DealBuddi

I guide DealBuddi’s vision and partner with B2B founders, owners and sales teams to turn expertise into predictable, scalable revenue.

Strategic direction
• Define the product roadmap, brand positioning and go-to-market priorities
• Translate long-term vision into focused quarterly sprints so the team ships features that matter

Sales strategy co-creation
• Work directly with founders to turn big goals into an actionable plan grounded in Sales Market Fit and the 5ATE method
• Move organisations from hope-based selling to proactive demand creation

Playbook integration
• Build repeatable messaging frameworks, qualification guides and deal checkpoints that new reps can use from day one
• Map every activity to the buyer’s journey so value is clear at every stage

Coaching and upskilling
• Run workshops, pipeline reviews and live deal sessions to lift individual and team performance
• Provide ongoing feedback, role-plays and metric reviews to make new skills stick

Deal de-risking
• Act as the trusted advisor on the team’s shoulder, surfacing hidden friction and navigating stakeholder politics
• Quantify ROI and craft business cases that move prospects from interest to commitment

AI-driven scale
• Codify successful patterns into DealBuddi AI agents, giving teams on-demand guidance and tailored insights
• Continuously learn from wins and losses so every engagement makes the next one smarter

My goal is simple: make sales feel less overwhelming and more inevitable—one founder, one team, one deal at a time.

Founder 

Our B2B SaaS Journey Podcast

As Co-Host of Our B2B SaaS Journey, I lead conversations that unpack the unfiltered reality of building a B2B SaaS company from ideation to (hopefully) exit. 

Together with my co-founder, I share the wins, missteps, and frameworks that shape how we build SixSides, an event and community engagement platform.

Core Responsibilities

Content leadership: Shape episode themes around the real problems and decisions we face as early-stage founders.

On-air hosting: Co-present weekly podcast episodes, providing perspective from my role as Sales/Marketing Lead.

Storytelling: Translate raw founder experiences into practical lessons and playbooks listeners can apply in their own companies.

Audience engagement: Encourage listeners to subscribe, share, and interact across platforms (Apple, Spotify, YouTube, LinkedIn, Substack).

Community building: Position the podcast as a transparent, founder-led record of building SixSides, helping other SaaS founders learn in real time.

What the role represents
This isn’t just hosting a podcast. It’s documenting a startup in the messy middle, sharing frameworks like Sales Market Fit and founder-led go-to-market, and proving that building in public can be as valuable for the founders as it is for the audience.

Co Host

SixSides

As Co-Founder responsible for Sales and Marketing at SixSides, I'm dedicated to re-inventing the way communities connect, engage, and grow through innovative event technology. 

At SixSides, our platform is designed to deliver unique value for each side of an event community; Event Organisers, Attendees, Sponsors, Speakers, Associations and Staff.

Leveraging my extensive experience in strategic sales, marketing, and community engagement, I help organisations create exceptional event experiences that foster meaningful connections and drive measurable outcomes. 

My role involves developing and implementing strategies that highlight SixSides’ unique capabilities, including gamification, real-time networking, and insightful analytics, enabling our clients to achieve sustainable growth and profound community impact.

I believe in the transformative power of events to build stronger communities, amplify brands, and foster collaboration across industries.

Let's discuss how SixSides can help you elevate your community through memorable event experiences.

Co-Founder, Head of Sales & Marketing

Sales Market Fit

I help B2B founders transition from founder-led sales to a structured, scalable, and repeatable sales approach by finding their Sales Market Fit—the missing piece in most startups’ growth strategies.

Through a proven, structured approach, I help startups:
✅ Develop a repeatable sales framework that doesn’t rely on just one person’s skills
✅ Shift from ad-hoc selling to a process-driven approach that delivers consistent results
✅ Build and enable high-performing sales teams with the right tools and strategies
✅ Shorten sales cycles, increase close rates, and make sales a driver of growth rather than a bottleneck

I’ve seen too many startups struggle with unpredictable revenue, stalled deals, and sales teams that just don’t perform. 

The problem isn’t the people—it’s the lack of a structured approach to selling. Without Sales Market Fit, scaling sales is impossible.

My methodology ensures that startups position themselves correctly in the market, craft compelling messaging, and optimise their sales process for repeatable success.

If you're a founder looking to get control of your sales function, scale beyond yourself, and build a winning sales team, let’s have a conversation!

