Chris Gee Consulting

I guide emerging brands and mid-sized agencies through digital transformation, offering deep expertise in AI implementation and digital strategy. 

Whether you're looking to future-proof your business with AI or accelerate your overall digital strategy, I deliver impactful, data-driven solutions that drive measurable success.

Chief Executive Officer

Ragan Communications and PR Daily

As a Strategic Advisor to Ragan's Center for AI Strategy, I help shape the resources, frameworks, and executive guidance that communications leaders need to integrate AI with clarity and purpose.

My focus:
→ Connecting AI experimentation to real-world outcomes
→ Translating emerging tech into practical comms workflows
→ Ensuring human judgment stays at the center of AI adoption

This work builds on my experience leading AI adoption across corporate comms teams, PR agencies, and advisory firms, and supports the Center’s mission to equip communicators with the skills, tools, and insight to lead in an AI-powered world.

Strategic Advisor

Mixing Board

Mixing Board is an invite-only community of senior marketing and communications leaders who share experience, expertise, and mentorship to elevate our practice.

Mixing Board Member

Edelman

As Head of Digital, U.S. Corporate Affairs & Advisory Services at Edelman, I led a team of experts in digital corporate and public affairs. We helped businesses navigate the complex intersection of business and societal issues, providing strategic counsel to ensure success.

Our team's specialties included:

👥 Digital Executive Visibility: We helped executive leaders hone their presence on social media, resonate with key audiences, and build their personal brands.

🌎 Digital Corporate Public Affairs: We provided expert guidance on navigating public affairs in the digital age, helping clients build trust and mitigate risk.

🚀 Paid Social Media Targeting: We created customized amplification strategies that get the most out of earned media, owned content, and executive voices, reaching key stakeholders where they are most active.

📈 Digital Transformation: With Edelman's CommsTech offering, we helped Corporate Communicators evaluate their tech stack and ensure it is optimized for business impact. This included the integration of generative AI tools and technologies to transform communications and deliver data-driven insights.

Head of Digital, U.S. Corporate Affairs & Advisory Services

FGS Global

I was the Managing Director and Head of Digital Strategy at Finsbury North America, helping clients shape their brand story through data-led insights and snackable content. I advised on digital storytelling, identified new opportunities, and enhanced Finsbury's technology stack. Here are my highlights:

💡 Provided expert counsel on policy creation and stakeholder positioning, including comprehensive online response protocols and scenario planning documents.

💻 Developed a winning social media strategy for lead-generation campaigns with a lower cost per lead than the original goal.

🌟 Positioned key stakeholders as industry leaders through expert policy advising, establishing an influential online presence to manage potential criticism and drive successful outcomes.

Overall, my work helped clients amplify their message and navigate the digital landscape with confidence.

Managing Director - Digital Strategy

Burson

As Head of Digital Strategy & Content for the U.S. Corporate & Financial practice, I drove the integration of digital services into the U.S. Corporate & Financial Practice and led the activation of Studio B for the Practice (the firm's evolving approach to content development and storytelling). My responsibilities also included co-developing and marketing practice specific products and services that generated opportunities for new and existing clients.

Managing Director, Head of Digital Strategy & Content, US Corporate/Financial Practice

General Assemb.ly

Developed curricula and led Influencer Marketing and Social Media Bootcamp workshops at General Assembly (a global network of campuses for technology, business and design). Participants left with a detailed understanding of the social media landscape and how to evaluate which tools and social platforms are the best fit for their organization's strategic goals. They also learned the importance of influence in modern marketing as well as how to mobilize influencers and advocates.

Instructor, Influencer Marketing & Social Media Bootcamp Workshops

RF|Binder

By educating corporate leaders on best practices for using digital, social and mobile platforms, I enabled brands to stay one step ahead of disruptive technologies and to head confidently into an increasingly fragmented communications landscape. I created and evangelized strategies that leveraged the latest digital innovations and allowed leading brands to engage with key audiences and enhance their strategic goals. Our team at RF|Binder used cutting-edge technology to derive meaning from millions of social conversations and apply those insights to results-driven strategies that affect digital, PR and live consumer events.

Chief Digital Officer

Teneo Strategy

The widespread adoption of social media has permanently changed the world of communications, transformed audiences into publishers and amplified the potential rewards and damage possible in communications challenges beyond what was possible in the past. During my 2 years at Teneo, I provided insight-based digital media solutions for Brand Marketers, Financial Services firms, Digital Innovators and non-profit organizations. Having established Teneo’s Digital Advisory practice, I developed tools for online influencer engagement, digital thought leadership and insights stemming from Big Data analytics. With Teneo’s focus on serving CEOs and board level directors, I counseled the executive leaders for many of the world’s most important brands.

Managing Director, Social Media & Digital Strategy

Splendid Communications (US)

Managing Director of Splendid Communications, (US). Splendid is an award-winning global communications group specializing in creating brand ideas that live in the earned and owned media space. Utilizing a fresh, engaging re-mix of social media, content, PR and events, Splendid brings consumers closer to the brands they love.

Managing Director

I empower leaders with AI Workshops & B2B digital strategy | LinkedIn Top Voice | Public Speaker | Board Director | Podcaster🎙️

AI won't replace communicators, but 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲.

The industry is shifting. And the teams that integrate AI now — 𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 — will be the ones who thrive.

At Chris Gee Consulting, we help comms leaders and PR teams streamline workflows, save time, and lead with data-driven clarity. Whether you're starting from scratch or optimizing your AI strategy, our workshops and advisory services are built for today's communicators, 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝘀, 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

Let's future-proof your team. Learn more at chrisgee.me or book a call.

Chris Gee

Yesterday, I spoke about something I see inside almost every organization I work with.

Most teams are experimenting with AI.
𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁.

