea into something tangible. I first worked with him during a senior project course, and we continued through a 12-week accelerator program. Throughout that time, he was consistently available as both a sounding board and a source of practical, experience-driven guidance.

What stood out most was his ability to meet us in moments where we felt stuck and help us move forward with clarity. He consistently broke things down to their core, helping us focus on what actually mattered to our customers and where to direct our energy. That ability to simplify without losing momentum made a huge difference in how we approached building the business.

Dan also has a unique way of making big challenges feel manageable. He brings an optimism and confidence that makes you feel like what you’re building is possible — even when things are uncertain.”
Parker
Founder · Cal Poly CIE Accelerator
Built trust fast
“Dan’s warmth and genuine positivity made it easy to be honest about where I was struggling. Because of the environment he created, I was quickly open to hearing where we were going wrong, trying new solutions, even if it meant failing along the way, and recognizing when our team needed to pivot. That kind of psychological safety is hard to manufacture, and Dan does it naturally.”
McCall Brinskele
Founder · Cal Poly CIE Accelerator · Cal Poly Lecturer
About Dan

I’ve been in your chair.

I co-founded BrightScope, we grew it to 60+ employees, and exited in 2016. I know what it feels like to carry investor money when you’re not sure what to do next — and I know what it takes to find paying customers when nobody’s heard of you.

After that, I spent 12 years in the EIR role for the SLO HotHouse, home of the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), running parallel with 5 years teaching entrepreneurship at Cal Poly, mentoring over 100 startups through the hardest phase of their journey. I watched brilliant founders struggle — not because they lacked effort, but because nobody taught them how to find paying customers or build a real sales pipeline.

Then I went deeper on the sales side. As a Strategic Account Executive at Watermark Insights — a TCV-backed EdTech company selling enterprise software to major universities — I learned exactly how cadences, pipeline management, and MEDDPICC qualification work at scale. I also learned that the same tools that cost startups $600/month can be replicated for free using Google Workspace.

I also hold a Pragmatic Institute Product Management Certification — the industry standard for market-driven product strategy. The Pragmatic Framework is how I help you stop guessing and start validating: identifying the right customers, prioritizing what actually matters, and building a go-to-market plan grounded in evidence, not assumptions.

And as the AI Autopilot Sprint OS™ came online, I started working through the full Anthropic Academy certification path — the same curriculum Anthropic uses to train its ecosystem. AI Fluency: Framework & Foundations, Introduction to Claude Cowork, Claude 101, and Introduction to Agent Skills are complete; Teaching AI Fluency and AI Capabilities & Limitations are next. The point isn’t to collect badges. The point is that what gets installed in your sprint is grounded in credentialed methodology, not vibes.

Pismo Point Advisory is where it all comes together: the hard-won empathy of a founder who’s built and exited a real company, the patience of a coach who’s guided 100+ startups, the discipline of an enterprise sales process that actually generates revenue, and a structured product methodology that keeps every decision rooted in the market.

1
Founder exit — BrightScope (60+ employees, 2016)
100+
Startups mentored — 12 yrs as EIR at Cal Poly CIE + 5 yrs teaching entrepreneurship
PMC
Pragmatic Institute — Product Management Certified
4/6
Anthropic Academy certifications complete — full path in progress
16 mo
Enterprise AE at Watermark (TCV-backed)
27
Angel investor discovery interviews
Anthropic Academy Certification Path
The full Anthropic Academy curriculum — the same one Anthropic uses to train its own ecosystem. Four complete, two underway.
Completed
AI Fluency: Framework & FoundationsAnthropic Academy
Introduction to Claude CoworkAnthropic Academy
Claude 101Anthropic Academy
Introduction to Agent SkillsAnthropic Academy
In progress
Teaching AI Fluency
AI Capabilities & Limitations
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