🟡 Digital Marketing, Done Better! Smart50 List 2023 🚀 Father 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Skater 🛹 CEO || Knows Nothing About Football ⚽️ 🏉 || Knows how to accelerate your sales.

For over three decades, I've helped visionary businesses harness emerging technologies to create extraordinary growth. 

From the dawn of mobile phones to today's AI revolution, I've consistently turned technological disruption into competitive advantage for my clients.

My journey began in 1987 with the first wave of mobile technology. 

The Car Phone.

Since then, I've successfully navigated every major digital transformation - from the internet's emergence in 1996 (launching the World's first coin operated Internet Kiosk) to digital marketing's evolution in 2010, & now the AI revolution. 

Each wave has deepened my expertise in spotting opportunities others miss.

Today, I lead Sydney Digital Marketing Agency, established in 2014 and recognized among Australia's smartest businesses on the 2023 Smart50 list. 

We partner with medium & enterprise businesses to reduce their cost of customer acquisition and transform their marketing results through data-driven strategies that consistently deliver measurable ROI.

What sets me apart isn't just the depth of my experience - it's my ability to see around corners and guide businesses toward future opportunities while delivering results today.

📍 Partner Benefits:

→ Strategic Innovation: You gain access to cutting-edge marketing strategies tested across diverse industries. Our early adoption of AI & automation tools means you're always ahead of competitors.

→ Proven ROI Framework: Our proprietary approach combines data analytics with creative strategy, consistently delivering 3-5x return on marketing investment for our clients.

→ Risk Reduction: Leverage our 35+ years of experience navigating digital transformations. We've already learned the costly lessons so you don't have to.

→ Holistic Growth Focus: Unlike agencies that chase trending tactics, we build comprehensive strategies that align with your business goals, market position, & growth targets.

→ Future-Proofed Solutions: In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, we ensure your marketing infrastructure is built to adapt and scale, protecting your investment long-term.

The 3 things to know about me - outside of my professional bio 👇

1️⃣ I’ve been digital since dial up - 1996 ☎️

2️⃣ My son+daughter were born 18 yrs apart 🥰

3️⃣ At least once a year I take a 4 day silent retreat to disconnect from the crazy. 📵 🤐

Simon Gould ✪ CEO ✪ Sydney Digital Marketing Agency ✪

Quick pause to say Thank You 
Welcome Back to Work!

If you read our posts, watch the videos, or spend any time with our content at Sydney Digital Marketing Agency | ⭐️  Digital Marketing Designed To Power Your Business Revenue, it genuinely means a lot. 

Time is the one thing none of us have enough of.  2026 will be noisy. AI, tools, promises everywhere. 

What still matters hasn’t changed: clarity beats shortcuts.  

Wishing you a strong, healthy start to the year. 


#SydneyDigitalMarketing #SDM #HappyNewYear #2026

Simon Gould ✪ Founder ✪ Chief Thinker ✪ Sydney Digital Marketing Agency

🏆Smart50 Lister. Founder. Father. Creator. Knows nothing about football ⚽️ 🏉 But knows your business is paying too much to acquire new clients. We fix that. So you can grow revenue, faster. ♻️ (B2B & B2C experts)

Your next best customer will ask AI for a shortlist of companies like yours.

If your brand isn’t in that answer, your competitors will be.

Over the last 12 months, buyers have been getting full answers from AI and Google AI Overviews before they ever hit your website. 

Now IMO most B2B sites are still built like glossy brochures, not like the best sales rep on the team.

That shows up as:

↘ fewer demos
↘ more “ghosted” opportunities
↘ a P&L that feels like “we can’t confidently hire yet” even when marketing numbers look fine

In this edition of The Growth Marketing + AI Edge, I break down how to rebuild your website as a 24/7 revenue engine in an AI‑first search world, plus the exact 90‑day plan SDM are using with clients right now.

If you want to see where your brand shows up (or doesn’t) in AI answers, comment GEOAudit and I’ll share details of the complimentary AI visibility audit we’re rolling out for Australian service businesses.


