Why Wisdom is in Short Supply with Dalglish Chew

Why is doing ‘the inner work’ important? Can AI replace coaches? Why is wisdom in short supply?

In this episode, the entire team is on for a conversation with our coach-in-residence, Dalglish Chew. Dalglish received a Ph.D. in English but left academia and cut his teeth at McKinsey, working with healthcare clients and conducting due diligence for private equity firms. He is now an executive coach and an investor at

Avalanche VC

. He works with startup founders and investors across Silicon Valley to do, in his words, the “inner work that unlocks hyper growth.”

Dalglish has no doubt that there’s a significant return on coaching for venture-backed founders. However, in a world full of well-meaning advisors, mentors, and people who want to "add value,” wisdom is in short supply. Dalglish explains why the wisdom we so sorely need isn't easy to scale quickly, and why he’s skeptical that exceptional coaches will be replaced by AI anytime soon.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode. Listen to the full episode or watch on YouTube to discover why coaching is difficult to scale, why human coaches are not likely to be replaced by AI anytime soon, and how Dalglish’s unique background has shaped how he coaches (and what the tattoo on his back means!)

We cover:

• How does coaching help us do our inner work?

• How close are we to having AI replace human coaches?

• What’s the role of personality tests in coaching?

• What makes coaching difficult to scale, and what does wisdom have to do with it?

• How a unique upbringing and a Ph.D. in English have influenced Dalglish’s journey as a coach

• “Coercive Productivity,” and what it reveals about the differences between Americans and Singaporeans

Please comment below.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, reactions, and questions.

For as long as space remains, for as long as sentient beings remain, so too may I remain to dispel the miseries of the world

Shantideva, Bodhicaryavatara

Show Links:

• Dalglish Chew: Personal Website

• Return-on-Coaching for Venture-Backed Founders. Overview of how we think about coaching at

  Avalanche VC

• Towards a Return-on-Coaching for Venture-backed Startup Founders. A literature review by Dalglish.

• Non-Self-Coercive Productivity

• Why the best leaders want their superstar employees to leave