Chris Tolles

AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

  • Climate Change + Climate Tech

  • Science Commercialization

  • High-EQ/High-Care Leadership 

  • Founding CEO Startup Leadership

  • Pre-Seed to Series A Fundraising

  • Nondilutive (Grant) Fundraising

SERVICES OFFERED:

  • Leadership Coaching

  • Fundraising Support

  • Co-Founder Coaching

Hi, I’m Chris Tolles! I’m the CEO and Co-Founder of Yard Stick PBC, and I coach and advise startup founders on the side, especially those navigating the unique challenges of science commercialization and climate tech. I’m passionate about helping early-stage leaders translate vision into impact and build enduring companies in complex, high-stakes markets.

MY PROFESSIONAL JOURNEY

After getting my BFA in Furniture Design (yes, Furniture Design) from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), I worked in humanitarian relief across the globe in Switzerland, Norway, Liberia, and Honduras. These experiences shaped my perspective on systems change and cemented my commitment to doing meaningful work in service of climate and community. They also got me riled up about business, and I joined an MIT-founded solar startup based in Hong Kong as their first employee.

EARLY CAREER + GLOBAL IMPACT:

INNOVATION + STRATEGY CONSULTING:

After completing my MBA at Boston University, I joined Innosight, Clay Christensen’s consulting firm focused on disruptive innovation for large corporations. There, I worked with big corporate clients like Bose, Biogen, and Eli Lilly on growth and entrepreneurial strateg, and innovation efforts. The content was great, but management consulting culture wasn’t a fit. Too much PowerPoint. Too little doing.

I decided to return to startups and spent about 18 months “speed-dating” different scientists around the Boston area with the goal to co-found a company. That became Sundaily, a DTC sun protection startup offering ingestible sun protection products (gummy sun protection, and yes, it totally frickin’ works). As CEO, I led the company from founding through its eventual acquisition by Grove Collaborative in 2020. Tons of fun, but I wanted “harder” science for my next founding role.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP TO ACQUISITION:

Today, I lead Yard Stick PBC, a climate tech company tackling one of the thorniest problems in climate mitigation: affordable, accurate soil carbon measurement. With world-class scientists, backing from major climate investors, and support from the USDA, ARPA-E, and others, we’re building the measurement backbone of soil carbon. Our work aims to unlock gigaton-scale soil carbon storage by reducing the cost of measurement by over 90%.

My path to coaching comes from a desire to pay it forward. I’ve benefited from incredible mentors and tough lessons, and I want to support founders, especially those in hard tech, science-based ventures, and climate, who are trying to do hard things. I’ve received amazing executive coaching in my career (still do!), and my own coach recommended I start offering it myself. If you're looking for a partner to help you lead with heart, raise effectively, manage with clarity, and navigate the founder/early-stage exec journey without losing yourself along the way, I’d love to say hey.

BUILDING YARD STICK PBC:

BECOMING YOUR COACH