# Coaching

1:1 coaching engagements with Federico Ramallo.

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      <a href="/">Federico Ramallo</a> <span>/</span> <a href="index.html#work">Work</a> <span>/</span> Coaching
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    <h1>Coaching for <em>engineering leaders</em>.</h1>
    <p class="lede">Quarterly cadence, 1:1, written diagnostics between calls. For Directors and VPs navigating a specific cross-border challenge: building a new distributed team, recovering from vendor attrition, or scaling AI capability without losing institutional knowledge.</p>
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      <span><strong>Format</strong> &nbsp; 1:1, quarterly</span>
      <span><strong>Sessions</strong> &nbsp; 4 per quarter</span>
      <span><strong>Investment</strong> &nbsp; $8,500 / quarter</span>
      <span><strong>Active slots</strong> &nbsp; 6</span>
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<!-- WHAT WE WORK ON -->
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      <div style="font-family: 'JetBrains Mono', monospace; font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: var(--rust); margin-bottom: 24px;">What we work on</div>
      <h2 style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: clamp(28px, 3.5vw, 40px); line-height: 1.2; color: var(--ink); margin-bottom: 36px;">Specific problems, <em>not generic frameworks</em>.</h2>
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        <p>Coaching is not a leadership course. It is a working relationship with a specific challenge in the center of it. Over a quarter, we go deep on the thing that is actually keeping you up at night, with the kind of honesty that only happens in a room of two.</p>

        <p>The most common challenges members come in with:</p>

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          <li style="padding: 12px 0 12px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.55; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--line);"><span style="position: absolute; left: 0; color: var(--rust);">→</span> <strong>Building a distributed team from scratch.</strong> First five hires across two countries. What to get right in the first 90 days.</li>
          <li style="padding: 12px 0 12px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.55; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--line);"><span style="position: absolute; left: 0; color: var(--rust);">→</span> <strong>Recovering from a failed vendor relationship.</strong> Untangling the assumptions, identifying which engineers to keep, deciding whether to rebuild or replace.</li>
          <li style="padding: 12px 0 12px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.55; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--line);"><span style="position: absolute; left: 0; color: var(--rust);">→</span> <strong>Scaling AI capability without losing context.</strong> Where to deploy AI tools, where not to, and how to keep institutional knowledge accumulating instead of leaking.</li>
          <li style="padding: 12px 0 12px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.55; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--line);"><span style="position: absolute; left: 0; color: var(--rust);">→</span> <strong>Quietly losing senior engineers.</strong> The retention problem you cannot diagnose because everyone says they are fine. Surfacing what is actually happening.</li>
          <li style="padding: 12px 0 12px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.55;"><span style="position: absolute; left: 0; color: var(--rust);">→</span> <strong>Compliance crisis recovery.</strong> Mexican labor law, IP transfer, contractor reclassification. The diagnostic that tells you what you owe and what you do not.</li>
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        <p>If your problem is not on this list and you think it might fit, the right move is to send me a paragraph describing it. I'll tell you honestly whether I am the right person.</p>
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<!-- HOW IT WORKS -->
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      <div style="font-family: 'JetBrains Mono', monospace; font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: var(--rust); margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;">How it works</div>
      <h2 style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: clamp(32px, 4vw, 44px); line-height: 1.15; color: var(--ink); margin-bottom: 60px; text-align: center;">A quarterly <em>working rhythm</em>.</h2>

