I specialise in **reversing the Silent Sabotage that destroys founder equity**

Co‑founder conflict is the hidden risk that can slash your company value by 40–45% and scare off investors.

Co‑founder alignment mentor for B2B agencies, tech and creative founders in the messy middle of scaling (10–150 people) who need to reduce founder conflict, protect equity and keep the business investable.

I deploy the Aggression Escalation Map™ to diagnose where your partnership stands and force the necessary choice: the Reckoning Road of rebuilding or the Conscious Unravel that preserves your capital.

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Read how co‑founder coaching works

The real cost of co‑founder conflict

Unresolved co‑founder conflict rarely starts with a blow‑up. It often begins quietly: you and your co‑founder stop really talking, avoid the hard conversations and slowly lose your mojo. Decisions drag, initiatives stall and what used to feel exciting starts to feel heavy.

Sometimes it is louder. You find yourselves having the same arguments on repeat, snapping in leadership meetings or lobbying senior team members to “take your side”. The business develops factions, talented people leave and investors or board members start to worry about governance and succession.

This is a kind of business mid‑life crisis: the company has grown, but the owners haven’t consciously stayed connected. Left alone, that mix of covert distance and overt clashes can trigger a 40–45% drop in revenue, stalled fundraising and forced distress sales that wipe out years of founder effort. A clear co‑founder alignment plan is what stops a rough patch becoming a permanent loss of value.

Most teams try to “push through”, but without a clear co‑founder alignment plan it ends up as a permanent loss of value.

Do you recognize yourself in this story…?

As Featured In:

Co‑founder conflict resolution & founder alignment support

A curated four-step pathway for scaling teams (10-150) moving through partnership tension towards deeper alignment.

1:1 Co-founder Mentor

Confidential 1:1 sessions to diagnose co‑founder tension, design new roles or plan a conscious exit, so you protect equity and avoid destructive litigation.

Group Coaching

Virtual workshops where founders in the messy middle map their partnership dynamics, reduce recurring arguments and leave with a practical co‑founder alignment plan.

See how co‑founder coaching works

Speaking

Keynotes, panels and private workshops using frameworks from my book to help founders normalise conflict improve decision‑making and reduce board concern about founder risk.

Curated Co-founder Support Pathway

Independent referrals to trusted startup lawyers, HR, therapists and mediators once you’re clear what problem you’re solving, without hidden incentives or referral fees.

Need Advice?

Get an experienced founder, NED and trustee in your corner to untangle co‑founder tensions, strengthen governance and turn messy mid‑growth chaos into a resilient, scalable business.

Book a co‑founder conflict clarity call

My Programs, Books & Courses

Short, practical tools to help you stop fighting fires with your co‑founder, make better decisions together and calm the chaos of a growing business.

You get clear, step‑by‑step frameworks you can use straight away to get on the same page, reduce friction and run the business without burning out.

Learn how it works

Crisis Intervention: Loss of a Co-founder

Strategic intervention after the loss of a co‑founder to stabilise leadership, protect revenue and reassure investors and key clients. Research shows that suddenly losing of a founding member can trigger a 45% drop in revenue and a 33% decline in productivity within the first year. Because the success of a startup is often “inalienable” from its original team.

I help remaining founders bridge the critical gaps left behind in organizational capital and leadership

Testimonials

It’s rare that you meet decent business people that have morals, ethics and can truly walk the walk, but Jane does it with grace, style and an amazing understanding of what stands in the way of progress. She has a range of qualities but it’s her ability to enable people to get to better, with an analytical brain and a get under the hood attitude she is a great mentor and problem solving.

Jane is a genuine leader in every sense of the word. After due diligence and research she backs her runners and commits to change that keeps delivering value. Having worked with Jane directly for over 5 years on several business projects she’s proved a great deal, time and time again. With her skill set and varied expertise and entrepreneurial spirit, Jane knows how to deliver a capable and superior end result that is built with solid strategy in mind, has real-world capability, and process in mind at the heart – to support whatever challenge and outcome to grow, flourish, adapt and move forward.

Justin Robert Price, CEO JRP Ltd

Need a quick diagnostic? Download our free Co-Founder Alignment Canvas

About Jane Hales – co‑founder conflict specialist and NED

I’ve been where you are: co‑founding and scaling a multi‑million‑pound businesses, carrying the weight of co‑founder tension, and discovering the hard way how deeply founder relationships shape both performance and peace of mind.

Alongside a decade of “business scars”, accelerator coaching and board work, I’m also a mum, wife, dog lover, skier and long‑time community activist – so everything I teach has to work in real life, not just on a whiteboard. I now coach and advise CEOs and cofounders through the messy middle of partnership, alignment and transition decisions, develop practical programs, e‑books and courses, and host a community where they can talk openly about what’s really going on at the top without shame or spin.

Read Jane’s Story

Co‑founder conflict specialist and author Jane Hales

Join the wait list for her forth coming book From Dream Team to Divorce?

Protect Your Company’s Future: Don’t Let Team Instability Become a 45% Revenue Loss

Whether you are mourning a partner or struggling to resolve a conflict that threatens your team-specific DNA, you need a strategic intervention to stabilize your leadership and protect your scale.

Call Me Today to build a resilience plan that preserves your vision, stabilizes your remaining team, and ensure your startup doesn’t become a statistic. Together, we will bridge the gap and keep your business on its growth trajectory.

