Startup Cafe: Coaching Founders Through Growth and a $1.5B Exit

The skills it takes to start a company aren’t always the same ones needed to scale it. As a business grows, founders face new decisions, new demands on their leadership, and new questions about where to turn for advice.

Drawing on 25 years of advising founders and CEOs, Dr. Soren Eilertsen will share lessons from both sides of the table: as a CEO and as a coach and advisor. He’ll discuss his work with lynda.com’s founders and CEO through the company’s $1.5 billion sale to LinkedIn, as well as what it takes to build an advisory practice that lasts.

Agenda November 4th, 2026

8:45 - 9:30 am • Coffee and Socialize

9:30- 10:30 am • Conversation in the Clubhouse with Audience Q&A

11:00 am • Space closes to the public

About: Soren Eilertsen, PhD

Soren Eilertsen is a strategy advisor, coach, and CEO who has spent 25 years helping founders and leadership teams navigate growth. His work includes six years advising lynda.com’s founders and CEO through the company’s $1.5 billion sale to LinkedIn.

Soren is the founder and president of Kollner Group and serves as CEO of RideAmigos. He holds a PhD in psychology and has taught strategy in Pepperdine’s Executive MBA program for 15 years. His forthcoming book is Strategy Compass: A Practical Handbook for Leaders to Navigate Business Strategy.

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About: Lee Cholodenko

Lee Cholodenko is an executive coach, facilitator, and entrepreneur who helps founders and leaders bring more intention to how they live and lead.

For more than a decade, Lee has coached founders, executives, and thought leaders and facilitated leadership development programs. He has also worked with MBA students at Pepperdine’s Graziadio Business School and created The Middle, an in-person gathering in Los Angeles focused on deeper connection.

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