Yesterday morning, I delivered the opening keynote at P World's AI in Communications Boot Camp 2 in NYC. In the room, almost every hand went up when I asked who was “using AI.”

However, only a small handful raised their hands when I asked who had a documented strategy, clear ownership, or a real roadmap for the next few years. 

That gap is what I call the integration gap.
It is the space between curiosity and capability.

Teams are testing tools, playing with features, and getting quick wins.
But without structure, governance, and leadership alignment, the progress stalls.
🚫 Shadow AI grows.
🚫 Experimentation becomes siloed.
🚫 And the organization never gets the ROI it expected.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.
𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.

The maturity model I shared yesterday makes it clear.
Most organizations are stuck in the middle.
They understand the potential, but they have not put the scaffolding in place to turn potential into practice. 

Integration requires:
✅ Clear priorities
✅ Shared guardrails
✅ AI champions inside every function
✅ A plan for upskilling at scale
✅ Leaders who model the behavior they expect

Curiosity is how you start.
Integration is how you grow.
Transformation is what happens when both come together.

Where is your organization on that journey today? Let me know in the comments! 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

(10) Feed | LinkedIn

li_at

JSESSIONID

(10) Activity | Chris Gee | LinkedIn

Talks about #ai, #pr, #dei, #thoughtleadership, and #corporatecommunications

P World

Helping PR & Comms leaders future-proof with AI strategy | Speaker + Trainer | Keynotes + Workshops | Ragan Advisor

Over the past year, I’ve been tracking a trend that’s now impossible to ignore.
AI is not replacing comms jobs one-to-one.
But it is replacing pieces of those jobs.
And companies are reorganizing teams because of it.

That’s the theme of my latest short video and the focus of the newest episode of 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿, which I’ve officially resumed.

Here’s the data:
📉 𝟳𝟯 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 of marketing leaders using AI have already reduced external content spend.
📉 𝟴𝟯 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 say they expect to reduce agency spending further as AI tools improve.
📉 𝟭𝟭 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 say they would eliminate agencies for basic content work once AI becomes “good enough.”

And brands are saying the quiet part out loud.
🚫 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘇 plans to cut agency fees by up to 50 percent.
🚫 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗔𝗜 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 is producing assets 30 percent faster.
🚫 𝗪𝗣𝗣 says brands using AI are reducing what they pay their agencies.

And it’s showing up inside my own business.
In 2024, about 80 percent of my clients were in-house comms teams.
This year, 60 to 70 percent are agencies looking to adapt.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

Companies have spent the past two years pouring money into AI infrastructure and workflow redesign. One Nvidia chip costs as much as a car, and companies are buying them by the thousands. That money has to come from somewhere.

So organizations are shifting dollars from lower-margin areas they believe have less strategic impact.
And many have concluded that PR and comms fall into that category.

𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁.
🚫 Scopes are shrinking.
🚫 2026 decisions are being delayed.
🚫 Brands are internalizing work they used to outsource.

This is not about AI replacing communicators.
It is about the economics of AI reshaping the financial foundation of agency and in-house relationships.

I’m looking forward to continuing this conversation on the podcast and here on LinkedIn, because this moment matters for every communicator, at every level.

Would love your thoughts or feedback.
How are you seeing this play out inside your organization? 👇🏾

Google used to define your reputation.
Now, it’s ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI search.

When someone asks an AI about your brand, it doesn’t return a list of links.

𝗜𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆.

That story depends on how your digital footprint has been optimized for AI models, not just for traditional SEO.

If your content isn’t recognized, cited, or understood by these systems, you risk being invisible in the next wave of discovery.

I’ve been working with PR and communications teams to rethink their visibility strategies in relation to this idea.

𝗔𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁.

It’s no longer enough to rank on Google.
You need to appear in AI-generated answers that summarize your brand for millions of people who may never click through.

The organizations getting this right are treating AI optimization as the next evolution of reputation management.

They’re ensuring their executives’ voices, FAQs, and thought leadership are structured in ways AI can find, interpret, and trust.

𝗜𝗳 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆?

What are your thoughts? Is your corporate reputation optimized for AI search? Let me know in the comments! 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

Last week, I spoke at the AI in Comms Summit about a trend I am seeing across the communications industry.

𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘀 𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀.
𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀.

In 2024, about 80 percent of my consulting clients were in-house communications teams.

This year, that number has flipped.
Roughly 60 to 70 percent of my clients are agencies.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

Over the past one to two years, brands have spent heavily on AI.
Infrastructure. Licenses. Cloud expansion. Data. Training. Governance.
The kind of investments that do not show up on the surface, but absolutely show up on a balance sheet.

𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗡𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝗿.
𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀.

And that money has to come from somewhere.

So companies are shifting dollars away from functions they believe have lower margins and lower perceived impact.
Unfortunately, many have decided that PR and communications fall into that category.

Here is what I am seeing play out:
🚫 Agency scopes of work being canceled or reduced
🚫 Longer timelines before committing to 2026 budgets
🚫 Brands quietly using AI to perform tasks they used to outsource
🚫 Pressure to show “efficiency gains” before discussing strategy

Data shared by @Eleanor Hawkins of Axios data backs this up.
𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝟰𝟰 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗥 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝟲𝟬 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗔𝗜 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴.

This is not robots replacing writers.
It is economics.
Capital is being reallocated to fund AI.

And this is the part we have to recognize.
Comms leaders are not struggling because they cannot keep up with AI technology.
They are struggling because AI spending is reshaping the financial foundation of the industry.

AI will transform communications.
But the first wave of impact is not technological.
𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹.

If AI is the new cost center, the question for every comms leader becomes:
How will you show value in an environment where budgets are moving under your feet?

What are you seeing? Let me know in the comments! 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽

The move from SEO to GEO is happening faster than most people realize.

I’m seeing it everywhere.
In client conversations.
In workshops.
In the questions comms leaders ask when they realize 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴.