Book a co‑founder conflict clarity call

FAQs

Who is Jane the right (and wrong) person for?

Q1.1 – What kinds of founders and businesses do you work best with?
I work best with cofounders of established, relationship‑heavy SMEs – typically agencies and service businesses with teams, clients and real revenue – who either want to get ahead of challenges or are already feeling tension in the partnership.

Q1.2 – What situations are not a fit for you?
I’m not the right person for acute legal disputes already in formal litigation, severe untreated mental health crises, or situations where one party is unwilling to engage at all – in these cases I’ll signpost you to specialist legal or therapeutic support and your work with me may only be 1:1 around your own decisions.

What actually happens if I work with Jane?

Q2.1 – What does the journey look like from enquiry to “we’re done”?
Typically we move from a short chemistry call into a structured diagnostic, then decide the right mix of support for you: focused 1:1 sessions, facilitated cofounder sessions, and/or a 10‑week Cofounder Accelerator Programme where you work on your relationship and business together in a structured way.

Q2.2 – What happens in the first session if I can’t name the problem yet?
If you’re not sure what’s wrong, we start by mapping how things feel now, what’s changed over time and where you feel most stuck, then use a simple framework to locate the tension (roles, values, money, power, communication) and decide whether you need private support, a shared accelerator journey, or both.

How are you different from a generic founder coach or therapist?

Q3.1 – How is your work different from general founder coaching?
Unlike general founder coaching, my work is explicitly about cofounder relationships, governance and conflict; that shows up in 1:1 advisory, in facilitated sessions, and in a 10‑week Cofounder Accelerator Programme that systematically walks cofounders through the conversations most teams avoid until it’s too late.

Q3.2 – Are you a therapist or a lawyer?
No – I’m a founder, coach and board‑level advisor, not a therapist or solicitor; I sometimes suggest you bring those professionals in alongside coaching or the accelerator when we hit issues that need formal legal or clinical support.

What outcomes can I realistically expect?

Q4.1 – What tends to change after 3–6 sessions or a 10‑week Cofounder Accelerator Programme?
Most founders leave with far more clarity on what’s really going on, language and tools to talk about it, a handful of specific agreements or experiments to try, and a clearer sense of whether they want to repair, redesign or exit the partnership; teams on the accelerator also build shared habits and artefacts they can revisit over time.

Q4.2 – What are examples of “good endings” from your work?
Good endings have included cofounders staying together with clearer agreements, redesigning roles and equity to reflect reality, using the accelerator to reset culture and leadership expectations, or planning a “good divorce” that protects both the business and the humans.

How hot does it need to be before I call Jane?

Q5.1 – What are early‑warning signs I should talk to you?
Early‑warning signs include dreading interactions with your cofounder, looping on the same unresolved argument, low‑grade resentment about effort or reward, or sensing that the team feels the strain; at this stage, a diagnostic plus the accelerator can be a powerful way to get ahead of a full‑blown “business divorce.”

Q5.2 – When is it too hot for an accelerator alone?
If there are allegations of misconduct, formal legal letters, serious safeguarding issues or someone already on the brink of walking out, we’ll usually pair any group work with 1:1 support and legal/HR advice, and in some cases I’ll recommend starting solely with private coaching.

How do your diagnostics, tools and accelerator actually work?

Q6.1 – What is your cofounder scorecard/diagnostic and what does it tell me?
My cofounder diagnostic is a structured set of questions that scores key dimensions like trust, roles, decision‑making, money and future vision, giving you a heat‑map of where friction is highest and whether a 1:1 focus, a shared accelerator, or both will help most.

Q6.2 – What happens in the 10‑week cofounder accelerator?
Across 10 weeks we move through a sequence of modules on vision and values, roles and decision‑rights, money and equity, communication and feedback, and “what if” scenarios around exits and succession, combining teaching with live conversations so you leave with real agreements, not just theory.

6.3 – How does ProfOps show up in cofounder work and the accelerator?
ProfOps sits behind both my 1:1 and group work, helping us link relationship tensions to operational realities – things like scope, margins, delivery and your ability to step away – so the changes you make in your partnership actually show up in how the business runs.

What are your boundaries, ethics and confidentiality rules?

Q7.1 – How do you handle confidentiality in 1:1 and in the accelerator?
If I start 1:1 with you, I’m explicit about what stays confidential and what can be brought into joint work; in the Cofounder Accelerator Programme we agree ground rules so people can speak honestly while still respecting the fact this is a live business relationship.

Q7.2 – What about conflicts of interest with boards or investors you also advise?
If I have an existing relationship with your board, investors or another key stakeholder, I’ll disclose that upfront, agree clear boundaries and, if needed, suggest a different practitioner so you’re not second‑guessing my role.

What does it cost and how do I start?

Q8.1 – What are your typical engagement shapes and price ranges?
Most clients start with a 90‑minute diagnostic and a short block of 1:1 sessions; from there some move into the 10‑week Cofounder Accelerator Programme as a container to work on the relationship together, while others keep things 1:1 or move to a lighter‑touch retainer – pricing reflects senior‑level advisory rather than generic coaching.

Q8.2 – What should I do – and prepare – before our first call?
You book a chemistry call via my online calendar, share a few lines about what’s happening and who’s involved, and reflect briefly on what you’d love to be different six months from now – whether that’s a healthier partnership, a clearer plan to work more independently, or a dignified transformation.

I specialise in reversing the Silent Sabotage that destroys founder equity