Helping Ivy League-educated, overachievers find meaning and clarity in their career | Speaker, Clarity Coach, Entrepreneur

Huw coaches founders and their leadership teams to create clarity, attain alignment, and unleash their potential. He has worked with CEOs of VC and PE backed software and technology companies on both growth trajectories and supported them through turnaround or transition.

Huw is a 3-time founder, investor, and speaker turned executive coach. His corporate career centered around his work at Goldman Sachs, Rackspace, and Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund with $160bn under management. While at Bridgewater Associates he was a Senior Management Associate responsible for Portfolio Analytics. In 2016 he acquired and later sold Jungle Disk, a cybersecurity company previously owned by Rackspace. He co-founded CyberFortress, a VC-backed insurtech startup in 2018 (where he also became a Talentism client!). He also co-founded Porthcawl Holdings, a value-driven technology holding company, investing in startups and businesses in the SaaS and bitcoin space.

Huw holds an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a Ford Scholar and Baker Scholar, and holds undergraduate and masters degrees in mathematics from Oxford University,

Huw is a proud Welshman who lives with his wife and young son in San Antonio, Texas. He is a board member of the local Entrepreneurs Organization responsible for the Accelerator program, helping budding entrepreneurs scale their businesses to 7-figures. He is also Vice President of Programming for the Harvard Business School Club of San Antonio. His compulsions include identifying gifts in adversity, creating inspiring visions, radical self-discipline, and running 100 mile races in the mountains.

Huw Edwards

You don’t “have to” do anything you once desired to do.

I mean, how is it that you’re so exhausted from doing the things you actually love to do?

It’s because you've forgotten how much of this you once hoped for.

You don’t “have to” pick up the kids from school, lead that meeting, or make that trip. 

You “get to” pick up your kids from school. That’s a freaking joy.... to have kids. 

You get to guide a group of people at work.

You get to solve hard problems.

The reframe is your strength.

We have to stop seeing all these demands as burdens and start seeing them for what they truly are. 

A privilege.

3x Founder, Harvard MBA, ex-Bridgewater Associates, Goldman Sachs | Executive Coach | Helping ambitious founders/CEOs unleash their potential and purpose

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You’ve got to stay with discomfort long enough to see what it’s becoming.

Stay with that uncomfortable feeling instead of avoiding it. 

That’s when you’ll realize discomfort is not a threat.

It’s just stretching you into who you’re becoming.

It can get crazy.

But what do you think?

Growth doesn’t always feel good until it does.

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Read newsletter 

Read the newsletter here: http://newsletter.h3.xyz/

There’s something crazy about emotions. 

Reminds me of Thomas Edison. 

He was behind some of the most transformative inventions in modern history: light bulbs, phonographs, and motion pictures.

A massive explosion once destroyed his factory in New Jersey.

Years of prototypes, notes, and equipment all gone in flames.

He was 67 years old at the time. 

When his son ran to find him, Edison was calmly watching the fire.

He reportedly said, *"Go get your mother and all her friends. They'll never see a fire like this again."*

The next morning, he called his team together and said, *"We're rebuilding. Start tomorrow."*

Within three weeks, the factory was back up and running.

And within a year, Edison released some of his most profitable inventions.

He didn't get consumed by the pain of that moment.

He saw the loss, acknowledged it, and went straight back to work.

My point is that results can trigger an emotional rollercoaster.

We sometimes spend too long celebrating success and too long overthinking losses.

But it’s in our best interest to snap out of our emotions faster for a mentally healthier and more fulfilling life.

Life is a relentless mind game of you vs you

Reminds me of the 1997 NBA Finals.

Michael Jordan woke up sick with a high fever.

He felt weak and could barely stand.

Game 5 was that night, and the Chicago Bulls needed him.

Every logical part of him could have stayed in bed.

He could have sat that game out, and no one would’ve blamed him.

It would’ve totally made sense.

But that night, he suited up anyway.

He played 44 minutes, scored 38 points, and led the Bulls to a crucial win.

I don’t see it as just Utah they were playing against, it was more Jordan against Jordan.

The version that wanted the body to rest vs the self that wanted to lace his shoe and get out the door.