Core Areas of Expertise
📈 Founder-to-Team Sales Transition – Helping startups shift from relying on the founder to a scalable, structured sales function
🧘 Sales Market Fit Discovery – Finding the right positioning, messaging, and go-to-market strategy for predictable revenue
📓 Sales Team Enablement – Building playbooks, frameworks, and processes to make sales teams more effective
🛞 Demand Creation & Sales Friction Reduction – Helping buyers make faster, better-informed decisions
Sales Process Optimisation – Structuring sales in a way that aligns with how buyers actually make decisions

Founder

Intercept East

As a strategic sales and marketing leader, I have successfully developed and implemented comprehensive sales and marketing strategies that have driven revenue growth, improved market positioning, and increased customer acquisition. 

My approach focuses ensuring that our value proposition aligns with customer needs and delivers measurable business outcomes.

Key Responsibilities:
✅ Developed and executed a structured sales strategy, optimising market positioning and streamlining the sales process to accelerate deal closures.
✅  Led the implementation of a Sales Market Fit approach, ensuring repeatable and scalable success in customer acquisition and retention.
✅  Designed and delivered targeted marketing campaigns, aligning brand messaging with customer pain points to increase engagement and lead conversion.
✅  Spearheaded business development initiatives, identifying new markets and expanding the customer base to drive revenue growth.

Sales and Marketing Director

Conductor

I am responsible for evolving Conductor's sales strategy to focus on its unique value proposition: using the latest neuroscience technology to improve clients' businesses.

Our customer-centric approach is focused on adding extraordinary value through the sales process and into a long-lasting partnership.

Head of Growth

FlyFreely

FlyFreely is a market-leading Drone Management Platform that enables any organisation, anywhere in the world to deploy drones at scale legally, safely and efficiently.

Growth Manager

GrowthMentor

Providing 1:1 mentoring for entrepreneurs starting and growing their own businesses through GrowthMentor, a curated platform of invite-only startup and growth marketing mentors who have proven experience in their fields. 

Join to find your next mentor » https://www.growthmentor.com/?ref=gavintye

Mentor

Kinatico (Formerly CV Check)

CVCheck is a market leader in the global compliance, management and reporting SAAS workforce management sector. 

CVCheck is an ASX listed HR technology company servicing over 25,000 SME and large enterprise clients plus 1 million individual clients across Australia and New Zealand.

Client Executive

MyPass Global

Head of Growth & Partnerships

Most businesses leave their growth to chance, hoping their sales process clicks or their events spark engagement. I know, because I used to do the same.

As a sales leader and later a founder, I saw how outdated sales playbooks and underpowered event tools caused wasted opportunities, friction, and stalled growth. 

I was frustrated, because even talented teams and passionate communities couldn’t prove their true value.

That’s what drove me to rethink both challenges from first principles. I built Sales Market Fit to break sales down into something teachable and repeatable, and I co-founded SixSides to help leaders turn events into lasting communities. 

Along the way, I created DealBuddi, an AI sales coach to scale these frameworks and make them accessible to every SaaS founder and sales team.

Today, I help SaaS founders, sales leaders, and event communities simplify complexity, prove their value, and achieve growth. 

Whether it’s through smarter sales or stronger communities, my goal is simple: to ensure no business leaves their success to chance.

Gavin Tye

Ascend Growth Ventures

Ascend Growth Venture provides strategic, corporate finance and Scaling Up services. 

Leveraging 20+ years of experience in Strategy, Corporate Finance and Business Development. As a trusted advisor and team member, I work closely with my clients on complex business issues to ensure successful outcomes. 

At Ascend Growth Ventures, we help founders and CEOs scale up beyond $10M. 

Ascend Growth Ventures is a brand of Zonda Strategic Consulting LLC

Why Work With Me?
I’ve spent over 20 years leading finance and strategy teams at GE and left GE to build a cleantech startup and eventually started my own company. 

Here’s what I learned: most entrepreneurs hit a wall when scaling their business when they reach around $3M to $7M in revenues.

The truth is growth gets messy without the right tools and frameworks. 

That’s why I created Ascend Growth Ventures—to help 10 thousand entrepreneurs like you break through growth barriers and scale with clarity, confidence, and profits.

I combine the Scaling Up framework with CFO-level financial insights & support to give you the strategies and systems you need to grow sustainably—without losing sight of your vision. 