For years, we optimized for Google.
Now, we are optimizing for generative engines.
ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI search are becoming the first place people go to learn about a brand.

And they don’t give you ten blue links.
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿.
A summary.
A story.

As we move from search engines to answer engines, brands must learn how to be understood by the models that shape those answers.

This piece from PR Daily is a solid starting point for anyone who wants to get their arms around the SEO to GEO shift.

The organizations that get ahead of this will shape how AI describes them.
The ones that do not will be described by default.

What are your thoughts? Is your org making the shift from SEO to GEO? Let me know in the comments! 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

Later today, I’m giving a keynote on a theme I’m seeing everywhere in the communications world.

𝗔𝗜 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.

Most organizations are experimenting with AI. Very few have a real strategy.

And almost none have alignment across leadership, workflows, or governance.

Here’s what recent data shows:
According to the insights I’ll be sharing later today, at AI in Comms Bootcamp here in NYC: 

💡 𝟳𝟴 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 of clients evaluate agencies based on AI capabilities (Gartner), and
💡𝟰𝟯 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 of talent consider AI maturity when choosing where to work (Korn Ferry). 

Your AI readiness is no longer a tech issue.
It is a reputation issue.

𝗜𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗲𝗿𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.

The teams getting this right are:
✅ Building literacy at every level
✅ Standardizing workflows to reduce risk
✅ Measuring hours saved and insights gained
✅ Creating governance that builds trust internally and externally

AI will not replace communicators.
Communicators who use AI well will redefine the field.

More to come later today.
If you’ll be there, I look forward to connecting!

Most people saw the “code red” headlines this week. 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱.

Sam Altman didn't sound the alarm for nothing.
He did it because Google is eating his lunch.

I want to break down what the “code red” pause actually means, why OpenAI halted agent development, and why it matters for anyone navigating AI inside their organization.

Here is the short version:

𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗔𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲.

For almost three years, OpenAI held a comfortable lead. That changed with the release of Google’s Gemini 3, which surpassed GPT-4 and OpenAI’s later iterations in speed, reasoning, and multimodal capability.

The “code red” memo is a response to that shift. Altman reportedly instructed teams to pause or abandon several high-profile agent projects and redirect resources back to the core ChatGPT model.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱?

⏸️ “Pulse,” a personalized assistant (my personal fav)
⏸️ Vertical agents for shopping and health
⏸️ Advertising features that were meant to be new revenue streams (wait, what???)

These were supposed to be the next evolution of ChatGPT.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄?

If agents are the future, why pause them? Three reasons stand out.

1️⃣ 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲’𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹-𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲
Google owns the chips (TPUs), the cloud, the data centers, and the distribution via Android, Chrome, and Search.

OpenAI pays Microsoft and Nvidia every time it trains or deploys an agent. Google pays itself. That cost imbalance makes a direct agent war unwinnable right now.

2️⃣. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺
Agents only work as well as the model they run on. If Gemini 3 is smarter and faster, then a “Google agent” will naturally outperform an “OpenAI agent.” You cannot build a high-functioning assistant on top of a model losing ground.

3️⃣ 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
OpenAI is still a startup fighting a trillion-dollar ecosystem. Splitting engineers across GPT-5, Pulse, shopping agents, health agents, and ads meant they were losing ground everywhere. The pause is an effort to fix the foundation first.

Is the “Age of Agents” over?

No. But the Age of Agents as a standalone product category just hit a ceiling.

OpenAI’s move signals that gents are not something you bolt on. They are an outcome of having the smartest, most reliable model.

If the foundation is slipping, the entire agent strategy collapses.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲

OpenAI is pulling back from application-layer features to protect the core model. They are stepping back from the furniture to fix the foundation.

Every organization experimenting with agents should get the lesson here:

Foundations come first.
Capabilities come second.

Losing the intelligence layer means losing everything built on top of it.

Join me from 26–27 February at the AI in Communications Boot Camp in Los Angeles. Use my code 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗥𝟭𝟬 to get your ticket with a 10% discount.
Looking forward to discussing how AI is changing comms.
For more info about my session, visit:
https://lnkd.in/ewTCREu8

AI drift is real.
And most teams don’t see it happening.

Yesterday I met with two different comms teams. Both were excited about AI. Both were experimenting. Both were learning on their own.

But both shared the same challenge:
Everyone is using AI differently, with no shared expectations from leadership.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀.

Teams create their own rules.
People choose their own tools.
Quality becomes inconsistent.
Risks slip through the cracks.
And leaders assume progress is happening when, in reality, workflows are quietly fragmenting.

What actually unlocks AI adoption isn’t more tools.
𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

A few things I shared on the calls:

💡 Teams need clarity on where AI should be used and where it shouldn’t.
💡 They need a common language for evaluating outputs.
💡 They need a simple way to share what’s working.
💡 And they need leadership to set the floor — not the ceiling — for how AI shows up in the work.

When you don’t set that foundation, AI drifts.
When you do, AI scales.

If you’re early in your AI journey, start here:

✅ Pick 3–4 workflows everyone agrees to standardize.
✅ Define the quality bar.
✅ Identify one person or committee to collect and share learnings.
✅ Set expectations for responsible use.
✅ And revisit the plan monthly. Not annually.

The teams that win with AI aren’t the ones experimenting the most.
They’re the ones aligning the fastest.

How are you seeing AI drift show up in your org? Let met know in the comments! 👇🏾

While we were eating turkey, the music industry just offered a glimpse of where AI governance is headed.

𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 that allows artists to opt in to AI-generated music using their own voice, image, and compositions. It is a notable milestone, not only because of who is involved, but because of what it signals.

✅ This is a transition from confrontation to coordination.
✅ A major rights holder chose to license its catalog.
✅ An AI company rebuilt its models on permitted content.
✅ And creators were given the ability to decide how their work is used.