______________________

My first post of the year so a big shout out to my network - Welcome back to work and Happy New Year from all of us at Sydney Digital Marketing Agency | ⭐️  Digital Marketing Designed To Power Your Business Revenue

View newsletter: The Growth Marketing + AI Edge

G'day readers and welcome to my first article for 2026. In 2025, buyers got complete answers inside AI and Google results, then skipped your site enti

Open article: Stop Treating Your Website Like a Brochure: Turn It Into Your Best Sales Rep in an AI‑First Search World.
​ by Simon Gould ✪ Founder ✪ Chief Thinker ✪ Sydney Digital Marketing Agency • 8 min read

Stop Treating Your Website Like a Brochure: Turn It Into Your Best Sales Rep in an AI‑First Search World.
​

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴. 

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂.


A lot of service businesses assume the problem is volume. So they tweak budgets, bids, keywords, and agencies.
 
But what’s actually breaking is intent. You’re paying to interrupt people, not to help them decide.
 
That gap doesn’t show up in dashboards. It shows up in low-quality enquiries, wasted follow-ups, and a constant feeling that ads are “working”… but not really.
 
This video breaks down where that gap forms, and why fixing it isn’t about doing more inside the ad account.
 
If this feels uncomfortably familiar, book a strategy call with Sydney Digital Marketing Agency | ⭐️  Digital Marketing Designed To Power Your Business Revenue and we’ll tell you plainly where the leak actually is.





#SydneyDigitalMarketing #SDM #GoogleAds #Ads #DigitalMarketing #Clarity #Business

Most B2B websites I see are built like brochures.

↳ Pretty hero images
↳ Vague value propositions
↳ "Contact us" buried in a footer

But your best customers aren't browsing. They're 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨.

They've already asked AI for a shortlist.
They've already seen your competitors.
They land on your site with ONE question:

"Can these people actually solve my problem?"

And your brochure website answers with... stock photos of the Harbour Bridge (if you''re in Sydney) and mission statements.

Meanwhile, your sales team is working twice as hard to close deals that should've been warm.

The fix isn't a redesign.
It's a rethink.

Your website should work like your best sales rep:
→ Understands the buyer's pain before they say it
→ Answers objections before they're raised
→ Guides them to the next step without friction

That's what we call building for revenue, not vanity.

If your website isn't generating qualified leads on autopilot, it's not a sales tool. It's a liability.

—
Sydney Digital Marketing Agency | ⭐️  Digital Marketing Designed To Power Your Business Revenue

P.S. I break down the full 90-day plan to fix this in my newsletter. Link in comments 👇

#DigitalMarketing #B2BMarketing #WebsiteStrategy #LeadGeneration #2026Planning

You're not buying clicks anymore. You're paying a Sloppiness Tax.

📬 The Growth Marketing + AI Edge | Latest Edition 

In today's newsletter, I break down why Google Ads costs are up 13% YOY for Australian trades and service businesses - and why the real leak isn't where most people think.

What's inside:

→ The shift from "broken ads" to "broken decision systems"
→ Why your competitors can afford $13/click when you're maxed at $5
→ The 10-second mobile test that exposes the biggest conversion killers
→ How to stop paying Google's "sloppiness tax" in 2026

Plus: This week, I'm opening 4 slots for a 15-minute Google Ads Leak Audit specifically for service businesses spending $5K+/month and seeing costs climb.

Last year, we found an average of $4,700/month in preventable waste.

Read the full edition below 👇

(And if you want the audit, comment "AUDIT" or DM me to book before Friday)

Sydney Digital Marketing Agency | ⭐️  Digital Marketing Designed To Power Your Business Revenue

TL;DR: Google Ads costs are up 13% in Australia. The real expense isn't the click, it's what happens after. Here’s what changed in 2025 and how to sto

Open article: 🎢 Google Ads in 2026: It's Not The Expensive Click That's Costing You. It's What Happens Next by Simon Gould ✪ Founder ✪ Chief Thinker ✪ Sydney Digital Marketing Agency • 8 min read

🎢 Google Ads in 2026: It's Not The Expensive Click That's Costing You. It's What Happens Next

𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗕𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁!! 𝗜𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗘𝗢 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲, 𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗻?  


"No Errors" does not mean your SEO is working. Most tools tell you if your site is broken. 

They 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 tell you if your site deserves to rank. If you’ve seen traffic stall while competitors take the lead, you're likely optimised for safety, not demand. 

According to Ahrefs a massive 𝟵𝟲.𝟱𝟱% of all content gets zero traffic from Google. 