And that night, the better self won.

This mind game doesn’t back down.

But it’s always your choice to choose what part of you is leading.

As James Clear says, *“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.”*

For decades, runners believed a mile under four minutes was impossible. Not human, even.

Coaches said the body would break down.

Then on May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister ran 3:59.4 on the Iffley Road track in Oxford, with two pacers setting the rhythm.

Once one human proved it was possible, less than six weeks later, John Landy ran 3:58.

And within a year, other runners started doing it too.

Same bodies, same track, same distance.

But a different internal reality.

Because someone chose to overcome the limiting belief.

It just shows that the biggest limits aren't always in our talent.

They're in the stories we've accepted as true for so long.

So we tend to make choices from a restricted version of ourselves, rather than our actual capacity.

Still getting things done, still stacking wins, yet feeling a sense of underperformance.

You can only reach your highest potential when you see yourself beyond past stories, fears, trauma, not-so-pleasant childhood memories, mistakes, hurt, disappointment, and pain, no matter how much sense they make. 

Yes, you still feel the fear and anxiety, but the thrill of becoming more than you already are gets stronger than the fear.

You just know you'll even be more restless if you choose to stay in your comfort zone.

So you’ll choose to trust yourself a little more. 

Again and again.

You have to first explore your interests before you scale it. 

You'll wander, test new styles, try different methods and approaches, and experiment with ideas.

You'll fail, win, fall, and rise over and over again.

There'll be many proud moments and many sad moments. 

People will think you're delusional.

Then, when you find what clicks, you double down on it, build a structure around it, and scale it.

So don’t let the fear of being seen as uncertain, inconsistent, or distracted hold you back from achieving your highest potential.

First explore, then commit, and exploit.

How well do you know yourself?

Scratch that.

How well do you trust yourself?

Are you easily worn down just by the idea of being taken unaware?

That's a harsh discredit to your training, experience, gifts, and how far you've come.

In today's issue, I explored the thrill and practices to find peace in the face of uncertainty.

Read the newsletter here👇

There’s a kind of confidence that comes from being calm in the face of uncertainty. Anyone can feel calm when life behaves. But not everyone has maste

Open article: The thrill of being steady in uncertainty by Huw Edwards • 2 min read

The thrill of being steady in uncertainty

I had trained for it.

And still, I was scared.

I was thinking about this the other day, as I geared up for Leadville again last August.

For context, Leadville is one of those races where everything, and I mean everything, hurts.

A 100-mile race. After 25 miles, you're still a quarter of the way through, and the real pain hasn't even begun.

And honestly, as I prepared, the nerves hit me.

I remember at about 3 a.m. on the day of my 2024 race, I was standing in the dark and cold, feeling unsure all of a sudden.

I thought, "Do I really want to do this? Could I just... not start?"

It was tempting to avoid it, but I pushed through and completed the race in good time.

And last year, that rush of uneasiness came back, but I did not back down.

I reminded myself that I’ve earned it, and I trained for it.

The race didn't quite go as planned, but I walked away with lessons to prepare me for this year.

No regrets.

I realized feeling nervous isn't a sign of weakness.

It's part of the process of doing something big, bold, scary, yet so thrilling and exciting.

And when the nerves show up again as I prepare for this year, I won't fight them.

That's what I want. I need it to hurt earlier.

That's the whole goal in a way.

Because I care.

Not just about the win.

I care about the struggles, the curveballs, and the lessons that come with the experience.

It’s okay to feel nervous.

Your success is yours.

But the work that made that success is not about you.

It's about the impact, the people, the why, and the meaning around it.

The moment it starts being a lot more about you, it gets tricky.

Only a matter of time before you start to feel a sense of inner dissatisfaction.

Like you're stuck even with all the success you've achieved.

Because you've lost touch with the big picture beyond you.

I know this feeling because I've lived it.

In today's issue, I shared some of the things I did to get out of my head, reconnect with my purpose, and find fulfillment again.

Feeling stuck or struggling with a cycle of underperformance?