It is an early blueprint for how consent may evolve across digital ecosystems.

For communications leaders, there are three dimensions to watch.

1️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰.
As AI systems become more capable, industries will need clearer rules for likeness, voice, writing style, interviews, and archival material. We will likely see more explicit opt-in structures as organizations protect how their identities are represented.

2️⃣ 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
This includes setting boundaries for approved use cases, clarifying training data rights, establishing disclosure practices, and defining escalation paths when content appears that was not authorized.

3️⃣ 𝗔𝗜 𝗰𝗼-𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲.
Deals like this indicate a maturing market. Brands will soon have ways to generate content using licensed IP in a controlled, transparent manner. This will influence how teams think about scale, quality, and cost.

This settlement is not only a music story. It's an early signal of what regulated AI creation could look like across sectors.

The question now is how organizations prepare for a future in which digital identity, consent, and AI co-creation converge. 

Is your organization ready? Let me know in the comments. 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

Strategy & Finance Executive | Scaling Impact-Driven Companies Beyond $10M | Strategic CFO | Certified Scaling Up Advisor

Scaling Founders Beyond $10M with Strategy, Financial Clarity, and Leadership Expansion

Most companies stall not because of lack of effort—
but because the founder has outgrown the systems, strategies, and financial models that once worked.

At Ascend Growth Ventures, we partner with CEOs of $3M–$10M companies to implement Scaling Up, strengthen financial infrastructure, and elevate leadership teams—building businesses that scale profitably and predictably, without burning out the founder.

By integrating Scaling Up, Exponential Organizations, and CFO-level financial insights, we deliver a complete, battle-tested system for sustainable, high-performance growth.

🔹 We Work With CEOs Who Want To:
✔️ Scale revenue and profits without chaos
✔️ Build self-managing leadership teams
✔️ Unlock hidden cash flow and improve financial decision-making
✔️ Sharpen their strategy for exponential growth
✔️ Prepare for capital raises, acquisitions, or exits

🔹 Our Core Focus Areas:
  * Strategic Scaling Up Implementation

  * Financial Strategy & Cash Optimization

  * Leadership Team Development

  * Systems for Predictable Growth

  * Valuation Prep and Exit Strategy

✅ Why Work With Me?
25+ years of experience scaling businesses from the inside out:
➡️ Regional CFO, GE Gas Power (LATAM, +1.5GW record year)
➡️ Strategic finance and underwriting leadership at GE Capital
➡️ Business/project development for 8-figure ventures
➡️ Trusted advisor to founders scaling past $10M and beyond

✅ Industries We Specialize In:
✔️ Clean Energy & Decarbonization
✔️ Industrial Goods & B2B Services
✔️ Impact-Driven Companies
✔️ Scaling Coaching & Consulting Firms

🧠 If You're Ready to Scale Intelligently and Sustainably

Let's have a strategic conversation about where you are—and where you can go.

Easiest way to work with me?

Book a private power hour call and let's create your vision.
https://calendly.com/cruzagamboa/90-min-power-hour

Cruz Gamboa

The market tells stories. Your financials & metrics tell truth.

In 2001, Amazon's stock cratered from $113 to $6.

Wall Street declared it dead.

Let's be clear: that had to be terrifying. Even for Bezos.

Watching 95% of your valuation evaporate. Hearing the whispers. Feeling the pressure from every direction.

But here's what separated him from founders who fold in those moments, he kept coming back to his dashboard:

Customer acquisition costs...improving. 

Fulfillment efficiency...improving. 

Contribution margin per unit...improving. 

Defect rates...declining.

The stock price reflected fear. 

The operating metrics reflected reality.

Confidence isn't the absence of fear. It's choosing to trust what you can measure over what you can't control.

This is Financial Intelligence: knowing which numbers actually predict your future, especially when everything around you is screaming that you're losing.

Watch the video. Bezos is calm. 

Not because he wasn't scared, but because he had clarity.

He knew exactly what was true inside his business.

That's how you survive what looks like a reversal, and come out the other side stronger.

That's how $6 becomes $1.7 trillion.

So here's my question for you:

What would it be worth to have that kind of clarity the next time everything feels like it's falling apart?

To know—not hope, not guess—that you're on the right track?

That's the game worth playing.

Check out comments for details

#founder #growth #ceo #scalingup

Helping Founders Break the $10M Ceiling | Strategy, Cash Flow & Leadership Systems | Scaling CFO

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.

Hamdi Ulukaya didn’t just build a yogurt brand, he redefined an industry.

No investors. No marketing budget. Just purpose, grit, and belief.

In 2005, he saw an ad.
An abandoned Kraft yogurt factory.

Everyone saw a money pit.
He saw possibility.

He didn’t have the money.
So he took a loan.

Bought the factory.
Kept 5 employees who believed when no one else did.

No income.
No sales.
No marketing.
Just faith, and a recipe from home.

Two years later, in 2007, Chobani was born.

No ads. Just bold packaging and pure taste.

Retailers hesitated.
But the people loved it.

Within 5 years, #1 yogurt in America.

Over $1B in sales.
The giants, Dannon, Yoplait, couldn’t catch up.

He stayed private.
Gave 10% of the company to his employees.

Hired refugees.
Put people before profit.

When asked why, he said:

👉 “Business is the strongest force for good, if it puts people first.”

From a shepherd in Turkey…
To a billionaire who still walks the factory floors.

Lesson?
You don’t need investors.
You need integrity.
You don’t need luck.
You need courage.

Because the dream still works, if you do.

Loved this story. Let me know your comments. 

What problem in your business keeps calling for your most creative energy?

#CEO  #FOUNDER #GROWTH #SCALINGUP

They emailed eBay 200 times.
eBay ignored every single one.
Most people would’ve given up.

But Marc, Oliver, and Alexander Samwer weren’t “most people.”

