Rachael Goldfarb

Supported Chief of Staff to the President at the White House, served as a founding CoS at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Traveling CoS to the President of Global Health at the Gates Foundation, and currently at Prime Executive Office. 150+ CoS interviews.

Suzi Coul

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The Coul & Gold Briefing is a leadership newsletter built for CEOs, founders, executives, and the chiefs of staff who hold them together. Each edition delivers sharp, actionable insights on strategy, decision-making, and organizational excellence. Whether you're steering the ship or keeping it on course, this briefing is your weekly edge.

Your Chief of Staff Has a Leo McGarry Problem

The Mystique Is Real. The Job Is Not.

Sep 1, 2026

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7 min read

Unvisited Tombs

You won't be there to read it.

Aug 18, 2026

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7 min read

The 90-Day Fiction

Nobody gets good at this job in 90 days.

Aug 4, 2026

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5 min read

The $400,000 Body Double and Defining the Chief of Staff Role

First Round in 2017, Bloomberg last week, Korn Ferry this month. Three takes on the Chief of Staff, and between them exactly one idea worth keeping. Let's sort the wreckage.

Jul 28, 2026

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9 min read

You Slapped a Sticker on It and Called It a Chief of Staff

A fictional CEO, a real exemplar, and the tool that finds out which one you actually built.

Jul 14, 2026

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7 min read

The Chief of Staff, Defined

Buckle up. We’re about to expose a lot about the Chief of Staff business, and it’s not all nice.

Jul 7, 2026

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6 min read

The (CoS) Dentist Wants You to Practice Meeting Hygiene

90% of the meetings on your calendar are a waste of time. Your Chief of Staff knows exactly why. (And we have a tool to help ensure your meeting falls in the 10%.)

Jun 30, 2026

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7 min read

Killing the CoS Job Description, One Vague Word at a Time

We built a (pretty remarkable) tool that refuses to write a bad Chief of Staff job description. Also: Ask Us Anything, tonight.

Jun 23, 2026

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7 min read

Your AI Strategy Has a Carmela Soprano Problem

You hired the title. Nobody designed the role. Your Chief of Staff is quietly paying the bill.

Jun 2, 2026

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8 min read

Five Requirements in a CoS Job Description That Tell Me You Have No Idea What You're Doing

A field guide to the dead giveaways. (And I challenge you to find me a JD that's free of all of these.)

May 12, 2026

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7 min read

"This is Not Your Typical Chief of Staff Job!"

Current chief of staff job descriptions are a wasteland of meaningless nouns and adjectives. If you can't describe it, you're not ready to hire for it.

Apr 28, 2026

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9 min read

The Chief of Staff Pipeline Is a Lie We All Agreed to Tell

Providing an honest assessment as to whether you are wired to be a Chief of Staff

Apr 14, 2026

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6 min read

The Ash That Remains After Burning Down a16z's "How to Hire a Chief of Staff" | Part 3 of 3

Why incinerating a16z's guide is the only option.

Apr 3, 2026

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14 min read

Burning Down a16z's Chief of Staff... in the Nicest Way Possible | Part 2 of 3 | Posts 6-8

Have a glass of milk on standby. This gets spicy — fast.

Apr 2, 2026

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13 min read

Burning Down a16z's Chief of Staff Guide... in the Nicest Way Possible

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) initially wrote about the Chief of Staff role in January. I argued why their version was problematic. Their response? Making it worse.

Apr 1, 2026

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7 min read

You Just Hired a Chief of Staff. Start the Countdown Clock. They're Leaving. Soon.

The average Chief of Staff hire costs $150K–$200K. Most are set up to fail before they send their first Slack message. This isn’t a people problem. It’s an architecture problem.

Mar 30, 2026

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7 min read

Five Pillars to Determine if a Chief of Staff Has the Architecture to Do Their Job

There are five pillars of trust in a Chief of Staff's job. This is a teaser of the kind of frameworks we're going to provide to paid subscribers.

Mar 26, 2026

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2 min read

The Coul & Gold Group

Leadership requires architecture.
This is the blueprint.

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Rachael Goldfarb

Suzi Coul

About

Your Chief of Staff Has a Leo McGarry Problem

Unvisited Tombs

The 90-Day Fiction

The $400,000 Body Double and Defining the Chief of Staff Role

You Slapped a Sticker on It and Called It a Chief of Staff

The Chief of Staff, Defined

The (CoS) Dentist Wants You to Practice Meeting Hygiene

Killing the CoS Job Description, One Vague Word at a Time

Your AI Strategy Has a Carmela Soprano Problem

Five Requirements in a CoS Job Description That Tell Me You Have No Idea What You're Doing

"This is Not Your Typical Chief of Staff Job!"

The Chief of Staff Pipeline Is a Lie We All Agreed to Tell

The Ash That Remains After Burning Down a16z's "How to Hire a Chief of Staff" | Part 3 of 3

Burning Down a16z's Chief of Staff... in the Nicest Way Possible | Part 2 of 3 | Posts 6-8

Burning Down a16z's Chief of Staff Guide... in the Nicest Way Possible

You Just Hired a Chief of Staff. Start the Countdown Clock. They're Leaving. Soon.

Five Pillars to Determine if a Chief of Staff Has the Architecture to Do Their Job

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