𝗔𝘁 Sydney Digital Marketing Agency | ⭐️  Digital Marketing Designed To Power Your Business Revenue, 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗲:  

• Revenue-driving pages vs. Google-prioritised pages.  
• Content depth that actually exceeds the competition.  
• Internal linking that guides the buyer journey. 

"A 'healthy' site is useless if it’s invisible. Let’s get you into the 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝟰%." 

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲? 

Book a Technical SEO Performance Audit with the SDM team.   




#SydneyDigitalMarketing #SDM #SEO #BusinessGrowth #SEOStrategy

in an AI‑first search world, your next best customers are getting shortlists and “best of” answers from AI and Google AI Overviews before they ever land on your site.

If your brand isn’t being mentioned there, you’re already behind.

In this article from our Founder we break down a 90 day plan to ensure you're brand stays relevant and visible.

I recently asked a friend who runs a business: "What's your customer acquisition cost?" 

He said, "𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿? 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗣𝗖 𝗶𝘀 $𝟰." 

I said, "𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺." 

Here's why that matters… 

𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲. 

A low CPC doesn't make you profitable. 

But it answers the question every founder should be asking: "How much does it actually cost to acquire a customer?" 

One thing nobody will tell you is... 

𝗖𝗣𝗖, 𝗖𝗣𝗟, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗔𝗖 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. 

Unless you have a well-built CRM like HubSpot or similar: 

No dashboard shows this automatically. 
No agency report connects the dots. 
No shortcut. 

So what does tracking the right metric actually mean? 

It means connecting every dollar spent to actual customers acquired, not clicks, not leads.

• CPC = cost per click (measures ad efficiency, not business outcomes)
• CPL = cost per lead (measures form fills, not customer quality)
• CAC = total spend ÷ customers acquired (measures what actually matters)

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀:

Your CFO needs CAC to justify the marketing budget. 
Your sales team needs qualified leads, not high volumes. 
Your growth depends on knowing which channels deliver profitable customers. 

𝗔 $𝟰 𝗖𝗣𝗖 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. 

But knowing your CAC is $620 while your customer LTV is $15K does. The actual work looks like this...

1. Track total marketing spend by channel
2. Count actual customers acquired (not leads generated)
3. Calculate CAC per channel: spend ÷ customers
4. Compare to customer lifetime value

No vanity metrics. No "record engagement." No agency theatre. 

Just honest math that shows what's actually driving revenue. 

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗔𝗖? 

DM me "𝗖𝗔𝗖" or book a strategy call with Sydney Digital Marketing Agency | ⭐️  Digital Marketing Designed To Power Your Business Revenue to audit what you're actually measuring. 



#B2BMarketing #PerformanceMarketing #MarketingMetrics #CAC #GrowthMarketing #SDM #SydneyDigitalMarketing

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

I help founders simplify scaling.

You started your business. You pushed past $1M. Now you're stuck somewhere between $3M and $10M, working harder than ever but not moving faster.

The problem isn't effort. It's complexity.

Too many priorities competing for attention. Financials that don't tell you what to do next. A team that still needs you for everything. Growth that feels like grinding instead of building.
I fix that.

I'm Cruz Gamboa, founder of Ascend Growth Ventures. I combine Scaling Up methodology with CFO-level financial clarity to help founders cut through the noise and scale with confidence.

Before this, I spent 25 years in corporate finance - including Regional CFO at GE and strategic finance leadership at GE Capital. I've seen what works at scale. Now I bring that to founders building something that matters.

I work best with CEOs in professional services, coaching, SaaS, and service-based businesses who are ready to scale profitably without burning out.

One conversation can change your trajectory: calendly.com/cruzagamboa/call-with-cruz-ascend-30min

Cruz Gamboa

Scaling isn’t about being nice.
It’s about being clean.

Clean with roles.
Clean with standards.
Clean with truth.

You don’t fire people.
You outgrow misalignment.

As the Netflix CEO puts it:

“If I wouldn’t fight to keep you, I owe you honesty—and a generous exit.”

Not because someone failed.
But because one of three things is true:
•	The role evolved faster than the person
•	The seat was wrong from the start
•	The bar moved—and the company didn’t move it back

High-performing companies don’t drag this out.
They decide early and act with dignity.