Ascend's Corporate Values

• We are passionate about our client’s audacious goals.
• We lead with authenticity and want you to enjoy “the process”.
• We track and exceed our commitments to you.
• We always do the right thing for you, us, and the planet.
• We don’t let perfection get in the way, we believe in daily progress

CFO & Chief Strategist | Founder

Scaling Up Coaches

Certified Scaling Up Coach

ProCFO Partners

Principal | CFO at ProCFO Partners

Mendoza Ventures

Mendoza Growth Ventures is a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments in technology companies focused on fintech, AI, and cybersecurity,

Limited Partner

Growth Institute

Executive Scaling Up Coach

Carbon America

Built a world class project development organization, with project finance expertise to tackle complex carbon capture projects. Established a pipeline of emitter and land led opportunities. Partnered with the University of Illinois on two DOE applications for DAC hubs which were ultimately awarded in 2023.

CFO and Chief Commercial Officer

GE Vernova

Responsible for advancing GE's carbon management agenda by building relationships and partnerships with customers and partners in the Americas. In this role I am working on developing new product lines and business models that will allow us to position GE as a leader in the Energy Transition. Focused on post Combubstion Carbon Capture and Hydrogen as the pillars for decarbonizing Gas turbines.

Decarbonization Strategy & Partnerships Leader (Americas)

Responsible for sales of GE Heavy Duty and aero-derivative gas turbines for the south cone (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay). Reporting to Americas sales VP, leads sales. Manages +100M sales budget, and a team of 5.

Managing Director Sales

Lead Sales and project development for GE's Aero-derivative gas turbine power generation projects in Latin America. Reported to LATAM GM.

Director Of Sales And Business Development

Responsible for GE's LATAM Gas Power systems finance and commercial finance organization. Partnered with LATAMs GM to build an effective organization driven by success metrics and lifecycle customer outcomes. Structure projects and secure financing as required for GE's customers.

Chief Financial Officer Gas Power Systems LATAM

Managed a capital market team of 7 to secure external and balance sheet financing for GE customers. Forged and maintained relationships with regional and global financial institutions.  Reported to Latam Corporate CFO.

Managing Director Capital Markets 

GE Capital

Supported the origination, financial modeling, structuring, closing, and portfolio management of structured & asset backed loans for middle market industrial companies. Reported to Managing Director.

Vice President - Structured Finance Underwriter of Middle Market Cash Flow loans

NBCUniversal

Responsible for NBC's Business development finance department and FP&A activities, and managing a portfolio of 12 international and domestic Joint Ventures. Reported to Business Development CFO.

Finance Manager Business Development

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

He spent 15 years in prison.
Struggled with addiction.
Hit rock bottom.

By 18, he was in prison.
Over the next 15 years? In and out 4 times.
Lowest point: he considered ending it all.

Then something clicked.
In his last sentence, he learned graphic design.
For the first time… he saw a future.

At 38, he got out.
No money. No resume. Just hope.

He went back to his family bakery.
Started small. Cleaning trays.
But he asked one question:

👉 “What if bread didn’t just exist, what if it actually mattered?”

He created Dave’s Killer Bread.
Protein, fiber, whole grains.
Tasted amazing. Sold out instantly.
People didn’t just buy bread, they bought redemption.

Within a few years, it was in every grocery store in the U.S.
2015: acquired for $275M.
Today: worth over $1B.

Dave didn’t just build a business.
He changed lives.
Hired ex-cons. Spoke on mental health. Gave second chances.

He said:
"I don’t bake bread anymore. I help people get back up."

Lesson?
You don’t need a perfect past.
You don’t need a degree.
You need vision, execution, and the courage to act when no one believes in you.

#ceo #founders #scalingup #secondchances

A TEXAS DAD SOLD HIS COMPANY FOR $51 MILLION… THEN DID SOMETHING NO ONE SAW COMING.

He didn’t buy a yacht.
Didn’t retire.
Didn’t move to an island.

He built an amusement park,
For kids with special needs.

Meet Gordon Hartman.

A successful homebuilder.
A proud dad to his daughter, Morgan, born with cognitive and physical disabilities.

One day, at a hotel pool, Morgan tried to join a group of kids playing nearby.

They backed away, not out of cruelty, but confusion.

And in that single moment, Gordon felt something break inside.

Because he saw his daughter wanting to belong...
But not being included.

That night, he asked himself:

“Where can kids like Morgan go to feel included?”

The answer was: Nowhere.

So he sold his company for $51 million.
And used every dollar to build something the world had never seen,

A theme park where kids of all abilities can play together.

No long lines.
No blinding lights.
No noise overload.
Just joy. Freedom. Belonging.

He called it Morgan’s Wonderland.
In honor of his daughter, and every child like her.

It’s completely free for kids with special needs.
Built with input from doctors, therapists, and families.
Every detail designed for inclusion.

