Sounding Board

Sounding Board provides leadership development delivered through a software platform combined with a global network of external coaches. Its Dynamic Leader Development Suite is packaged in three tiers: Expand, for organizations running scalable internal development programs on the company's software; Guide, for externally delivered coaching drawn from Sounding Board's coaching network; and Transform, an integrated option covering internal and external programs across all leader levels. An Accelerate offering targets individuals seeking personal professional coaching.

Service formats include 1:1 leadership coaching, group coaching (marketed as Leadership Labs and Leadership Studios), a mentoring module and an on-demand coaching module. The program-delivery software is used to build, manage, scale, track and measure development programs from a single system, with configurable dashboards for metrics such as participation and goal progression, and a proprietary algorithm that automates coach-to-leader matching. The company positions coaching outcomes against business results, citing improvements in cross-functional interaction, trust and credibility between management and teams, conflict resolution and strategic thinking.

Sounding Board's coaches are certified by accrediting bodies including the IAC, EMCC, CCE and ICF (ACC, PCC and MCC levels), average more than seven years of leadership experience, and are reported by the company to have a 92% retention rate. Co-founder and Chief Coaching Officer Lori Mazan has authored a leadership strategy guide aimed at talent development and learning leaders.

Founding story

Sounding Board originated in the coaching relationship between its two co-founders. Christine Tao was a sales executive at Tapjoy with an undergraduate business degree from Berkeley and an MBA from Wharton, who advanced quickly at a fast-growing startup without formal training in leadership skills. Lori Mazan, an executive coach with a 25-year record of developing Fortune 500 CEOs and C-suite leaders at public and private companies, coached Tao; the company states that this work contributed to Tao's organizational impact as the business passed $100M in revenue in under three years. Mazan had repeatedly heard senior executives say they wished they had had access to coaching earlier in their careers. The two set out to make leadership coaching available to leaders at all organizational levels and to remove the cost barriers that had prevented scaling, building the business around a cloud-based, virtual coaching platform. The company was founded in 2016.

Business model

Sounding Board sells packaged leadership development offerings to organizations, combining licensed program-delivery software with coaching services supplied either by its own global coach network or by the customer's internal coaches. Packages are tiered (Expand, Guide, Transform) according to whether programs are internally run, externally coached, or both, and buyers engage through a demo request and direct sales process. A separate consumer-facing offering, Accelerate, provides coaching to individuals.

Revenue derives from organizational contracts for coaching and mentoring programs delivered on the company's software, plus individual coaching. The company reported turnover of USD 7 million in 2024 and, at the time of its 2021 Series B, cited annual bookings growth of more than 350% year over year and enterprise customer net revenue retention above 200%.

Traction

At its December 2021 Series B the company reported annual bookings growth of more than 350% year over year, enterprise customer net revenue retention above 200%, and sequential growth over the preceding seven quarters. Turnover was USD 7 million in 2024.

Latest developments

On 3 March 2025, BTS Group AB announced an agreement to acquire Sounding Board, with the transaction expected to complete in March 2025. The deal involves a limited initial cash consideration plus potential additional consideration payable between 2025 and 2028 subject to the acquired business meeting specified targets. BTS said the acquisition would be marginally accretive to EBITA in 2025 and accretive to earnings and margins from 2026. Sounding Board's site now presents the combined BTS and Sounding Board offering, spanning executive to frontline coaching.