No drama.
No ego.
No moral stories.

Just:
•	Radical clarity
•	Respectful exits
•	Fair severance
•	Clean energy left behind

Dragging misalignment is the real cruelty.
Clarity is the kindness.

Scaling isn’t loyalty to individuals.
It’s loyalty to the mission, the team, and the future.

Right people.
Right seats.
Right standards.

And when someone no longer fits?
You don’t shame them.
You set them free.

If you want to scale, stop managing discomfort.
Start architecting teams.

Managers hesitate.
Leaders make room.

#scalingup #founders #growth #ceo

Most businesses don’t fail because they’re bad.

They fail because they’re trying to be someone else.

Burger King copied McDonald’s for 30 years.
Same audience.
Same positioning.
Same “family-friendly” nonsense.

And they kept losing.

Because you can’t beat the market leader
by playing their game better than them.

By 2004, Burger King was dying.
So they asked the only question that actually matters:

“Who is already buying from us?”

Not who they *wanted*.
Not who looked good in presentations.

The truth.

The answer?
Men aged 18–34.
Heavy fast-food users.
People who came back again and again.

And those customers didn’t want:

➡️ Safe
➡️ Cute
➡️ Corporate

They wanted:

➡️ Flame-grilled food
➡️ Control
➡️ Edge
➡️ Personality

So Burger King stopped pretending.

They brought back “Have It Your Way.”
Not as a slogan.
As a strategy.

They built everything around that one customer.

Marketing got bold.
Messaging got raw.
Campaigns got polarizing.

Subservient Chicken.
Whopper Freakout.

Not for everyone.
Exactly the point.

What happened next?

Same-store sales jumped.
Franchises grew.
And net income increased 2860% in three years.

That’s not a pivot.
That’s a resurrection.

Burger King didn’t beat McDonald’s.

They sidestepped them.

McDonald’s owned families.
Burger King owned young men who wanted control.

Different customer.
Different lane.
No direct competition.

Here’s the real lesson:

If you try to serve everyone,
you get ignored by everyone.

The fastest way to grow isn’t copying the leader.

It’s finding the customer they don’t care about
and building obsessively for them.

Specific beats broad.
Always.

#ceo #founder #growth

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Most businesses don’t fail from lack of effort.

They fail from listening to themselves instead of the market.

Dunkin didn’t pivot loudly.

They pivoted quietly by watching what people kept paying for. 

Then they let the data rewrite their identity.

That’s the real upgrade:
✅ Feelings → Facts
✅ Ego → Evidence
✅ deas → Income that repeats

The market is always talking.

Your sales are the language.

So here’s the uncomfortable check:
What do people come back for again and again?

And are you building more of that… or still pitching what you’re emotionally attached to?
#scalingup #CEO #founder #growth

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cruzgamboadrive

patagonia-solar-llc

Your First Product Is Not Your Last

Bill Gates could have flown First Class every day or flown on his own plane, even as a billionaire, 

But he chose to fly Economy until around 1997.

Why?

Because it wasn’t worth the money.

Same plane.
Same arrival time.
5× the cost for a tiny upgrade.

That’s how smart people think about scale.

Most people make money and immediately upgrade their lifestyle.

Smart operators upgrade what makes money.

More spending doesn’t equal more growth.
It usually equals more noise.

When you’re scaling, ask one question:
👉 Does this change the outcome?

If it doesn’t:
Cut it.

A fancy office doesn’t increase revenue.
A luxury car doesn’t improve execution.
Premium tools don’t fix broken systems.

Wealth has one real job:
Buy back your time.

Once you have enough, the goal isn’t more stuff.
It’s fewer constraints.

Less distraction.
More focus.
More leverage.

Scale isn’t about looking successful.
It’s about building something that works without you.

That’s real wealth.
#scalingup #ceo #growth #founder

He was 78 years old
…when he launched a vodka brand
…with no distillery
…in an industry that laughed at him

Sidney Frank.
The man behind Grey Goose.

No product breakthrough.
No secret formula.
No startup hype.

Just one insight most people missed:
People don’t buy vodka. They buy status.

Sidney didn’t make better vodka.
He made a better story.

France on the label.
Luxury in the bottle design.
A price so high it forced belief.

While others chased volume,
he chased perception.