You definitely want to read this 👇

You ever notice how you can be busy all day, get a lot done, and still feel… off? Not tired or burnt out. Just strangely numb. Most people assume that

The bright side of feeling stuck…

It’s not really the failure that hurts.

It’s what the failure can do to our image.

To the pride of our competence.

It sounds crazy to try something new that might fail when you’ve spent years becoming the best at what you do.

I mean, who would want to ruin a great reputation?

Is it worth it?

Hell yeah.

If you truly want to become the best version of yourself, then dare to fail.

In today’s issue, I explored simple practices to help you bet on yourself without losing your mind.

Read the newsletter here 👇

Most high performers aren't afraid of failure. They're afraid of what failure would say about them. This newsletter will explore the thin line between

Dare to fail vs dare not to fail

Failure sucks.

There’s no sugarcoating it.

But it's also inevitable and necessary.

It’s really not the enemy we think it is.

It helps a great deal in shaping us into what we desire to become

Over the weekend, 1,238 readers learned how daring to fail decides how much potential one ever gets to maximize.

Miss the issue?

Find the link in the comments below ↓

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We all experience this mind game between our better and our lesser selves.

The self that wants you to:

- Stay in comfort because you’re already successful
- Stick to predictable routines so nothing feels risky
- Hold back because you don’t want to fail publicly
- Play it safe

Vs

The self that wants you to:

- Do things that stretch you
- Try new approaches even if they feel unfamiliar
- Show up even when the outcome isn’t guaranteed
- Find out what you’re capable of

But every time you feel pulled between the two voices, one is trying to lead you. 

Lean into the one that holds your priorities, non-negotiables, and big, vivid vision accountable.

Some opportunities are distractions.

They look great and may be relevant to your image.

Until they're not.

They distract you from the main things.

Excellence needs you to fight for your focus.

So you have to be really good at knowing what you need and what you don't.
.
I share a framework to help elite performers protect their energy from shiny distractions.

You can read it here 👇

There’s something about being good at a lot of things. You can handle more, so you keep taking on more. And before you know it, your attention is ever

Open article: Keep the main things…the main things by Huw Edwards • 2 min read

If everything is important, nothing is.

Performing at a high level will need you to look away from a lot of things.

As good as they appear, they can dilute your attention from things that matter.

And fill you with unnecessary mental clutter

Until you’re spread thin and the feeling of underperformance creeps in. 

Over the weekend, I shared ways elite performers manage their attention to sustain ultra-performance 

Miss the issue?

Find it in the comments below ↓

3 resources to help you walk through hard things with ease: 

1. TED Talk: How to Make Stress Your Friend by Kelly McGonigal

https://lnkd.in/d6U8V7UJ

2. TED Talk: How to Stay Calm When You Know You'll Be Stressed by Daniel Levitin

https://lnkd.in/dNRH25RJ

3. Podcast: “Unlocking Us — Brené Brown with Emily and Amelia Nagoski (Burnout & How to Complete the Stress Cycle)

https://lnkd.in/dmPD3JKj

ted.com

Kelly McGonigal: How to make stress your friend

Love yourself.

A lot.

But love the impact you get to create more.

If you want to keep performing at a high level, you need a cause bigger than you to stay focused.

Else, you’ll be easily distracted by the validations, status, and relevance.

And that will mess with your performance and motivation in the long run. 

Over the weekend, elite performers learned to reconnect with the love of their craft for a happier life. 

Miss the issue?

Find it in the comments below ↓

You can be well aware of a messed up situation.

And still not be rattled by it.

You're still aware of the risks, but you're mentally stable enough to not be knocked off by it.

More present in what you can do NOW.

From a place of stable emotions, of course.

But that’s only if your peace is not entirely tied to things going your way.

Otherwise uncertainties will hit harder than they should.

Over the weekend, 1,240 readers learned practices to be steady in the face of curveballs.

Miss the issue?

Find the link in the comments ↓

Unstick Your Growth Engine in 4 Weeks to Multiply your Revenue | Rare Disease Advocate | Dad of 4 under 10

Most B2B SaaS companies at $2M-$8M ARR have the same problem:
Your marketing team rebuilds everything from scratch. Email campaigns take weeks. AI experiments go nowhere. Automation breaks. Nobody has time to create reusable systems.