✅ Wheelchair-accessible Ferris wheel.
✅ Sensory village.
✅ Splash zone where everyone feels equal.

Since 2010, over 2 million visitors from 120+ countries.

It’s not a business. It’s a legacy.

Most people build wealth to retire.
Gordon built wealth to give it meaning.

One father.
One painful moment.
One life-changing question.

And millions of smiles later,
He proved what real success looks like:
Turning pain into purpose.

#scalingup #growth #ceo #purpose

JSESSIONID

li_at

HOMELESS. BROKE. WITH A BABY TO FEED.

Meet John Paul DeJoria, the man who went from sleeping on streets to selling tequila to billionaires.

He wasn’t born lucky.
He was born fighting.

Raised in a tough LA neighborhood.
Started selling newspapers at 9 to help his single mom.
By 20 — broke.
By 30 — homeless with a baby.

Most people would’ve quit.
He didn’t.

He had two things:
→ Relentless optimism
→ Refusal to quit

He started selling shampoo door-to-door out of his car.
Rejected by everyone.
Till one salon said yes.

That “yes” changed everything.
It became Paul Mitchell Systems — a billion-dollar haircare empire.

But he wasn’t done building.

In 1989, he discovered a tequila so smooth he called it liquid silk.
Everyone laughed —
“Americans won’t pay for premium tequila.”

He bet against them.
Created Patrón.
Gave out samples to bartenders.
Made tequila luxury.

Result?
Sold to Bacardi for $5.1 BILLION.

From gangs to Forbes.
From a car seat to boardrooms.
From nothing to everything.

But he never forgot where he came from.
He pledged to give away 99% of his wealth.

Lesson:
You don’t need money to start.
You need belief that doesn’t break.

#ceo #founders #scalingup #growth

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Some companies don’t stall because of strategy.
They stall because of perception.

You can have the right model, metrics, and playbook—
and still struggle to scale
because trust isn’t in the culture.

We think scaling is about systems, KPIs, and offers.
But it’s really about energy, alignment, and belief.

Teams don’t reject initiatives.
They reject inconsistency.
They sense when the leader says one thing
and embodies another.

Every interaction in a growing company is a mirror—
it reflects the culture that’s actually being built.

Before you refine your next OKR,
refine your presence.

Because the best strategy in the world can’t fix a trust gap.

➡️ People follow clarity before they follow goals.
➡️ Integrity scales faster than intensity.


#leadership #scalingup #growth #trust #mindset

(36) Post | Feed | LinkedIn

HE GOT FIRED FROM MCDONALD’S 3 TIMES.
THEN THEY PAID HIM $6 MILLION.

For 5 words.
“I’m lovin’ it.”

Let me break this down.

Before the fame, before the beats — Pharrell Williams was just another broke kid in Virginia Beach.
Working minimum wage.
No degree.
No plan.
Just a dream.

He worked at McDonald’s. Got fired.
Rehired.
Fired again.
3 times.

But every failure pushed him closer to what he actually loved, music.
While everyone else clocked in for shifts…
He was clocking in hours making beats in his bedroom.

Then he teamed up with a friend.
They called themselves The Neptunes.
At 19, they produced “Rump Shaker.”
And suddenly, doors started opening.

Jay-Z.
Britney Spears.
Nelly.
One after another.

Then — 2003.
McDonald’s came knocking.
The same company that fired him 3 times.

They wanted a modern campaign.
So they hired Justin Timberlake for vocals…
And The Neptunes for the music.

Pharrell wrote 5 words that changed branding forever:
“Ba da ba ba ba… I’m lovin’ it.”

He got paid $6 million.
No royalties. No long-term cut.
Just a one-time check.

That jingle went global.
100+ countries.
20+ years later, still running.
Worth hundreds of millions in brand value.

Pharrell moved on.
Built fashion lines.
Launched skincare.
Produced albums.
Today he’s worth over $250 million.

Here’s the lesson:
Your job doesn’t define your potential.
Your failures don’t define your future.
What you build in the dark defines how the world sees you in the light.

He got fired from McDonald’s.
Then made them a global sound.
That’s full circle.

#scalingup #ceo #founder #growth

I met Jake at a Mastermind event in San Diego.

He walked on stage, and I thought he was a Canadian Brand Influencer, but within minutes, I was blown away.

This wasn't just another founder story.

This was real.

He was the class clown in school. The troublemaker… 

Almost didn’t graduate with his class. His grades were terrible. 

After college, he failed to land a single job in investment banking. 36 straight rejections. 

Sitting on his parents' couch, jobless, he had a choice:

Give up. Or go all in.