He didn’t market to the masses.
He placed Grey Goose in elite bars first.
When bartenders poured it,
the world followed.

He moved slowly.
Protected exclusivity.
Ignored trends.

8 years later:
➡ Grey Goose became the default “premium vodka”
➡ Competitors copied the look
➡ Bacardi paid $2.3 BILLION

No overnight success.
Just disciplined positioning.

Lesson most builders miss:
Innovation gets attention.
Positioning creates power.

Experience didn’t slow him down.
It sharpened him.

Long vision.
Clear narrative.
Unshakeable belief.

#founders #scalingup #businessstrategy #longtermthinking

The first $5M? Brutal.
The next $5M? Still hard.
After $10M? Growth accelerates.

Here’s the scaling truth Kevin O’Leary calls out:

The first $5M is about survival. You’re learning how to deploy capital, take smart risks, and build systems that work. 

Most entrepreneurs quit here.

The next $5M? 

Execution matters. You’ve survived the grind, learned what works, and can now scale with confidence. Decisions compound. Efficiency improves. Strategy becomes your edge.

Beyond $10M? You’re playing a different game. Capital works for you, not the other way around. Systems, processes, and disciplined execution create leverage.

Lesson: 

Wealth and business scales the same way. 

Master the first phase. 
Build discipline. 
Then scale.
#scalingup #founder #growth #ceo

Most people think Starbucks’ rewards program is about free coffee.

It isn’t.

It’s about cash flow.

Starbucks Rewards is not a loyalty perk.
It’s a prepaid deposit system.

When a customer loads money into the app, Starbucks gets paid before any coffee is made.
Accounting-wise, that money sits as deferred revenue.

But operationally?
It’s usable cash.

That’s the move.

Instead of waiting for daily transactions, Starbucks created a system where millions of customers fund operations in advance.

No interest.
No bank fees.
No dilution.
No debt.

Every preload improves:
✅ Working capital
✅ Liquidity
✅ Balance sheet strength

And Starbucks holds that cash until the customer redeems it.

Some never do.

Unused balances.
Forgotten cards.
Abandoned apps.

That “breakage” flows straight to profit.

Multiply this behavior across ~29 million users and you don’t have a rewards program anymore.

You have a deposit base.

This is why Starbucks scales so efficiently:
▶ Stores expand faster
▶ Cash flow stays predictable
▶ Capital stress stays low

They didn’t out-market competitors.
They re-engineered when money moves.

The lesson:-

Growth isn’t always about selling more.
Sometimes it’s about getting paid earlier.

Starbucks didn’t build loyalty.
They built a financial engine and wrapped it in a green apron.#ceo #scalingup #growth #ceo #founder

Most companies scale faster by cutting people.
Publix scaled stronger by owning the opposite.

95 years. Zero layoffs.
Not luck. Not culture posters.
A Scaling Up system done right.

➡ Promote from within
➡ Clear succession planning
➡ Everyone thinks like an owner
➡ Leaders built, not bought
➡ Long-term value over short-term savings

When people own the outcome, execution compounds.
When leadership is grown internally, trust scales.

This isn’t a feel-good story.
This strategy may not be your strategy. 
For Publix, It’s a people strategy that beat Walmart.

You have to find what it's true for your company. 

Scale isn’t about size.
It’s about who owns the results.

#scalingup #growth #CEO

No Layoffs?

ADIDAS LOST €1.5 BILLION.
NOT TO NIKE.
NOT TO THE MARKET.
BUT TO ITS OWN BUREAUCRACY.

January 2023:
Dead Yeezy stock.
First loss since 1992.
Slow teams. Scared decisions. Broken speed.

9 months later?
Profitable. Faster. Sharper. Beating Nike.

The turnaround wasn’t magic.
It was leadership.

One CEO did 3 things most companies avoid:
→ Cut layers
→ Killed approvals
→ Simplified what already worked

No hype.
No noise.
Just speed, clarity, and conviction.

Big lesson:
You don’t lose because you’re small.
You lose because you’re slow.

Sometimes the fix isn’t more strategy.
It’s less nonsense.

#scalingup #CEO #founders #growth

ADIDAS Story

He didn’t fail for 10 years.
The market just wasn’t ready yet.

Hwang Dong-Hyuk sold his $675 laptop to buy food.
Lived with his grandmother.
Got rejected for a decade.

