• Content Creator: PFL Academy

• Startup Mentor & Coach

• Program Manager / Director

• Pitching & Presentation Skills Coach

• Public Speaking / Storytelling Trainer

• Life Coach: Pitching For Believing in oneself, Improving, and Achieving Results.

• Author of Pitching For Life - 2019

• Venture Partner at Deep Tech Venture Capital

• Public Speaker

• Lecturer in Schools / Universities

• Event Host

• Pitching Judge

• Workshop Facilitator

Coaching Philosophy
> Mindset is First
> Content is key
> Delivery is Crucial

Coaching Approach‍ ‍
> Learn by doing
> Step by step guidance and support
> 1% Progress - Continuously
> Mindset > Content > Delivery
> From 5 minutes per day - Consistency
> Building Confidence from 0 to 99

Coaching Focus - I help you to
> Start with yourself before trying to convince others
> Build/develop self-belief and self-esteem
> Choose your targets / objectives
> Identify your strengths and weaknesses
> Improve daily (1% improvement mentality)
> Achieve your results up to 100x faster/better, no matter the task!

I have seen participants from 7 to 75 years old. They come from many different countries and cities. They have diverse backgrounds, work experience, discipline (business, technology, science, design, and arts), nationalities, and cultures, for example:

- Students in Schools / Universities
- Startup Founders
- Workers / Employees
- Executives / Leaders / Directors
- Board Members
- Investors
- Public Speakers
- Scientists
- Game Developers
- Software Engineers
- Artists / designers / Producers
- Community Managers
- Musicians / Actors / Performers
- Psychologists
- Medical Professionals
- PR Professionals
- Media Professionals
- Governmental Officials
- PhD Researchers / Professors
- Sales People / Sales Managers
- Job Seekers / Unemployed
- Refugees

Link to Testimonials

List of 35 countries, where I worked:

1. Austria

2. Bahrain

3. Belgium

4. China

5. Croatia

6. Denmark

7. Egypt

8. Estonia

9. Finland

10. Germany

11. Greece

12. Hungary

13. Indonesia

14. Italy

15. Latvia

16. Lebanon

17. Lithuania

18. Malaysia

19. Namibia

20. Netherlands

21. Norway

22. Portugal

23. Qatar

24. Saudi Arabia

25. Singapore

26. Slovakia

27. Spain

28. Sweden

29. Switzerland

30. Thailand

31. Turkey

32. Ukraine

33. United Arab Emirates1

34. United Kingdom

35. Vietnam

I have been working in 63 cities:

Abu Dhabi. Athens.

Bangkok. Barcelona. Beijing. Beirut. Berlin. Byblos. Bratislava. Brussels

Doha. Dubai.

Espoo.

Frankfurt.

Geneva.

Hangzhou. Hanoi. Helsinki.

Istanbul.

Jyväskylä

Kairo. Kajaani. Kharkov. Kiev. Kirkenes. Kotka. Kouvola. Krabi. Kuala Lumpur. Kuopio. Kuwait City.

Lahti. Lappeenranta. Lisbon. London.

Madrid. Malmö. Manchester. Milan. Munich.

Oulu.

Porvoo.

Riga. Riyadh. Rome. Rovaniemi.

Saigon. Singapore City. Split. Stockholm.

Tallinn. Tartu. Tampere. Turku. Tripoli. Turin.

Ubud.

Vaasa. Vantaa. Vienna. Vilnius.

Windhoek.

Zagreb.

Bio Photos
Here

Coaching Photos
Here

Startup
I am a pitching coach and startup mentor with nearly 15 years of experience across European, African, and Asian ecosystems. I specialize in turning complex technical ideas into clear, fundable stories that help founders master early business development, secure their first ideal customers, and find early investors.

Having coached over 150,000 people and supported startups in raising more than €100M across dozens of global accelerators, I bring deep venture experience as a former deep tech Venture Partner and author of Pitching For Life and No More Random Shit (To be released in 2026).

My mission is to help founders work smart, not just hard. I help you cut out the random shit work so you can reach your customers and funding goals 100x faster and far more efficiently.

