Executive Performance Coach · Speaker

Leadership
Under Pressure

Helping leaders and teams perform when it matters most.

I’ve spent my career leading people in two environments where performance is never theoretical: global technology and professional fighting.

Let’s Talk

Dave HirschbeinFormer Global Technology Executive · MMA Team Owner

Dave Hirschbein, executive performance coach

Two Worlds. One Standard.

Different arenas.
Same fundamental challenges.

For 25+ years, I led people and organizations in corporate technology, including senior leadership roles with Oracle, Veritas, Hitachi Vantara, Code42, and Informatica. At the same time, I spent 15+ years building and leading a professional MMA organization, managing and advising elite fighters competing on some of the world’s biggest stages.

What I learned is that these two worlds have far more in common than most people realize.

Pressure. Preparation. Accountability. Trust. Adversity. Difficult decisions. Managing personalities. Execution.

Today, I bring lessons from both arenas together to help executives, leaders, and teams strengthen leadership, navigate pressure and adversity, make confident decisions, and perform at a higher level when it matters most.

Dave Hirschbein celebrating in the UFC corner

Experience at a Glance

25+ YearsCorporate Technology Leadership

350+ PeopleLargest IT Sales Organization Led

$500M+Subscription Revenue Pipeline Managed

MMAGOLD KenyaCo-Founder | Youth Development 501(c)(3) Nonprofit

14 UFC FightersManage and Advise UFC Athletes

MMAGOLD AmericaTeam Owner | 2010–Present

About Dave

Two Arenas. One Approach to Performance.

Dave Hirschbein with colleagues at a leadership event

I’ve spent my career leading people in two worlds that couldn't look more different: global technology and professional fighting.

For 25+ years, I held leadership and revenue-facing roles with Oracle, Veritas, Hitachi Vantara, Code42, and Informatica. I led organizations of up to 450 people, managed major global business and delivery pipelines, and worked in environments where expectations were high and results mattered.

At the same time, I spent 15+ years building and leading MMAGOLD, managing and advising professional fighters competing in the UFC and other major combat-sports organizations. I've helped athletes and teams navigate training camps, negotiations, injuries, wins, losses, adversity, and career-defining decisions.

What surprised me wasn't how different these two worlds were. It was how much they had in common.

Pressure. Preparation. Accountability. Trust. Adversity. Difficult decisions. Managing personalities. Execution.

In both arenas, I've learned that leadership isn't about having every answer. It's about preparing people, building trust, creating clarity, making confident decisions, and leading when the pressure rises.

Today, those experiences form the foundation of Gold Performance Coaching. I help executives, leaders, and high-performing teams strengthen leadership, navigate pressure and adversity, make better decisions, and perform when it matters most.

My approach is direct, practical, and built from real-world experience — not theory.

Dave HirschbeinExecutive Performance Coach | SpeakerFormer Global Technology Executive | MMA Team Owner

Services

Performance When It Matters

Gold Performance Coaching works with executives, leaders, and teams operating in environments where expectations are high, decisions matter, and results count.

Dave Hirschbein speaking to an audience at a leadership event

My approach is practical and built from real-world experience, with a focus on leadership, preparation, trust, accountability, resilience, decision-making, and execution.

Every engagement is tailored to the individual, team, or organization.

Executive & Leadership Coaching

Stronger leadership. Clearer decisions. Better execution.

One-on-one coaching for executives, business leaders, and high-performing professionals who want to become more effective when the demands are highest. The work is direct, confidential, and focused on the real challenges you're facing.

Focus Areas

Leadership Under Pressure • Decision-Making • Accountability • Building Trust • Managing Personalities • Navigating Adversity & Change • Team Leadership • Self-Awareness • Performance & Execution

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Team Workshops

Build teams that are ready before the pressure arrives.

Interactive workshops designed around the real challenges facing your organization. Using lessons from the boardroom and the fight game, I help teams strengthen preparation, trust, communication, accountability, decision-making, and execution under pressure. Sessions are customized around your organization's goals, challenges, and audience.

Speaking

Different arenas. Same fundamental challenges.

Story-driven presentations that bring audiences inside two high-performance environments: global technology and professional fighting. I combine real experiences from both arenas with practical lessons in leadership, preparation, trust, decision-making, adversity, accountability, and performance.

Signature Presentation

Leadership Under Pressure — Lessons from the Boardroom to the Fight Game. How strong leaders prepare before pressure arrives, create clarity when it hits, and respond with accountability and resilience afterward.

Explore Speaking

Let’s Build the Right Approach

Start with the challenge. Define what better performance looks like.

Whether you're looking for one-on-one coaching, a focused team workshop, or a high-impact speaking engagement, let's start with the challenge you're facing.

Start a Conversation

Speaking

Leadership Under Pressure

Lessons from the Boardroom to the Fight Game

Different arenas. Same fundamental challenges.

Dave Hirschbein brings audiences inside two high-performance environments that couldn't look more different: global technology and professional fighting.

Drawing from 25+ years in technology leadership and 15+ years leading and managing professional fighters, Dave combines real stories with practical lessons about preparation, trust, accountability, decision-making, adversity, resilience, and performing when the pressure is highest.

This isn't leadership from a textbook.
It's leadership lived in two arenas where results matter.

Dave Hirschbein speaking on stage at a leadership event

Signature Presentation

Leadership Under Pressure

What happens when everyone looks to you for the next move?

Pressure doesn't build the team. It reveals the team you've already built. Leadership Under Pressure takes audiences from the boardroom to the fight corner to explore what strong leadership looks like before, during, and after high-pressure moments.

Prepare Before Pressure

Build preparation and trust before the difficult moment arrives.

Lead During Pressure

Cut through the noise, create clarity, make decisions, and communicate the next move.

Respond After Pressure

Own the result, learn, adapt, recover, and prepare to perform again.

The presentation gives audiences a practical framework they can carry directly into their next high-pressure moment.

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Speaking Topics

Perform When It Matters

How preparation, clarity, accountability, and confidence determine performance before the pressure ever arrives.

The Boardroom & The Cage

What corporate leaders can learn from elite fighters — and what fighters reveal about leadership, coaching, trust, and execution.

Leadership Under Pressure

How strong leaders make difficult decisions, manage personalities, communicate clearly, and keep teams aligned when the stakes rise.

Build a Corner You Trust

Why nobody performs at the highest level alone — and how leaders build teams that challenge, support, prepare, and hold one another accountable.

Responding to Adversity

How high performers process setbacks, adapt quickly, stay focused, and return to execution instead of allowing adversity to define the outcome.

Coaching High Performers

How to lead talented, driven personalities without overmanaging them — using trust, direct feedback, clear standards, and individual accountability.

Dave Hirschbein coaching a fighter in the UFC corner

Built for Your Audience

Give people something they can actually use when the pressure arrives.

Every presentation can be tailored to the organization, audience, and challenges in the room.

Ideal for: Leadership meetings • Executive off-sites • Sales kickoffs • Annual company events • Leadership-development programs • Management summits • Technology organizations • Revenue teams • Professional service groups • High-performance teams

Whether the format is a keynote, leadership session, or interactive presentation, the goal is the same.

Start a Conversation

Dave HirschbeinExecutive Performance Coach | SpeakerFormer Global Technology Executive | MMA Team Owner

Real stories. Practical lessons.
A perspective audiences won't hear from everyone else.

Book Dave to Speak

Contact

Let’s Start a Conversation

Whether you're interested in executive coaching, a team workshop, or bringing Dave in to speak, let's talk about what you're facing and what you're looking to accomplish.