Then something clicked.

While watching Shark Tank, he saw a guy with mortgages, responsibilities and so much risk… But he looked alive, excited, energized and passionate. 

He had a true “WHY”. 

That's when Jake knew:

👉 "What if I stopped proving I'm not a “societal failure” to the world, and started building something that actually mattered to me?"

His sister and brother-in-law had an idea: Mid-Day Squares.

A functional chocolate bar. Real ingredients. No junk.

Jake brought the secret weapon: storytelling.

No budget to compete with the big CPG companies?

He decided to build a strategy that turned customers into fans instead.

How?

Created an online sample program. $0.25 a bar that was delivered by hand to your home. To get people to try the bars. 

Delivered polaroid pictures with handwritten notes mentioning their dog.

Showing the Behind-the-scenes on Instagram, the good, bad, and ugly.

Created a reality show of entrepreneurship on social media as the marketing strategy. 

People didn't just buy chocolate.
They bought a connection.

The kicker?

26 co-manufacturers said they couldn't make the product.
So they built their own factory.

Took 3 years. Massive debt. Daily challenges.

But they did it.

Today: 
✅ Selling in 10,000 stores across North America. 
✅ Sold over 65 million bars.
✅ 750,000+ Polaroid pictures and handwritten notes shipped.
✅ Produces over 135,000 bars per day in their own factory. 
✅ Have gotten tens of millions of organic views on social media.

Jake didn't just build a chocolate company.

He proved that authenticity beats advertising.

He said:

"People want to buy from a friend, not a faceless brand."

Lesson?
You don't need a perfect resume.
You don't need a massive budget.
You need to be unapologetically yourself, build in public, and turn customers into believers.

Jake is an amazing human being, and I fell instantly in love with his and Mid-Day Squares' story.

What's one brand that makes you feel like you're buying from a friend, not a corporation?

Thank you Jake Karls for being a pioneer and a role model for authentic entrepreneurship. We love you!
#CEO #FOUNDERS #GROWTH #SCALINGUP

He failed 5,126 times.
No investors. No validation. No backup plan.
Just an idea, to fix what everyone had accepted as “normal.”

His vacuum kept clogging.
So he tore it apart.
Again. And again. And again.

He wasn’t an engineer.
He wasn’t a designer.
He was just curious enough to keep going when everyone else quit.

1 prototype failed.
Then 10.
Then 1,000.
Then 5,126.

People laughed.
Banks backed out.
His wife supported the family while he chased an idea that no one believed in.

But he kept going.
Because he knew, the problem wasn’t the motor. It was the bag.

A small flaw, built into every vacuum,
just to make people buy more bags.

He asked one question that changed everything:

👉 “What if a vacuum didn’t need a bag at all?”

Finally, prototype #5,127 worked. Perfectly.

He pitched it to all the big brands,
Hoover. Electrolux. Panasonic.
All said no.

Not because it didn’t work…
But because it worked too well.

So he built his own company.
No shortcuts. No compromises.

Today, Dyson is worth over $8B.
And James Dyson? Over $25B.

The man who failed 5,126 times…
Created the vacuum that changed the world.

Lesson?
You don’t need permission.
You need persistence.
You don’t need luck.
You need obsession.

What’s one problem you’re refusing to give up on?

#entrepreneurship #founders #scalingup #resilience #startups

In 2009, General Motors was on the verge of collapse.
Thousands of jobs were at stake.
America’s biggest car company was dying.

Then they hired Ed Whitacre.
He’d never sold a car.
He came from AT&T. No ties to Detroit. No car experience. Just results.

He had 9 months to save a 100-year-old icon.

Day 1, he skipped the tours.
Walked into a meeting. Asked one question:
👉 “Why are there so many people in this room?”

He slashed bureaucracy. Cut pointless meetings. Eliminated layers of middle management.
If a leader couldn’t explain their strategy in plain English, they were out.

Externally? Bold move:
"If you don’t love your new GM car, return it."

People noticed. Investors noticed. Sales climbed. Trust came back.

9 months later: GM was profitable.
Bailed-out money paid back. IPO launched. Reputation restored.

Whitacre never sold a car.
He just understood people, speed, and decisions.

Sometimes, the best solutions come from outside the industry.

Lesson?
You don’t need experience in a field to transform it.
You need vision, courage, and the ability to act fast when everyone doubts you.

#ceo #scalingup #founder #growth

FAILED IN SCHOOL. STRUGGLED WITH DYSLEXIA. BUILT A $58B EMPIRE.