They cloned eBay.
Launched it in Germany.
Executed with speed and perfection.
Within months… eBay bought it back for $43 MILLION.

Then the brothers doubled down.
They built Rocket Internet, the company that turned cloning into a billion-dollar machine.

They copied.
They improved.
They scaled.
And they sold again, and again, and again.

Here’s the truth:

👉 They weren’t chasing approval, they were chasing execution at scale.
👉 They didn’t wait to be discovered, they created their own leverage.
👉 They mastered the one principle most founders overlook:
Doing it better beats doing it first.

Critics called them “copycats.”
But behind the noise, the Samwer brothers built an empire worth billions.

Most people stop when they hear “no.”
The one who succeed?
They push when it’s uncomfortable.
They build when others hesitate.
They turn rejection into momentum.

If you want outsized results, do what most won’t:
Step past comfort.
Step past doubt.
Step past fear.

Because the biggest payoffs live right beyond the point where almost everyone quits.

#scalingup #growth #ceo #bostonfounders

LinkedIn Login, Sign in | LinkedIn

Two friends, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield.

One dropped out.
One got rejected from med school.
But both wanted to build something.

First idea: bagels.
Too expensive.
So they pivot to ice cream.

No experience. No investors.
Just a $5 correspondence course from Penn State.
$2.50 each.

They find an abandoned gas station in Vermont.
Borrow $12,000.
Do the renovation themselves.

Ben can’t even taste properly, a condition called anosmia.
So he focuses on texture.
Big chunks. Wild swirls. Bold flavours.

What others saw as a weakness became their edge.

Within months, lines formed outside the door.
Free Cone Day became a tradition.
Word spread fast.

Few years later, they launched Cherry Garcia.
The brand took off across the country.
Soon, Ben & Jerry’s was making over $500M a year.

All from $12,000 and a $5 course.

Lesson?
You don’t need the perfect start.
You need creativity, courage, and the guts to turn constraints into leverage.

#scalingup #ceo #founder #growth

𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁.

Steve Jobs said it best, the greatest people are self-managing.

They don’t need direction. They are the direction.

When you’re scaling, this is the difference between speed and stagnation.

You can’t build a $10M company micromanaging every move.
You build it by surrounding yourself with people who:

➡️ See the problem before you do.
➡️ Fix it without asking.
➡️ Then tell you how they made it better.

That’s who scales companies.
Not followers.
Not “yes” people.
Builders.

If you have to keep pushing your team to move, 
you don’t have a scaling problem,
you have a people problem.

The truth?
The best teams don’t need managing.
They need mission.

Hire those who act like owners.
Give them the target.
Then get the hell out of their way.

That’s how you scale.
That’s how you win.

#scalingup #ceo #founder #growth

He built a dating site that generated exactly zero activity.
No users. No traction. No revenue.

Most leaders call that a failed model.
I call it an early audit.

Three ex-PayPal employees launched “Tune In Hook Up,” expecting market fit.
What they got was silence.
Operational cost? Rising.
User acquisition? Non-existent.
ROI? Negative from day one.

But here’s what mattered:
They reviewed the data instead of reacting to the emotion.

They noticed users trying to upload videos
Not for dating, but for everyday moments.
Unintended behaviour, but real demand.

So they executed the smartest financial move any early-stage team can make:
A low-cost pivot.

Same infrastructure.
Same upload system.
Zero additional burn.
Just a shift in positioning:
Share any video.

And that decision changed their entire valuation trajectory.

Users scaled exponentially.
Cost per acquisition plummeted.
Engagement skyrocketed.
Suddenly, they weren’t running a dating site…
They were running the internet’s first true video platform.

By 2006, their risk profile had flipped
High growth. High virality.
And high legal exposure.

Enter Google.
They offered $1.65B in stock for a business that still had no established monetisation engine.
From a financial lens?
That’s called derisking the future.

Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim accepted.
Smart move.
They transferred operational liability…
And secured generational wealth.

Today, YouTube contributes over $40B in yearly ad revenue
and sits at a valuation north of $500B.

All from a product that started as a complete miss 
until the data told a different story.

Lesson:
You don’t scale perfection.
You scale what the market proves it wants.
Listen to the numbers, not the narratives.
And never underestimate the ROI of a well-timed pivot.

#CFOInsights #Leadership #Strategy #Scalingup

She sold her engagement ring for $10,000.
Ten years later, Vicky Tsai built a $500M skincare empire.

Most people call that crazy.
I call it commitment.

She walked away from a six-figure job…
Moved back into her childhood bedroom at 30…
Got rejected for 18 months straight…
And kept going anyway.

1,000 units.
Her last $5,000.
No safety net. No backup plan.

Month one? $2,000 in sales.
Most people quit here.
Vicky didn’t.

She packed every order by hand.
Wrote thank-you notes to strangers.
Built trust one customer at a time.

Then the internet found her.
Demand exploded.
Sephora called.
And the bedroom startup became one of the fastest-growing skincare brands in America.

In 2019, Unilever bought Tatcha for $500 million.
The $10,000 ring she sold?
It turned into 50,000x.

Lesson?
You don’t need permission.
You need conviction.
And the courage to burn Plan B. 

#ceo #founder #growth #scalingup

He got fired.
The company he built said, “We don’t need you anymore.”
Everyone forgot him.

But Steve Jobs didn’t stop.

He poured tens of millions into a failing company called Pixar.
Everyone thought he was crazy.
Most would have quit.

12 years later… that gamble sold for $7.4 BILLION.

Here’s the thing:

👉 He wasn’t chasing money. He was chasing vision.
👉 He embraced risk when others ran from it.
👉 He bet on what he believed in, even when the world said no.

Most people quit right before the payoff.
The real winners? They push through when it’s hardest.
They see opportunity where others see failure.