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          <div style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-style: italic; font-size: 36px; color: var(--rust); margin-bottom: 16px;">01</div>
          <div style="font-family: 'JetBrains Mono', monospace; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.15em; color: var(--ink-muted); margin-bottom: 12px;">WEEK 1</div>
          <h4 style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-weight: 500; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; color: var(--ink); margin-bottom: 12px;">Diagnose</h4>
          <p style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5; color: var(--ink-soft); margin: 0;">Two-hour intake. We map the problem in writing. You leave with a working hypothesis we can test.</p>
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          <div style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-style: italic; font-size: 36px; color: var(--rust); margin-bottom: 16px;">02</div>
          <div style="font-family: 'JetBrains Mono', monospace; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.15em; color: var(--ink-muted); margin-bottom: 12px;">MONTHLY</div>
          <h4 style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-weight: 500; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; color: var(--ink); margin-bottom: 12px;">Working sessions</h4>
          <p style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5; color: var(--ink-soft); margin: 0;">Three 90-minute sessions across the quarter. Specific decisions, not abstract advice.</p>
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          <div style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-style: italic; font-size: 36px; color: var(--rust); margin-bottom: 16px;">03</div>
          <div style="font-family: 'JetBrains Mono', monospace; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.15em; color: var(--ink-muted); margin-bottom: 12px;">BETWEEN CALLS</div>
          <h4 style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-weight: 500; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; color: var(--ink); margin-bottom: 12px;">Written diagnostics</h4>
          <p style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5; color: var(--ink-soft); margin: 0;">Async access to me via email or Loom. Written feedback on documents you send. No SLAs, but I respond within two business days.</p>
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          <div style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-style: italic; font-size: 36px; color: var(--rust); margin-bottom: 16px;">04</div>
          <div style="font-family: 'JetBrains Mono', monospace; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.15em; color: var(--ink-muted); margin-bottom: 12px;">WEEK 12</div>
          <h4 style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-weight: 500; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; color: var(--ink); margin-bottom: 12px;">Closeout</h4>
          <p style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5; color: var(--ink-soft); margin: 0;">Final session. We assess what changed, what didn't, and whether continuing makes sense.</p>
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<!-- IS THIS RIGHT FOR YOU -->
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      <div style="font-family: 'JetBrains Mono', monospace; font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: var(--rust); margin-bottom: 24px;">Is this right for you</div>
      <h2 style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: clamp(28px, 3.5vw, 40px); line-height: 1.2; color: var(--ink); margin-bottom: 36px;">A short honest filter.</h2>

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        <h3>This works well if</h3>
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          <li style="padding: 10px 0 10px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.55;"><span style="position: absolute; left: 0; color: var(--rust);">→</span> You have a specific challenge with stakes attached. The conversation is about a real decision, not exploratory career thinking.</li>
          <li style="padding: 10px 0 10px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.55;"><span style="position: absolute; left: 0; color: var(--rust);">→</span> You can act on what we discuss. You have the authority to change something based on the conversation, not just relay it to a board.</li>
          <li style="padding: 10px 0 10px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.55;"><span style="position: absolute; left: 0; color: var(--rust);">→</span> You want directness. I will tell you when I think you are wrong. That is the value of the relationship.</li>
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        <h3>This is not a fit if</h3>
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          <li style="padding: 10px 0 10px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.55;"><span style="position: absolute; left: 0; color: var(--ink-muted);">×</span> You are looking for executive coaching in a generic sense. There are better options, and I can refer you.</li>
          <li style="padding: 10px 0 10px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.55;"><span style="position: absolute; left: 0; color: var(--ink-muted);">×</span> You want a course or a content library. The Distance Circle is a better match.</li>
          <li style="padding: 10px 0 10px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.55;"><span style="position: absolute; left: 0; color: var(--ink-muted);">×</span> Your problem is fundamentally a delivery problem and what you actually need is a team. <a href="densitylabs.io" style="color: var(--rust); text-decoration: underline;">Density Labs</a> is the right partner for that.</li>
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<!-- INQUIRE -->
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      <div style="font-family: 'JetBrains Mono', monospace; font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: var(--rust); margin-bottom: 16px;">Inquire about an open slot</div>
      <h2 style="font-family: 'Fraunces', serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: clamp(32px, 4vw, 44px); line-height: 1.15; color: var(--ink);">Six active slots. <em>Limited openings.</em></h2>
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      <h2>Tell me about the problem</h2>
      <p class="form-intro">Send me a few paragraphs. I read every inquiry myself and respond within three business days. If we are a fit, we set up a 30-minute call to confirm. If we are not, I tell you that, and where I think you should look instead.</p>

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          <label for="coaching-name">Full name</label>
          <input id="coaching-name" type="text" name="name" placeholder="Your name" required />
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          <label for="coaching-email">Work email</label>
          <input id="coaching-email" type="email" name="email" placeholder="you@company.com" required />
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          <label for="coaching-role">Current role</label>
          <input id="coaching-role" type="text" name="role" placeholder="VP Engineering, Director, CTO, etc." required />
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          <label for="coaching-challenge">What's the specific challenge you'd want to work on?</label>
          <textarea id="coaching-challenge" name="challenge" placeholder="Two or three paragraphs. Be honest about the situation. The more specific you are, the more useful my reply will be." required></textarea>
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          <label for="coaching-timing">When are you looking to start?</label>
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            <option>This quarter</option>
            <option>Next quarter</option>
            <option>Six months from now</option>
            <option>Just exploring</option>
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        <button type="submit" class="form-submit">Send inquiry →</button>
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