Meet Ingvar Kamprad, the man who turned simplicity into a global revolution.

He wasn’t born gifted.
He was born determined.

Raised in a small Swedish village.
Couldn’t spell. Couldn’t read aloud.
But at 5 — he was already selling matches door-to-door.
At 17 — he started a tiny business called IKEA.

Everyone laughed.
Cheap furniture? Self-assembled? Who’d buy that?

But he wasn’t building furniture.
He was solving problems.

→ Furniture was too expensive.
→ Shipping was a nightmare.
→ Assembly needed professionals.

So he flipped the model:
Flat packs.
DIY assembly.
Affordable design for everyone.

While luxury brands chased the elite,
he built for the everyday family.

And it worked.
IKEA became a household name.
$47B in annual revenue.
Stores in 60+ countries.

But success didn’t change him.

He drove a 10-year-old Volvo.
Flew economy.
Ate in the IKEA cafeteria with his employees.

Because real success isn’t loud.
It’s purposeful.

From a dyslexic farm boy to redefining capitalism for the everyday person,
Ingvar Kamprad proved one thing:

You don’t need privilege to build an empire.
You need vision that never blinks.

#Entrepreneurship #Leadership #Growth #scalingup #Inspiration

PUSHED OUT OF HER OWN COMPANY.
BUILT A $10 BILLION EMPIRE.

Most would’ve quit.
But Whitney Wolfe Herd fought back louder.

At 22, she co-founded Tinder.
Named it. Designed the logo. Built the brand.
But when things turned toxic, she was erased.

Harassed. Silenced.
Written out of the story she created.

But Whitney wasn’t done.

In 2014, she met Andrey Andreev (founder of Badoo).
Together, they built a new kind of dating app, one where women make the first move.

Bumble was born.

A platform that flipped the entire dating game.
Women-led. Respect-driven.
A movement, not just an app.

→ Year 1: 100k users
→ Then 1M
→ Then 10M
→ Now over 100M

Bumble grew from dating to:
→ Bumble BFF (Friendships)
→ Bumble Bizz (Networking)
→ Bumble Empowerment (Women-first tech)

In 2021, Whitney took Bumble public.
Rang the NASDAQ bell, baby on her hip.

At 31, she became the youngest self-made woman billionaire in history.

Tinder was sold.
Whitney? Still leading. Still winning.

Sometimes, being pushed out isn’t your downfall.
It’s your launchpad.

Lesson:
They tried to silence her.
So she built something louder.

#ceo #founders #resilience #startups #womenintech #scalingup

Jonathan A. Ifechukwu

He was rejected by the U.S. 8 times.
No degree from Stanford. No perfect English.
Just a dream, to connect people.

In 1994, he fell for a girl 10 hours away.
He couldn’t afford train tickets.
So he imagined a world where people could meet… without moving an inch.

He tried to move to America.
Visa denied.
Again.
And again.
8 rejections.

Most would’ve quit.
He waited 2 years and tried again.
This time — approved.

He joined a small startup called WebEx.
Worked hard.
Became VP of Engineering.
But the product? Clunky. Frustrating. Broken.

He wanted to fix it.
No one listened.
So he left.

Started from zero.
No investors. No hype.
Just one goal:
👉 “Make online meetings not suck.”

Everyone said he’d fail.
Big players already owned the market.
Google. Microsoft. Giants.

But he built it anyway.
Names it Zoom.

At first, no one cared.
Then one by one — teams, teachers, families — they tried it.
And said: “This actually works.”

Then 2020 hit.
The world shuts down.
Offices closed. Schools closed. Life paused.

Except for one thing — Zoom kept it running.

Weddings. Funerals. Boardrooms. Classrooms.
All connected by one man’s obsession.

From 8 visa rejections to a $25B company.
From long-distance love to global connection.

Eric Yuan didn’t just build a product.
He built the bridge the world needed.

Lesson?
You don’t need luck.
You need obsession.
You need resilience.

What would make your journey as entrepreneur more meaningful and impactful?

Comment below or DM me.

#founders #scalingup #entrepreneurship #resilience #startups

$6.2 MILLION. NO DEAL. STILL WINNING.

Meet Alexander Eburne, the man who turned a simple idea, a meal prep station that keeps all your containers, tools, and cutting boards in one neat setup, into a growing empire.

He pitched Prepdeck on Shark Tank.

Asked: $750K for 7.5% of the company.
Sharks loved the product. Liked the sales. Thought it was overvalued.
No deal.

Most would’ve quit. He didn’t.

