Walter Roth

What he sees in founders

Walter starts with the expertise, curiosity, and judgment a founder brings to the problem they are solving. His coaching helps them apply those strengths to selling. They learn to understand the customer’s world, ask the question that matters, and work out whether there is a real reason to move forward together. He believes founders can become exceptionally effective sellers of their own products and build the judgment to hire and coach others as the company grows.

The work moves between the deal and the person having the conversation. Sometimes the next move needs a new skill, a clearer business case, or a better question. Sometimes you already know what to do, but the stakes make it hard to do. Walter helps you notice the difference, practice the conversation, and learn from what happens next.

Compassion, curiosity, and collaboration guide the work. That means caring about the other person’s outcome, staying interested in what is actually true, and using both people’s expertise to reach a decision. Those habits matter when winning customers, raising a fund, recruiting someone, or giving difficult feedback.

Building companies and learning to sell

At 23, Walter founded a venture-backed startup and raised $9.8 million across three rounds. He spent a year as entrepreneur in residence at the fund that led his Series B, then began his enterprise sales career at Oracle. He holds a degree in industrial engineering, and his work has included product development, recruiting, marketing, business development, company leadership, and sales.

Over the past decade, he has led sales or coached founders and their teams. He has been a mentor at Alchemist Accelerator since 2018 and sales coach in residence at HF0 since 2024. His coaching also extends to the LP conversations involved in raising a venture fund.

Beyond the sales conversation

Walter has also built mobile apps for mindfulness, coaching, and therapy, collaborating with psychologists and scientists.

He splits his time between New York and San Francisco and enjoys hiking. Through the NYC Founder Community Hiking Club, he has brought founders together to walk, talk, and share their experiences outside the usual meeting room. The moonlit ocean on this site began with a photograph Walter took while walking with his wife on Kahala Beach.

Working with Walter at Simple Lens →