You're working harder, but execution speed stays flat.

Here's what I do:
I'm a strategic advisor who designs marketing systems architecture for B2B SaaS companies. I work with 8 companies maximum at a time.

My job: Design the funnels, AI workflows, and automation blueprints your team needs to execute 2-3x faster.

Your team's job: Build and implement from my designs.

I work at the architecture and strategy level—I design the system and show you exactly how to build it. 
You do the building.
I work with:

B2B SaaS companies doing $2M-$8M ARR
CEOs and marketing leaders who value systems over tactics
Teams with execution capacity (5-10 hours/week minimum)
Companies tired of one-off campaigns and random AI experiments

20+ years in B2B SaaS and agencies: Product leadership, platform engineering, marketing automation, and go-to-market

What makes me different?

Most advisors understand marketing OR engineering OR AI. Rarely all three.
I design marketing systems that:

Actually convert (decades of marketing expertise)
Can actually be built (platform engineering background)
Use data effectively (data company leadership)
Leverage AI properly (real ML experience, not trend-hopping)

Your systems ship faster because I understand marketing strategy, technical feasibility, data architecture, and AI implementation.

Current clients see:

Marketing execution 2-3x faster within 90 days
70%+ team adoption of new systems (vs. 20-30% industry average)
Leadership spending 40-60% more time on strategy
Frameworks still being used 12+ months later

If you're an Agency or B2B SaaS company at $2M-$8M ARR looking to build marketing systems that scale, let's talk.
📧 Email me: matt@matthewkantor.com or visit the website.

Matthew Kantor

Replacing your team with AI?

You just hired a thousand interns with no manager.

Too many execs automate for cost. 

Not strategy. They cut humans.

They forgot one thing:  humans ARE the strategy.

Here's what they're missing:

Everyone will have the same AI soon. Your only edge? Your people.

The spreadsheet was revolutionary 30 years ago. Today it's a calculator. AI will follow the same path.

Smart leaders aren't cutting. They're training teams on the tools. Moving 2x faster without losing anyone.

Even Ben Affleck can see it.  Why can't you?

AI isn't a replacement. It's a multiplier.

Train your people. Equip them to win.

Because when the dust settles, only leaders who invested in their teams will still be leading.

The rest of them will spend a year explaining why they lost. 

What's your decision?

Trusted Advisor + coach for B2B SaaS founders who’ve plateaued and are ready to grow past $3M ARR.

Most founders don’t fail because they aim too high.

They fail because they aim at “reasonable.”

Your brain is built to avoid risk, rejection, and embarrassment.

So you tell yourself:
“I don’t have the network to grow.”
“I didn’t go to Stanford.”
“They had backers I don't.”

That story keeps you safe.

And it keeps you small.

Thinking big isn’t a personality trait.

It’s a choice. 

It's a muscle - you have to work it or you forget.

But that aside - remember this...

Massive growth doesn’t always require massively more effort.

Carrying 1 bag of groceries up the stairs versus 10 bags...

It’s the same number of steps.

Same distance.

Just different muscles.

So pick a bigger number of steps to climb.

Not to feed your ego.

To serve more people.

What’s the “too big” goal you're thinking about ? Everybody has one.

The best marketers I know don’t have jobs.

They have clients.

When I filled in as a recruiter, I saw behind the curtain:
• 400+ resumes per role
• Bots and bad fits everywhere
• Great people buried at the bottom
  
But the ones getting hired? They weren’t applying. 

hey were being referred.

That’s when I realized:

If you’re skilled enough to get hired, you’re skilled enough to consult.

Same motion. Just pointed in a different direction.

And one of those paths has no income cap.

Most of the best clients have been through referrals. 

Stop chasing job boards. 

Start building demand.

Decide out what you are worth and how you want to spend your time.

The upside is massive.

Agree?

She spent hours with ChatGPT to rewrite the same email on repeat.

No conversions.

The email wasn't the problem. The positioning was broken from line one.

No amount of AI polish fixes a misaligned offer.

What little you time you have left is being wasted by the prompt. 