He did three things:

→ Expanded the product line (Prepdeck Mini + accessories)
→ Fixed shipping and supply issues
→ Focused on delighting customers

By 2025? $18M+ revenue. Profitable.

Available online, on QVC, even at Costco.

Lesson: A “no” isn’t the end. It can be the start of something bigger.

#entrepreneurship #founders #startups #growth #scalingup

He sold garbage bags at 12.
Not for fun.
To buy basketball shoes his parents couldn’t afford.

At 25, he was broke.
Sleeping on the floor.
Sharing a three-bedroom apartment with six guys.

Then one day, he got fired.
His boss told him
“You’re not cut out for this business.”

That hurt.
But instead of arguing,
He used the commission money from his last deal…
to start his own company.

MicroSolutions.
A small computer consulting business.
No degree. No investors. No fancy office.
Just pure hustle.

He made calls. Closed deals. Got rejected. Repeated.
Slowly, it worked.
Clients came in. Revenue grew.
Then, in 1990, he sold it for $6 million.

Most people would stop there.
Mark didn’t.

He bet everything on a new idea:
Streaming sports on the internet.
Way before the world was ready.

That company? Broadcast.com
In 1999, Yahoo bought it for $5.7 billion.
He became a billionaire overnight.

From selling garbage bags to selling a billion-dollar vision.
From sleeping on the floor to owning the floor on Shark Tank.

Mark Cuban didn’t just build companies.
He built proof, that hustle beats pedigree every single time.

Lesson:
You don’t need permission to start.
You don’t need approval to build.
You just need belief and the courage to act when no one bets on you.

#entrepreneurship #founders #startuplife #scalingup #markcuban #successstory

In 1982, a jet-lagged marketer in his 40s sipped a strange Thai drink.

It wasn’t cold.
Wasn’t fizzy.
And honestly? 
It tasted terrible.

His name was Dietrich Mateschitz.
A middle-management toothpaste guy.
No background in beverages.
No experience in sports marketing.
Nothing suggested he’d disrupt the world.

But he didn’t see a drink.
He saw a global category waiting to be born.

Everyone laughed at the idea.
Focus groups hated it.
Retailers rejected it.
Experts said Westerners would never buy it.

Dietrich ignored them.
He didn’t sell caffeine.
He sold energy, adrenaline, and identity.

He turned a weird pharmacy syrup into:

▶️ A brand that sponsors skydivers, cliff divers, and F1 drivers
▶️ A lifestyle that screams risk, speed, and performance
▶️ A movement that made “Red Bull gives you wings” a culture

By the time the world understood…

Red Bull was everywhere.
12 billion cans a year.
$11B+ in revenue.

A category leader, because it created the category.

Mateschitz didn’t start with a “great product.”
He started with a different idea, and the courage to make it real.

Lesson?
You don’t need approval to build something iconic.
Just a vision bold enough to fly.

#ceo #founder #growth #scalingup

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶-𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁.

It’s just a long term strategy.

He could’ve been a millionaire.
Instead, he became something far greater —
a founder who understood exactly what game he was playing.

Jean-Baptiste Kempf built VLC Media Player, used by over 6 billion people worldwide.
He turned down multi-million dollar offers to load it with ads, trackers, and “monetisation.”

But this isn’t about giving it away for free.
It’s about building leverage through trust.

VLC wasn’t his business model, it was his brand engine.
The mission vehicle that built global credibility.

The profit came later through Videolabs
His for-profit company is helping NASA and major media organisations with advanced video tech and integrations.

He didn’t reject profit.
He rejected misaligned profit.

While others chased short-term revenue,
he played the long game:
Purpose → Trust → Leverage → Profit.

That’s not idealism.
That’s clarity.

For Founders Scaling Now:

You don’t have to choose between money and meaning.
You just need to know:
👉 Which vehicle builds trust.
👉 Which one drives profit.

When those align
You scale with integrity, abundance, and control.
#scaling #founder #growth #ceo

She was 20. A housewife. No experience. No degree.

Just a dream, and a recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

Everyone said it would fail.
“Cookies? That’s not a business.”

Banks said no.Experts laughed.

The market was ruled by Oreos and Chips Ahoy.

But Debbi Fields didn’t care.
She took a $50,000 loan with her husband.

Rented a small store in Palo Alto.

Rent: $800/month.
Failure wasn’t an option.

Opening day:
By noon, not a single sale.
She panicked. Grabbed a tray.
Walked outside.
“Try one. They’re free.”

That one line changed everything.
Crowds formed.

They sold out by evening.

