# Coaching and practice can make a CEO a better communicator

Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/s/coaching-and-practice-can-make-a-ceo-a-better-communicator/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy.

- Speaker: [Chase Lochmiller](https://realalpha.app/builders/chase-lochmiller/) · Chase Lochmiller is CEO of Crusoe. · Co-founded Crusoe in 2018 on the bet that energy would be AI's biggest bottleneck, and builds the data centers.
- Host: [Sonya Huang](https://realalpha.app/people/sonya-huang/) · Partner, Sequoia Capital · Works with OpenAI and Anthropic; co-wrote Sequoia's essay on generative AI.
- Host: [Pat Grady](https://realalpha.app/people/pat-grady/) · Co-steward, Sequoia Capital · Joined Sequoia in 2007; backed Snowflake, Zoom, ServiceNow and OpenAI.
- Show: Training Data
- Episode: [Crusoe CEO Chase Lochmiller: Turning Stranded Energy Into Intelligence](https://realalpha.app/v/64vUl9k-IAQ/), Oct 29, 2026
- Moment: 32:30 to 37:23 of the episode (5 min), playing on https://realalpha.app/s/coaching-and-practice-can-make-a-ceo-a-better-communicator/; the episode from there: https://realalpha.app/v/64vUl9k-IAQ/?t=1950

## Quote

> “public speaking was never something that came naturally to me. It was something I had to **work really, really hard** at”
> — [Chase Lochmiller](https://realalpha.app/builders/chase-lochmiller/) at [33:03](https://realalpha.app/v/64vUl9k-IAQ/?t=1983) · Training Data

## Takeaways

1. Speaking polish came from preparation and repeated practice.
2. A trusted coach helped him work through leadership problems.
3. Felicis budgets for founder development, including executive coaching.

## About this segment

Chase Lochmiller says public speaking did not come naturally, so he practiced and worked with a coach. Felicis also funds executive coaching and other founder self-improvement.

From “Crusoe CEO Chase Lochmiller: Turning Stranded Energy Into Intelligence”, Oct 29, 2026. [Watch the full episode](https://realalpha.app/v/64vUl9k-IAQ/)

## Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

[32:34](https://realalpha.app/v/64vUl9k-IAQ/?t=1954) one thing i'm noticing about you on this call and i've watched you in other formats is you're very polished chase most ceos don't have your level of polish is that something you learned along the way you said you had a coach did your coach help you with that i had a coach uh and i still we're still we're still quite close we're not working as closely together as we once did but shane metcalf he was a phenomenal uh phenomenal coach for me uh i learned so much from him. I, public speaking was never something that came naturally to me. It was something I had to work really, really hard at, uh, because I, I just wasn't doing it. Like I'd given lectures and things like at, you know, universities and, uh, but it wasn't a, it wasn't something that I was routinely doing, especially like the quant space is a very, you know, it's a

[33:30](https://realalpha.app/v/64vUl9k-IAQ/?t=2010) very technical industry. So you're working with very smart people, but you're, you're doing it in a very secretive way. It's like you're very open with your teammates and then you don't tell anything to anybody in the world about what you're doing for fear that you might leak some of your alpha. So I was never out in the world presenting stuff. And so it was something that I had to work very, very hard at to just be prepared for what I was going to say, how I was going to say it.

[33:56](https://realalpha.app/v/64vUl9k-IAQ/?t=2036) And I think if you do it enough, you just get practice. And at some point, you just stop having to prepare as much for things. And then most things at this point, I kind of just like wing them, uh, because you know, like there, there's certainly things that like just require a tremendous amount of preparation, but, uh, you know, I think I'm often better off the cuff because I, you know, it's just like how, how I think through things. And I, I'm, I've developed a good skillset of being able to explain what's in my mind, uh, you know, fairly clearly to, to, to, to whoever I'm talking to what else did you learn from first of all should all the ceos i work with hire a coach yes and like yeah so okay interesting what did you learn like what did jane teach you or what did he push you on you know one of our investors

[34:44](https://realalpha.app/v/64vUl9k-IAQ/?t=2084) uh felices they had this really cool thing they do for for companies and i haven't seen anybody else do this uh but they have a budget for like personal investment essentially it's it's like uh you know it's it's not it's it's like meant for like self-improvement it's meant for things like executive coaching and off sites and just ways of up leveling yourself as a leader because they're look, we're making this big investment in the founder, the CEO, and we're betting on you being able to get better, that you're not a static version of yourself, that you're actually going to be a better version of yourself for the course of time as the business grows. I just thought that was such a thoughtful approach to the investment, especially in venture, where the investments are so much about the people and the ability of the founder to scale uh you know i

[35:44](https://realalpha.app/v/64vUl9k-IAQ/?t=2144) shane like early days it just felt like shane was a guy that like always had the answer to the problem that i was like racking my brain on and you know he was as much of uh a coach as like almost like a therapist for me like that's how i deal with me it was so you know we we really did have a very, uh, you know, still do a very, very special relationship. That's very trusted. And, um, I, I just felt like, you know, it's something you have to work at and you build this trust with a person. And even if it doesn't feel like you're making progress on any given session, you're laying the groundwork and you're laying this foundation for when that really big thing does pop up. This person knows you so deeply and they know where your blind spots are and they know how you might be responding in a certain situation and they know how to like guide

[36:36](https://realalpha.app/v/64vUl9k-IAQ/?t=2196) you to course correct, uh, to be able to, you know, rise to whatever occasion it is. And, you know, I think, I don't know. I mean, people say this and it's, you know, I may, I may sound like I'm, you know, repeating the, the common folklore, but like, you know, so many of the problems with building companies are people problems, right? Being able to effectively navigate the people of side of this is like, it's, that's like most of the challenges, like, you know, you get these smart, ambitious and opinionated people getting everybody to work and row in the same direction and agree on things. Or if they don't agree to commit to whatever pathway you're taking, I mean, that is.

[37:14](https://realalpha.app/v/64vUl9k-IAQ/?t=2234) always the hardest thing. And, uh, you know, as a CEO, I think, you know, sometimes the biggest