Work CV: Link

PADI Dive Master CV: Link

- Lebanese
- Ukrainian
- Living in Finland

I was born in Ukraine and I grew up in Lebanon. To date, I have been living in 6 countries:

1) Ukraine,
2) Sweden,
3) Lebanon,
4) Italy
5) UK
6) Finland

Currently, I live in Helsinki since 2005 and I travel regularly for work and vacation.

Workshops

• 500€ / hours

• Full-day workshop 3-5k € (8 hours)

• Half-day workshop 2-3k € (4-6 hours)

1on1 Mentoring

• 500€ / hours

• New customer package 1000 € for 4 sessions of 1 h (50% discount)

• 12 months subscription 4000 € (save 2k€) = 12 sessions

In my sessions, I talk about pitching, presentation skills and/or early-stage entrepreneurship. Here is a breakdown of the most common topics that I coached, mentored, or lectured about.

Pitching in General
- The Fundamentals of Pitching
- Design Your Pitch
- Pitch Scenarios
- Argumentation in a Pitch
- Storyline of a Pitch
- Mindset & Pitching
- Content & Pitching
- Delivery & Pitching
- Pitching in Person
- Pitching Online (Zoom)

Public Speaking
- Keynote presentations (20+ min)
- Speeches (10-20 min)
- Short Talks (5-10 min)
- School Presentation (3-30min)
- Startup Pitches (2-5 min)
- Storytelling in a Pitch
- Pitching for Media
- Pitching in Interviews

Networking
- Presenting in Events (1-3 min)
- Elevator Pitches (30-60s)
- TikTok Style (4-15s)
- Networking 101
- Slush Hack
- Hack the Hack

Present Yourself
- Introduce Yourself as a Human
- Present Your Professional Skills
- Pitching in a Job Interviews
- Pitching For Love
- Pitching For a Promotion
- Pitching For Friends

Present Concepts
- Brainstorming Ideas in Teams
- School Presentations
- Showcasing and Selling Art
- Pitching Design Ideas
- Pitching a Mobile Game Idea
- Self Pitching (For you to you)

Sell Products or Services
- Demoing (Present Your Solution)
- Pitching for Product Development
- Product Sales Pitch
- Service Sales Pitch
- Pitching for marketing and selling
- Pitching in Phone Calls

Promote Online
- Pitching on Websites
- Pitching via Emails
- Pitching in Videos
- User Acquisition for Apps
- User Acquisition for Mobile Games

Present Your Company
- For Customers
- For Partners
- For Investors
- For Co-Founders
- For Suppliers
- For Advisors
- For Mentors
- For Any other Stakeholder

Pitching For Funding
- From Friends or Family
- From Banks
- From Investors
- From Donations
- From CrowdFunding
- From Grants

Pitching in Social Situations
- Approaching Someone
- Small Talk Before Pitching
- Public Speaking
- Networking
- Storytelling in a Pitch
- Pitching For Support

Entrepreneurship
- Entrepreneurial Mindset
- Business Development
- Selling. Negotiations. Closing.
- Characteristics of an Entrepreneur
- Minimum Viable Products (MVPs)
- Design Thinking in Entrepreneurship
- Agile Entrepreneurship
- Lean Entrepreneurship
- Business Model Workshops
- Lean Canvas Workshops
- Traction Development for Startups
- Stakeholder Mapping

Here is a comprehensive sample, not a complete list of programs, where I coached and/or mentors.

✦ = I Designed / Created
✱ = I lead as a Program Director

- Programme X - 150 Startups Online ✱✦
- Startup Journey - Boost Turku ✱
- Game Executive - AaltoENT ✱✦
- Business Incubator - Startup Refugees ✦
- Habitare Pitch Your Design ✱✦
- Strategic Foresight - AaltoEE ✱✦
- Stora Enso Accelerator Program ✱
- Gamification Executive Program ✱✦
- Innovation in Education 2016-2018 ✱✦
- Sales Bootcamp - AaltoENT ✱✦
- Startup Track Program
- Future Female Leadership Program
- Monetization in Games - IGDA ✱✦
- Mindot Female Emporement Program
- Aalto University Mentoring

Here is a comprehensive sample, not a complete list of Master Classes, that I designed and implemented.