Here's what every founder tells me:

"We tried AI for marketing. It didn't help."

Of course it failed.

You automated a strategy that didn't work at manual speed. Now it fails faster.

Automating bad ideas is like serving chicken sushi.

Technically possible. Totally insane.

The real question isn't "How do we use AI better?"

It's: "What's actually broken in our positioning that more content won't fix?"

I've seen this many times now. Companies spend $40K on AI tools before spending 4 hours on strategic alignment.

6 months later: More content. Same revenue.

If you're scaling from $2M-$10M and your marketing feels less effective as you spend more

Book a 30-minute diagnostic call where we'll identify what's actually broken.

Link the comments

Everyone thinks they need more strategy.

But strategy without structure is just a guessing game.

You wouldn’t vacation by getting in a car, hit the gas, and figuring out where you’re going later.

Yet that’s how most teams operate:

Strategy is set.
Goals are clear.
But decisions are made on gut, habit, questionable data or politics.

The result? Complexity rises. Coherence drops. And growth stalls.

What they’re missing isn’t vision.

It’s Decision Architecture.

A system that makes good decisions repeatable. 

Especially under pressure.

Before you execute strategy, ask:

“Can we consistently choose the right next move?”

If not, fix that first.

Jeff Bezos was once told he had enough ideas to kill Amazon.

Too many ideas isn’t a strength.

It’s a silent killer.

Teams get overwhelmed.

Execution slows down.

And nothing truly gets done.

I’ve seen it first-hand.

Founders stuck in idea-mode, while the business bleeds.

That’s why I help build roadmaps with ruthless clarity.

Fewer options. Better focus.

Because fewer options = more progress = less risk = more revenue

Give your best ideas a real shot.

Start by saying no to the rest.

How many "great ideas" do you have?

A Founder I know spent 18 months perfecting their app.  Zero customer conversations during that time.

Brilliant product. 

One competitor with a lame product has hundreds of customers.

Same market. Same opportunity window.

I see this pattern every month now.

Founder obsesses over:
• Dashboard pixel alignment
• Email template A/B tests 
• Internal process documentation
• "Strategic" deck refinements

Meanwhile, their calendar shows 3 customer calls in 8 weeks.

This is a major problem. 

They treat busy work like real work because it *feels* productive without the emotional risk.

You can't fail at reorganizing your Notion workspace.

You *can* fail at a sales call.

Dont ask yourself "How do I get more done?"

Instead try this on: "What am I hiding from by staying busy?"

I ran a few time audits on founders last quarter.

Most of their work could be removed without impacting the business. 

That math doesn't scale. It doesn't even survive.

If you're 6+ months in and revenue hasn't moved:

Get yourself a time audit. 

I'll show you exactly what's bleeding hours and the 3 activities you should actually protect.

The your focus shifts to making revenue and away from wasting time. 

Comment "AUDIT" below if you're ready to stop hiding in your task list.

The companies that win don't outwork you. They out-prioritize you.

A script kiddie cloned my client's SaaS in 6 weeks.
 
Undercut pricing by 40%. Marketing plan: "Better but cheaper."
 
My client was panicking: "We need to Drop prices and open up more features"
 
I said: "Nope.  Ignore them". 
 
Here's why:
 
The clone copied the features. They couldn't copy the business.
 
6 months later:
 
• Clone: Dead (got bored of no customers). 
• My client: 1.3x revenue
 
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗱:
 
1. Integration ecosystem (documented API )
2. Customer feedback loop (actually answering questions)
3. Brand positioning (understood where they mattered)
 
Most founders react to copycats by speeding up the feature treadmill.
 
That's exactly backwards.
 
When someone copies you, it means:
 
• You're worth copying
• They see features, not systems
• You need leverage, not velocity
 
The real question isn't "how do I stop copycats?"
 
It's: "𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁?"

𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁. 

Getting people to buy it is the hard part. 

(Yes I know they are all challenging parts). 
 
If you're defending against clones by racing them - you're already losing.

Agree?

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The Battle

Huw Edwards

Matthew Kantor

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The Battle

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Huw Edwards's LinkedIn Performance

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