She baked fresh every 2 hours.
Never sold day-old cookies.
If they sat too long, she gave them away.

Advisors hated it.
Customers LOVED it.

Year one: $200,000 in sales.
Then store #2.
Then San Francisco.
Then malls.
Then the world.

By the 1990s:

➡ 600+ stores
➡ $500M in annual sales
➡ And a new category: premium cookies

All from one woman who ignored logic and trusted her gut.

The takeaway:
If everyone says your idea is crazy,
you might just be onto something.

#scalingup #founder #growth #ceo

WHILE OTHER KIDS WERE PLAYING WITH DOLLS—
She was flipping Beanie Babies for profit.

Meet Christina Cacioppo, the woman who quietly built a $4.15 BILLION tech empire…
without hype, headlines, or a Harvard degree.

At 12 — she was running eBay arbitrage.
At 22 — she was working with billion-dollar founders.
At 30 — she was building her own billion-dollar company.

No funding.
No shortcuts.
Just pure execution.

At Dropbox, she spotted the gap nobody wanted to touch, security compliance.
Everyone hated it.
She fixed it.

Quit her job.
Learned to code.
Built the product herself.

That product became Vanta, a platform that turned months of work into minutes.
Startups called it magic.
Enterprises called it essential.

While others chased fame — she built systems.
While others built hype — she built Vanta.

Now Vanta is valued at $4.15B with thousands of clients.
And a lesson every founder needs to hear:

👉 You don’t need to be loud to win.
You just need to build something that works.

#entrepreneurship #founders #startuplife #growth #womenintech

Security Verification | LinkedIn

S𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗗 𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘.
𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗦𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗗 𝗢𝗨𝗧.

World Aquatics Championships, 2022.

Artistic swimmer Anita Álvarez delivers a flawless routine.

The crowd cheers. 
Judges clap. 
Cameras flash.

𝗡𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.

She sank.
Silently.
Unseen.

Everyone saw the brilliance.

No one saw the danger.

Except one person. Her coach, Andrea Fuentes.

She didn’t wait.

She didn’t hesitate.

She dove in fully clothed.

She pulled Anita up… and saved her life.

𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀.

You hit your revenue target.

You close the quarter strong.

Your team celebrates. 

Your board applauds.

And no one notices you’re drowning.

The business scaled.
You didn’t.

Every decision runs through you.
Every crisis lands on you.
Every bottleneck points back to you.

From the outside? Successful entrepreneur.

From the inside? Trapped operator.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗱𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗹.

𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀.

Most advisors see your performance.

They celebrate your revenue.

They miss the constraint breaking you.

The constraint isn’t your competition.

It’s not your market.
It’s not your team.
𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

The decision you’re avoiding.
The system you should have built.
The identity gap between who you are and who you need to become.

Your business doesn’t have 17 problems.

It has one constraint.

And until you identify it, everything else is just noise.

Who notices when you’re drowning?

More importantly - do you?

Remember there is always a better way.

Life is good, let’s build it!

 Cruz Gamboa
Ascend Growth Ventures

#scalingup #growth #ceo

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲.
𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲.

Scott Galloway nailed it,
“The more time you spend at home, the fewer chances you have to meet people, build skills, or find opportunities.”

If you want to scale your life, your network, your impact,
you’ve got to be out there.

Out there learning.
Out there meeting people.
Out there testing ideas.
Out there failing fast and iterating faster.

Here’s the reality:

You don’t scale in isolation.
You scale through connection, execution, and momentum.

Every person you meet could be your next investor, cofounder, or key hire.

Every conversation could unlock a new market or insight.

➡️ Growth happens in motion.
➡️ Scaling happens in the field, not from the couch.

Keep moving. 
Keep building. 

#scalingup #growth #ceo #founder
Stay visible.

The fastest way to make a bad decision? Assume you already understand it.

I’ve watched brilliant founders lose deals, investors pass on unicorns, and leaders alienate their best people, all because they judged the situation before understanding it.

The companies that scale aren’t the ones with the best initial instincts. They’re the ones that pause long enough to see what everyone else missed.

3 ways perspective accelerates growth:

→ Ask “what am I not seeing?” before you ask “what do I think?”
The gap between what happened and what you think happened is where opportunities hide.

→ Understand the constraints, not just the outcome
That “bad” decision might make perfect sense when you know the budget, timeline, or data they were working with.

→ Turn disagreement into data
When someone sees it differently, that’s not noise, it’s signal. Mine it.

Judgment is fast.
Understanding is scalable.

#leadership #growth #strategy #mindset

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Cruz Gamboa

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