- Pitching for Funding
- Pitching for Leaders
- Pitching for CEOs
- Pitching & Storytelling
- Present Yourself as a Human
- Present Yourself as a Professional
- Pitching New Ideas
- Pitching for a Pet (Kids Edition)
- Pitching for a Pet (For Adults)
- Storytelling in Games
- Pitching for Ambassadors
- Pitching for Public Officials
- Pitching for Marketing Managers
- Pitching for Sales Professionals
- Pitching With Confidence
- Empowering with Pitching
- Pitching for Science Projects
- CERN Pitching Masterclass
- Self Pitching Masterclass

Here is a comprehensive sample, not a complete list of courses that I was invited to teach or lecture at.

Aalto University
- Startup Experience,
- Aalto Global Brand Management
- SCI Project Course
- Game Business
- IDBM Project
- Creating Multidimensional Experiences
- Aalto Ventures Program

Haaga-Helia
- Entrepreneurship in Hospitality
- International Business Project
- Ideation & Opportunities
- Design Thinking in Hospitality
- Prototyping Workshop

Vidzeme
- Presentation Skills at Innovation Course
- Pitching at Project Management Course

Executive Education
- Innovation in Education - AaltoEE
- Game Executive
- Strategic Foresight
- Pitching & Storytelling - WU
- Sales Bootcamp
- Stora Enso Accelerator

Others
- Fundraising & Pitching - SOAS
- Pitch to Global Experts - GGW
- Creative Skills 21 - CS21
- Project Management - Arcada
- Pitching with Confidence - LUT
- Venture Pitching - Lahti Science Park

Hereis a comprehensive sample, not a complete list of incubators / accelerators, where I coached and/or mentored.

- Startup Bootcamp Accelerator
- Slush Impact Accelerator
- Terkko Health Hub (MedTech)
- XEdu Helsinki / Torino (EdTech)
- Butterfly Effect Incubator
- LUTES Program
- TechBBQ - Denmark
- Saigon Innovation - Ho Chi Minh City
- Flat6Labs Accelerator - Beirut
- Qatar Sports Tech Accelerator
- Baltic Sandbox - Vilnius / Riga
- Ignite by Aaltoes
- Microsoft Flux - Helsinki

Here is a comprehensive sample, not a complete list of Hackathons, in which I was invited as a coach, mentor, or pitching competition judge.

Junction - Hack the Future
XAMK - Hack Your Pitch
EUvs.Virus Hackathon / Matchaton
Climathon Vilnius 2020
Ice Innovation Festival - Kirkenes

Here is a comprehensive sample, not a complete list of events, conferences, festivals, or happenings, where I was invited as a coach, speaker, and/or mentor.

- Idearace Business Idea Competition
- PG Connects - Helsinki and London
- PG Connects Digital
- Monetization in Games - Helsinki
- EEX - Keynote Speaker
- Seedstars - Peer Group on Acquisition
- Maria01 - Keynote Speaker
- ICE Kirkenes - Keynote Speaker
- CS21 - Keynote Speaker
- Slush Impact Accelerator - Mentor
- Junction Hackathon - Mentor
- EUvsVirus - Host & Keynote Speaker
- Ornamo Design Award - Event Host
- Design Meet Business - Facilitator
- Ship Startup Festival - Keynote Speaker
- Oulu Game Lab - Pitching Judge
- Hack Your Pitch, XAMK

1) List of References

2) Summary About Walid

- No Need To Spill it All - Ornamo
- Master Your Pitch - Alter State
- Pitch the Game - Game Dev Talks
- Games and Ideas - Pixel Federation
- Passion For Pitching - TTS Podcast
- PG Connects Interview 2018 London

(Work in Progress, I am collecting these at the moment, if you have an interview with me, please share it!)

SlushD Tirana 2024 - Link

- Innovation Center Kosovo
- Awaited Millennials
- Luckan
- Games:net Berling
- Aalto Summer Camp
- Growing Games: Pitching workshop
- PGC Connect
- Terkko Experts
- XAMK Pitchaus
- Lahti Ventures Program
- Innovation in Neuroscience Seminar
- ICE Kirkenes
- Death by Pitching. Life by Speaking.
- Growing Games, Denmark
- Present Yourself & Your Skills, Lebanon

(Work in Progress, I am collecting these at the moment, if you have a banner of me, please share it!)