If you want massive results, you need to do what most won’t.
Step past comfort. Step past doubt. Step past fear.

Because the biggest payoffs live just beyond the point where almost everyone quits.

#scalingup  #growth #ceo

Steve Jobs

He built pole barns to pay for college.

Decades later, John Menard Jr. built Menards, an $18B home improvement empire.

Most people call that luck.

I call it financial discipline.

He opened a small lumber yard in 1964…

Kept prices rock-bottom by building his own factories…

And built every store with cash, not debt.

No investors. No loans. No noise.

While others chased speed and Wall Street, John chose control.

He knew his margins by product line. He tracked cash flow like a pilot tracks altitude. He made the numbers his single source of truth.

Store by store. State by state. Slow, steady, unstoppable.

When 2008 hit, he didn't scramble; he expanded.

Today?

340+ Menards stores. $13B+ revenue. 3rd third-largest home-improvement chain in America. Still 100% private.

The lesson?

You don't need to grow fast. You need to grow right.

That means: 
→ Knowing your profit margins by service line 
→ Tracking cash flow weekly, not just at tax time 
→ Building systems so the business works, not just you

Financial clarity isn't about being a "numbers person."
It's about building simple, repeatable habits that let you scale with confidence.

Have the courage to own every decision, starting with your numbers.
#founder #growth #businessmindset #financialclarity #scalingup

Most people think success comes from working harder, dreaming bigger, or thinking smarter.

Here's the truth: none of that matters if you don't act.

In one simple test, a $50 bill was up for grabs. 

Everyone wanted it. 
Everyone talked about it. 
Everyone wished they had it…

Except Debbie.

She stood up. She walked forward. She took it.

That's it. 

That's the difference between winners and everyone else.

While everyone else burns time and money chasing online strategies that become less effective every day…

The smartest entrepreneurs thriving in 2025 are walking away from their screens and adding an extra 7-figures through live events.

Real humans. In-person communities. High-profit partnerships.

The ultimate advantage in the age of AI isn't replacing humanity with efficiency; it's experiences that are deep, connective, transformative, and profitable.

Getting face-to-face with your ideal clients AND peers is the most consistent solution to the Trust Recession.

I'll be at Event Profit Engine in Austin (December 10-12)...and I still have 4 discounted tickets.

If you're ready to get clarity on the financial blind spots keeping you from scaling, this is your moment.

Don't sit in the room wishing. 

Be Debbie.

P.S. Stop waiting for perfect timing. The money, the deal, the break… it's waiting for the first person who moves. Will it be you? DM me AUSTIN for ticket details.
#scalingup #CEO #founder #growth

He was dropped at an orphanage at seven.
No food. No money. No choice.

By 14, he was on a factory floor, making metal frames.
One wrong move crushed part of his finger. Permanent injury.

Most people would quit. Most people would settle.
He didn’t.

He watched. He learned.
Every machine. Every process. Every decision.
Night classes. Every penny saved. Knowledge accumulation.

At 26, he opened a tiny eyewear shop in the Italian Alps.
Nothing fancy. No connections. Just him, a few employees, and an obsession with understanding the craft end-to-end.

Most competitors sold parts. He had a different idea: make complete frames. Control the product. Own the market.

By the 1980s, he was making designer frames for fashion houses.
By 1995, he bought LensCrafters—suddenly he controlled both the product and the retail.

Then came Ray-Ban.
Everyone said he overpaid $640 million for a dying brand.
He didn’t see risk. He saw opportunity.

Ray-Ban wasn’t just glasses anymore.
Movies. Celebrities. Fashion statements.
Value multiplied. Brand exploded.

He kept buying. Oakley. Sunglass Hut. Prada. Versace. Chanel. Pearle Vision.
Vertical integration? Check. Market dominance? Check. Monopoly? Almost.

When he died in 2022, Leonardo Del Vecchio had $25.8 billion.
One orphan. One factory worker. One relentless learner.

Lesson:
You don’t need luck. You need mastery, observation, and relentless execution.
Start small. Learn everything. Then own the ecosystem.

#ceo #scalingup #growth #founder

Most founders don't fail because of competition.
 They fail because of the blind spots they never see coming.

Cash looks fine… until it doesn't. Revenue grows… but profit disappears. You hire fast… and spend months fixing mistakes. You work harder… but scale refuses to unlock.

I spent 20+ years at GE Capital navigating these exact challenges at a corporate level.

Closing an $800M+ power plant deal? That taught me cash flow precision. Managing international transactions? That revealed the profit leaks most miss. Building high-performance teams? That showed me the cost of hiring fast vs. hiring right.

Those frameworks didn't just help me lead deals—they gave me the blueprint for scalable growth.

Now I help founders apply these same battle-tested systems to their businesses.

The 7 blind spots in this carousel? They're the ones holding 90% of founders back from predictable, profitable scale.

If you want to go deeper… Download my free ebook in the comments. 

Fix the blind spots. Scale with clarity. Build a business that runs like a pro—because you learned from one.
#scalingup #founder #ceo #growth

7 Blind Spots

𝗛𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮.
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿.

Most founders know Pinterest.

Almost no one knows Paul Sciarra, the guy who paid early salaries out of his own pocket, skipped taking income, and carried the company when no one else believed.

He wasn’t a “supporter.”
He was the architecture.

And then the quiet part of startup life happened.
Not a blow-up.
Not a fight.
Just… inches.

One meeting he wasn’t invited to.
One decision he didn’t have visibility into.
One board conversation that happened without him.

By the time Pinterest crossed millions of users and raised over $100M…
Paul was out.

He walked away with ~$15M.
Not nothing.
But painful when your original idea becomes a $25B enterprise.

This isn’t a story about betrayal.
It’s a story about leadership, governance, and identity.

𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗱𝗮𝘆.
They lose it when:
 • they stop owning the financial strategy
 • they delegate governance without understanding it
 • they avoid hard conversations
 • they let investors define the path
 • they disconnect from the role of architect

You can build something extraordinary…
and still get written out of your own success if you don’t stay in the seat you were meant to own.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 $𝟯𝗠–$𝟭𝟬𝗠 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻.
The product works.
The company has traction.
Teams are growing.

 But governance, capital strategy, and leadership identity aren’t keeping pace.
That’s the real risk.

𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻:
Your idea can change the world,  but only if you stay in the role of architect as it scales.

Own your equity.
Protect your seat.
Upgrade your thinking.
Build with intention.
The threat isn’t being pushed out.
The threat is drifting out of your power.

𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:
 Are you building like the founder…
 or leading like the architect?

#ceo #founder #scalingup #growth

Passion isn’t happiness.
It’s pain.
It’s grinding when no one is watching.
It’s suffering through every mistake, every rejection, every late night, just to build something nobody thought was possible.

Jensen Huang didn’t follow the market.
He didn’t wait for AI to be big.
He invested 10,000 engineer-years ahead of demand.
He pivoted Nvidia from graphics chips to AI dominance.
That’s vision. That’s first-principles thinking. That’s suffering smarter than everyone else.

Breakthroughs aren’t born in comfort zones.
They’re born when you refuse to quit, when you embrace the grind, and when you’re willing to suffer today for what the world will celebrate tomorrow.

Extraordinary isn’t given.
It’s earned.
Through struggle.
Through relentless work.
Through being willing to do what everyone else won’t.

If you want to be great, get comfortable being uncomfortable.

#scalingup #growth #ceo #founder

Mastermind Scaling Dinner 

This past Wednesday night in Boston, twelve leaders got uncomfortably honest about their real constraints.

No pitch decks. No surface-level networking. 

Just the Hero's Journey framework and one question: 

"What's actually stopping you from scaling?"

Three principles guided the conversation:

🪞 Your Business is a Mirror 

The bottleneck in your business is a reflection of a constraint in your leadership. 

Stop fixing symptoms. Fix the leader, and the business scales.

🐉 Constraints are Your Greatest Leverage

 Your biggest constraint is not a problem—it's the dragon guarding your next treasure. 

The right constraint, once identified and solved, unlocks massive, non-linear growth.

⚖️ Not All Success Has the Same Price

 You can build a company that breaks you, or one that fulfills you. 

Alignment + Clarity = Sustainable Success.

🎯 What showed up:

Estate planning. Cybersecurity. Medical devices. Food distribution. Banking. Fractional sales leadership. IT services. M&A law. Green infrastructure. Urban revitalization. Job search acceleration.

Different industries. Same truth: Every business grows until it hits a constraint, then grows no further.

The magic wasn't in solving everything in one night. 

It was in naming the real constraint out loud - not the sanitized version we tell at networking events, but the 2am version that keeps us up.

Some constraints were about capital. Others about people, partnerships, or positioning. A few were about letting go of what got them here to embrace what gets them there.

🤝 The vulnerability created immediate value: Real partnerships forming. 

Actual introductions being made. Problems being reframed. Resources being shared.

Thank you to Adrian Mendoza and the Mendoza Ventures team for hosting us.

And to everyone who showed up: Marco A. Schiavo , Geoffry Gilton, Joshua Sigsworth, PT, DPT, Dominic Endicott, Jacques Cohen, Maud Dentico, Vasant Narayan, Raffi Yardemian, CSL, Paul Smith, Alex Khalarian, and Sam "Butch" Nigro.

This is what happens when you build community around truth instead of transactions.

The Mastermind dinner happens monthly ( but we are taking a break in December). If you're a founder or executive in Boston or Greater Boston working on something real and willing to get honest about your constraints, let's talk.

We are going to start hosting Metro West dinners as well. More to come.

P.S. - Curious about finding the constraint for your business? Drop a comment or DM.

Most founders don’t fail because they’re lazy.
They fail because their goals are small.

Small goals keep you grinding.
Big goals force you to rebuild the system.

When you raise the target to 10x, everything changes:
your strategy, your thinking, your standards, your circle.

You stop playing in the crowded middle
and start operating where very few people dare to go.

10x isn’t harder.

It’s cleaner. 
It’s clearer. 
It’s smarter.

Stop playing safe. Start playing big.

I learned this lesson the hard way.

I wanted to grow my LinkedIn presence to 100K in a year.
I had 2k followers. 

A few people said that it would take years and that I was unrealistic.

Maybe they would have been right - if I'd believed them

I tried anyway. 
I took a course to learn from others who were ahead of me.
I showed up here every day.
Continuously improved my content (and my mindset)
Hired people to help me.

Did I accomplish my goal?
NO. 

I am still at 72k followers today, a year into that challenge.
But I am still grateful for the results. 

Can you imagine what would have happened if I had played small?
I may be at 15K followers at best. 

And that's the whole point. 

Even if you miss the 10X mark, it beats linear thinking. 

This same principle is why I help founders identify the 7 financial blind spots killing their scale - because small thinking about money keeps you grinding, while 10x financial clarity forces you to rebuild the system.

Want to apply 10x thinking to your finances? 

I've identified the 7 blind spots most founders miss. 

Download the guide; link is in the comments. 

#founder #ceo #growth #scalingup

10X Thinking = 10 X Results

He bought a bankrupt textile factory for $15 million.
Forty years later, Bernard Arnault built a $500B luxury empire.

Most people call that impossible.
I call it vision.

He didn’t invent anything.
He didn’t design a product.
He didn’t chase trends.
He just saw what others couldn’t.

Buried inside that dying company was a forgotten gem: Christian Dior.
Everyone overlooked it.
Arnault didn’t.

He sold everything except Dior.
Bet the house on one iconic brand.
And rebuilt from zero.