Studios said:

➡️ Too weird
➡️ Too violent
➡️ Not commercial
➡️ Too complex

Same script.
Same idea.
Same “no”.

Here’s the part most people miss 👇

This wasn’t a talent problem.
It was a timing + distribution problem.

He had the product early.
The market came late.

In 2018, Netflix expands globally.
Needs bold, non-safe content.
Needs local stories with global emotion.

One exec reads the script and says:
“This is exactly what we need.”

$21.4M invested.
Zero marketing push.
No homepage love.

Result?

✓ #1 in 94 countries
✓ 1.65B viewing hours
✓ $900M+ value created
✓ Best ROI in Netflix history

Scaling lesson most founders ignore:

Great ideas don’t die.
They wait.

If you’re early:
Don’t dilute the vision to get small yeses.
Build proof elsewhere.
Survive long enough to meet the right platform.

Scaling isn’t about changing your idea.

It’s about finding the right leverage.

One right distributor > 1,000 wrong pitches.

Ten years of “weird”
became a global empire.

Sometimes the world just isn’t ready yet.

Stay in the game long enough… and it will be.
#scalingup #founderstories #growth #CEO

The World Isnt Ready

Growth without cash flow is just noise. 📉
Dives deeper into why founders who master cash strategy scale faster, stay resilient, and win long term.

Full Cash Is King podcast episode premiering Friday 🚀

🔔 Turn on notifications so you don’t miss the next clips—and the full conversation.

👉 Set your reminder & watch the premiere here:
https://lnkd.in/eBnXhnie

#CashIsKing #DevinSizemore #PodcastShorts #BusinessPodcast
#CashFlowManagement #ScalingBusiness #FounderMindset
#SustainableGrowth #WealthStrategy #EntrepreneurLife
#YouTubePremiere #PodcastReels

GIANTS don’t fall overnight.
They fall one comfortable decision at a time.

They built the category.
Owned the market.
Had money, talent, and trust.

Then they did one thing wrong 👇
They stopped adapting.

Motorola. 
Intel. 
Netscape. 
Borders.

Not stupid.
Not unlucky.
Just late.

The market doesn’t punish failure.
It punishes complacency.

Scroll through this carousel if you want a reminder of one brutal truth:
➡️ Past success is not future security.
➡️ Comfort is more dangerous than competition.
➡️ If you’re not improving, someone else is preparing to replace you.

Stay hungry.
Or become a case study.
#SCALINGUP #CEO #FOUNDER #GROWTH

CRITICAL MISTAKES

Most people don’t need a new year.

They need a new operating system.

2026 won’t reward louder marketing, more hustle, or more tools.
It will reward founders who build clarity early and compound it fast.

What I’m seeing with founders between $3M–$10M is consistent:
• When financial visibility improves, decisions slow down in the right way
• Leadership shifts from reactive to intentional
• Teams stop guessing and start executing
• Growth becomes calmer, not heavier

Breakthroughs rarely come from doing more.
They come from removing noise and tightening the system.
That’s the mindset I’m taking into 2026.

Less chaos. More leverage. Fewer moves. Better ones.

If you’re also thinking about how you want to operate differently next year, I wrote a short piece on what actually creates momentum at this stage.

DM me or write "2026", and I will share the memo I wrote for my clients and friends with you.

#ceo #founder #scalingup

He refused to touch a $1.50 hot dog, and it helped build a ~$250B business.

Jim Sinegal.
Costco co-founder.

Inflation hit.
Costs rose.
Wall Street pushed the obvious move:

“Raise prices.”

Jim’s response was blunt:

“If you raise the price of the hot dog, you’re done.”

No slides.
No consultants.
No narrative gymnastics.

Just a rule.

So Costco did what most companies won’t:

They redesigned the system.
* Built their own production capacity
* Reduced supplier dependency
* Ruthlessly simplified SKUs
* Absorbed costs where trust mattered most

Instead of passing pain to customers, they owned it.

While others:
→ Blamed inflation
→ Shrunk products
→ Optimized short-term margins

Costco:
→ Held the line on iconic prices
→ Added ~5M new member households
→ Sustained ~92% renewal rates
→ Scaled to ~$250B in annual revenue

Here’s the part most founders miss:

They weren’t protecting a hot dog.

They were protecting trust.

And trust compounds faster than margins ever will.

Most companies raise prices to survive.
Strong companies redesign economics so prices don’t have to.

Boring moves.
Brutal discipline.
Unfair long-term advantage.

So what’s the one price, promise, or principle in your business that you refuse to break, no matter the pressure?

#scalingup #founders #leadership #pricing #ceo

In 1997, Jeff Bezos was stressed for all the right reasons.

Amazon was losing money.
Online retail wasn’t proven.
Most investors thought he was wrong.

Here’s the part people miss:

Stress doesn’t come from working hard.
It comes from knowing what to do and not doing it.

So Bezos acted.
Packed boxes himself.
Made the calls.
Shipped anyway.

No fancy office.
A door for a desk.
A Honda Accord in the parking lot.

Fast forward to amazon have $2.6 TRILLION market cap.

Lessons for founders:

▶️ Action kills anxiety
▶️ Clarity is earned through execution
▶️ Fancy setups don’t build big companies
▶️ Ignore opinions, obey the math
▶️ The long game compounds quietly

If something is stressing you out right now,
it’s probably your to-do list calling you out.

#scalingup #founder #ceo #growth

If everything is a priority, nothing scales.

That’s why most companies don’t stall from lack of ideas.
They stall from lack of focus.

The Power of One fixes that brutally fast.

Here’s the rule:

At every level of the business, there is ONE thing that matters more than everything else.

Not a vision board.
Not 12 KPIs.
One outcome that moves the needle now.

Company:
→ One #1 priority for the quarter that makes growth unavoidable.

Leaders:
→ One measurable result they own. No hiding. No excuses.

Teams:
→ One clear objective that directly supports the company's priority.

Individuals:
→ One commitment that, if done daily, makes execution inevitable.

Why this works (and why most won’t do it):

➡️ Focus beats intelligence
➡️ Clarity beats motivation
➡️ Ownership beats meetings
➡️ Execution beats strategy decks

Scaling isn’t about adding more people, more tools, or more plans.

It’s about removing everything that doesn’t matter
until what’s left cannot fail.

That’s the Power of One.

What is the one thing in your business that is calling for your full dedicated attention?

What are the things you are willing to pause so that you can fix it and remove the constraint?

#scaling #founders #growth #ceo

This is Why Companies Fail

Most founders do not have a growth problem.

They have a strategy stacking problem.

That is what the 7 Strata of Strategy solves.

It is a framework created by Verne Harnish to force clarity on the 7 layers that actually drive scale, profitability, and differentiation.

Not vision statements.
 Not buzzwords.
 Real strategic leverage.

What is the 7 Strata?

A practical checklist for building a strategy that compounds.

It answers one question:

“Why should the right customer choose you, pay you more, and stay longer?”

When to use it

Use the 7 Strata when:
• Revenue has stalled between $3M to $10M
 • Sales feels harder than it should
 • Margins are thin
 • Marketing sounds generic
 • The team cannot clearly explain why you win
 • You are scaling but complexity is rising faster than profit

It is especially powerful during:
• Annual planning
 • Strategy resets
 • Go-to-market changes
 • Repositioning
 • Pre-scale phase

What each Stratum means

Words You Own
 The category in the customer’s mind.
 If you do not define it, the market will.

Sandbox
 Who you serve and where you win.
 Focus creates power.

Brand Promise
 The measurable result customers can expect.

Brand Promise Guarantee
 How you reduce risk and increase trust.

Differentiating Activities (3 to 5)
 What you do differently that competitors cannot easily copy.

X-Factor
 Your 10x to 100x structural advantage.
 Process, data, network, cost, or ecosystem.

Profit per X + BHAG
 Your economic engine and long-term target.

This is where strategy meets money.

Why 7 Strata?

Because advantage is layered.

Most companies operate with 2 or 3 layers.

Strong companies stack all 7.

Each layer multiplies the others:

Positioning
 → Focus
 → Trust
 → Differentiation
 → Structural advantage
 → Profit engine
 → Long-term dominance

Miss one, and growth leaks.

The founder truth

If your strategy cannot be explained on one page, it cannot scale.

Clarity is not a branding exercise.
 It is a profit lever.