Then he made an even crazier move
He went after LVMH.
Louis Vuitton. Moët. Hennessy.
The crown jewels of French luxury.

The elite hated it.
The media mocked it.
It was the most hostile takeover France had ever seen.
Arnault didn’t blink.

He bought the shares quietly.
Took control boldly.
And turned LVMH into a global machine.

One acquisition at a time.
Fendi. Tiffany. Givenchy. Sephora.
Dozens of brands reborn under one ruthless strategy:

Let creators dream.
But keep the business razor sharp.

While tech giants chased disruption…
Arnault chased timelessness.

While others discounted…
He raised value.

In 2023, he became the richest man on Earth.
Quiet. Precise. Unshakeable.
He outplayed every tech titan without writing a single line of code.

Lesson?
You don’t need to invent.
You need to see the hidden gem
And have the courage to bet everything on it.

#entrepreneur #growth #businessstrategy #founder #scalingup

𝗛𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝘀.
𝗛𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

Back in the early 2000s, Jon Oringer wasn’t building empires, he was just trying to find affordable stock photos for his tiny online business.

But what he found instead… was an opportunity.

Stock images back then cost $300+ per photo, a luxury small creators couldn’t afford.

So Jon did something different:

▶ Bought a camera
▶ Took 100 photos a day
▶ Built his own website
▶ Uploaded 30,000 photos
▶ Charged $49/month for unlimited downloads

That’s how Shutterstock was born.

No fancy investors. No marketing team.

Just a subscription model, executed brilliantly.

He wasn’t selling images,
he was selling convenience, freedom, and access.

And the best part?

Every sale cost him nothing to reproduce.Pure passive income.

By the time Shutterstock went public in 2012,
Jon still owned 55% of it.

His net worth crossed $1 billion,
built from a camera, a simple website, and consistency.

That’s not luck.
That’s vision meeting execution.

Because the smartest entrepreneurs don’t wait for an opportunity,
they create it by solving a problem once
and selling the solution over and over again.

𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧:

Stop chasing “new.”
Find one problem.

Solve it better than anyone else.
Then systemize, scale, and sleep while your solution works for you.

#Entrepreneurship #ceo #BusinessModel #founder #scalingup

He started with $5,000 and a pizza shop paycheck.
Nobody cared. Nobody believed.

Most people would’ve stayed broke.

Dan Gilbert didn’t.

He looked at a broken mortgage industry slow, complex, full of middlemen and said: “There’s a better way.”

He worked 18 hours a day. Seven days a week.
He studied every inefficiency.
He simplified the impossible.
He moved online when the internet was “just a fad.”
He ignored the naysayers.

It all started with Rock Financial. 
And eventually
Rock Financial became Quicken Loans.
Applications went from weeks to minutes.
Rates went from hidden to transparent.
Customers went from frustrated to obsessed.

Then he didn’t stop.
He bought the Cleveland Cavaliers, poured money into the city, and turned it upside down.
Downtown boomed. 
The team won a championship. 
The city transformed.

Here’s the lesson most people miss:

👉 You don’t need a perfect idea.
👉 You don’t need permission.
👉 You need to see broken systems, fix them better, and move faster than everyone else.
👉 And then, reinvest the wins into something that actually matters.

From pizza shifts to $28.5B, Gilbert’s story isn’t luck.
It’s obsession, timing, and execution.

Most people quit at “too hard.”
The few who succeed? 
They see the gap, go first, and keep building while others sleep.

If you want outsized results, do what most won’t:
Step past the “impossible.”
Step past the doubters.
Step past comfort.

Because fortune isn’t at the starting line, it’s at the point where everyone else stops.

#growth #scalingup #entrepreneurship #CEO #execution

While everyone's fighting over TVs today, I'm fighting for your 2026.

One stage does what 6 months of content can't.

That's why I'm speaking in Austin December 10-12.

Here's what I've learned:

You can spend hundreds of hours posting content, cold DMing event hosts, vetting podcast opportunities, and hoping something sticks...

Or you can walk into one room where the work is already done.

That's Event Profit Engine.

Hosted by Alex Moscow ($130M in client results) and Eben Pagan (built 10 seven-figure companies, 3 over eight figures).

200 founders doing $500K-$2M+ in one room.

The kind of people you'd normally pay $25K to join a mastermind just to meet.

But this isn't networking. It's deal flow.

On Day 3, they run facilitated sessions where they literally pair you with:

→ High-caliber stages for 2026 
→ Aligned promotional partners 
→ Sponsors for your events (I am one of the sponsors for this event)

Not "hope you meet someone cool at the cocktail hour."

Strategic. Intentional. Partnerships that lead to revenue.

The stages you actually want to be on in 2026? They're in this room. The relationships that would take 6 months to build? Done in 3 days.

I'll be speaking on why most founders are operationally excellent but financially blind—and how to fix it.

This is for you if:
→ You're a founder doing $1M-$10M 
→ You want stages and partnerships locked in for 2026 
→ You're tired of cold outreach that goes nowhere 
→ You'd rather be in the right room than grind online for 6 more months

This is NOT for you if:
→ You're just getting started (under $500K) 
→ You're not ready to invest in growth 
→ You think "networking" means collecting business cards

Here's my Black Friday deal for you:

$1K tickets (normally $4K, goes to $5K on Monday).

I only have a few left. First come, first served.

You can fish with a pole for the next 6 months.

Or you can grab a net and walk into this room.

Comment "AUSTIN" or DM me and I'll send you the code before they're gone.
This is the only deal worth buying today.

See you in Texas.
#scalingup #CEO #founder #growth

taplio

The Battle

Chris Gee

Cruz Gamboa

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreChris Gee's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreCruz Gamboa's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Chris Gee

Cruz Gamboa

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Chris Gee's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreCruz Gamboa's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreChris Gee's LinkedIn Performance