If you are operating between $3M to $10M and growth feels heavier every year, your next breakthrough is probably not more hustle.

It is a sharper stack.

If you want, I can share the worksheet I use with founders to map this in under 60 minutes.

Just DM SEVEN

#scaling #growth #CEO #founder

Cash flow isn’t optional—it’s the #1 rule behind sustainable business growth 💸
In this episode, Devin Sizemore breaks down how smart cash strategy fuels scale, stability, and long-term success.

Full podcast episode premiering 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟯𝗿𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝟳𝗔𝗠 𝗘𝗦𝗧 🚀

🔔 Turn on notifications so you don’t miss the next reels and the full episode.

👉 Set your reminder & watch the premiere here:
https://lnkd.in/eBnXhnie

#CashIsKing #DevinSizemore #BusinessPodcast #PodcastReels
#CashFlow #EntrepreneurMindset #ScalingBusiness #FounderTalk
#SustainableGrowth #WealthStrategy #StartupGrowth

Most founders brag about revenue.

That’s a mistake.

I’ve seen companies doing millions a year…
and the owner is still stressed, still stuck, still one bad month away from panic.

Why?

Because revenue doesn’t buy freedom.
Profit does.

More revenue without profit just gives you:

• More people
• More complexity
• More risk
• Same lifestyle

That’s not growth.
That’s leverage working against you.

Here’s the truth:

Growth does not start with selling more.
It starts with a profitable system.

There are only 3 levers that matter:

1. Price – Are you charging what it’s worth?

2. Volume – Are these the right customers?

3. Cost – Are you efficient without breaking delivery?

Everything else is noise.

Fix those three, and profit shows up.

Profit gives you:

➡️ Margin for mistakes
➡️ Proof the model works
➡️ Room to breathe

Profit turns into cash.

Cash pays the team.
Cash pays you.
Cash funds growth without stress.

Then you reinvest:
Better people.
Better systems.
Better clients.

That feeds the engine.

The engine creates more profit.

And now growth funds itself.

Stop asking:
❌ “How do we get more revenue?”

Start asking:
✅ “How do we make this system more profitable?”

Revenue is movement.
Profit is power.

If your business feels fragile, it’s because it is.

Fix the system.
The money follows.

Are you focused on more revenues or more profit in your business?  What would your business look like if you had more profit with the same amount of revenue?

#scalingup #growth #Ceo #founder

The Real Reason Teams Don’t Execute!

Most businesses don’t have a strategy problem.
They have a focus problem.

Everyone is busy.
Everyone is “working hard.”
And somehow… nothing meaningful gets finished.

That’s exactly what Rocks fix.

Rocks are the 3–5 outcomes that MUST get done in the next 90 days for the business to move forward.

Not tasks.
Not habits.
Not “stay consistent.”

Outcomes.

If you complete these Rocks, the quarter is a win.
If you don’t, the quarter failed, no matter how busy everyone was.

Why Rocks are non-negotiable:

Most teams run on to-do lists.
To-do lists reward activity, not progress.

Rocks:

➡️ Force leadership to choose what actually matters
➡️ Eliminate distraction disguised as “work”
➡️ Create alignment across teams
➡️ Make execution visible and measurable

If a company has more than 5 priorities, it has zero priorities.

How to implement Rocks the right way (no shortcuts):

1️⃣ Limit them aggressively
3–5 Rocks per quarter.
More than that means you’re avoiding hard decisions.

2️⃣ One Rock = One Owner
If two people own it, no one owns it.
Ownership creates accountability.

3️⃣ Write Rocks as finish lines
Bad Rock: “Improve marketing”
Good Rock: “Generate 500 qualified leads by March 31”

If it’s not measurable, it’s not a Rock.

4️⃣ Review weekly, not quarterly
Rocks die in companies that “set and forget.”
Weekly check-ins expose excuses early.

5️⃣ Protect Rocks from urgency
If a task doesn’t move a Rock forward,
it’s noise, no matter how loud it sounds.

Execution doesn’t fail because people are lazy.
It fails because leaders refuse to choose.

Scaling starts when focus becomes a discipline.

Are you ready to implement the same operating system Fortune 500 companies have used for decades, and today’s fastest-scaling founders rely on to grow?

DM CLARITY, lets talk about what's going on in your company.

#scalingup #CEO #growth #founder

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