🟡 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 ✪

🧡  VP Recruit's New Website is Live | But Here's What We Did BEFORE We Designed Anything


Most businesses jump straight into redesigns – new look, modern feel, better images.

We start with three questions:

A – Who is your AUDIENCE, and what do they actually need?
B – What makes your BRAND genuinely different?
C – What are COMPETITORS doing, and how do you stand apart?

This is our ABC methodology. 

Strategy before design. 

Always.

Before redesigning and rebuilding your website, ask yourself:

→ Do you know exactly who you're trying to reach and what problem you're solving for them?
 → Can you articulate what makes you different (beyond "quality" and "service")?
 → Is your site structure built for user behaviour or just for looking modern?

For VP Recruit we mapped candidate vs. client journeys, identified decision triggers, and positioned labour hire as strategic partnership 🚫 not a commodity.

Then we designed and built.

The result? 

A website that doesn't just represent the business ⏩  it drives it forward.

Congrats to the VP Recruit team. We wish you the greatest success in growing your business. 

As always a massive shout out to the SDM team Jan, Cedric and Puneet Singh for the care and l💛 they put into their work 

And to businesses wondering if their website is performing or just existing – let's talk.

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

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)

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

View newsletter: The Growth Marketing + AI Edge

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

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 spent 25 years inside the machine.

GE Capital. GE Vernova. NBCUniversal. Unilever. Structured finance, capital markets, project finance across Latin America. I was the CFO who sat across from banks, governments, and Fortune 500 boards and made the numbers make sense. I closed an $800 million power plant deal. I managed capital market teams and hundred-million-dollar sales budgets. I built financial models that moved real money in real markets.

I was good at it. For a long time, that was enough.

Then it wasn't.

I stayed almost eight years past the moment I knew I was done. Eight years of golden handcuffs, institutional momentum, and not having a single person in my corner who could help me think through what leaving actually looked like -- financially, strategically, personally.

When I finally left, I made mistakes. I jumped into a startup that looked great on paper and had no financial foundation underneath it. I learned the hard way that passion without financial intelligence is just expensive optimism. Then I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars learning the things corporate never taught me -- how to sell, how to communicate with conviction, how to walk into a room and make people feel what I knew to be true about their business.

That education nearly broke me. And it turned me into something rare: a former Fortune 500 CFO who can read your financials like a surgeon reads an MRI and sit across from you like a partner who actually gives a damn.

That's what I do now.

I work with a small number of founders and executives -- people who've already built something substantial and want a strategic partner with real financial depth. Not a coach. Not a consultant recycling frameworks. Not a bookkeeper calling themselves a fractional CFO. Someone who's been in the rooms, closed the deals, read the balance sheets, and came out the other side with a clear point of view about what actually matters.

If you're a founder past $1M who can feel that the way you got here won't get you to the next level, I can show you exactly where the growth is hiding and where the model breaks.

If you're an executive who knows you're meant for something bigger than the title on your business card, I've been where you are. I made the leap. I can help you think through yours.

I don't work with everyone. I'm selective about who I take on because the work only works when both sides are all in.

One conversation is all it takes to know if we're the right fit.

Cruz Gamboa

McDonald’s didn’t win because the food was amazing.

They won because nothing was left to chance.

400°, not 375°.
2 minutes 50 seconds, not 3.
Two pickles. Always two.
Golden outside. Fluffy inside.
If you have time to lean, you have time to clean.

That’s not micromanagement.
That’s scale.

69M customers a day don’t tolerate creativity.
They tolerate consistency.

Ray Kroc didn’t build a burger company.
He built a machine that produces the same outcome, every time, anywhere in the world.

Most businesses fail because:

➡️ The standard lives in the founder’s head
➡️ Quality depends on “good people”
➡️ Execution changes with mood, energy, or talent

McDonald’s removed all three.

They turned judgment into instructions.
Talent into training.
Excellence into a checklist.

If your business needs you present to run well,
you don’t own a business.

You own a job.

Scale happens when systems are so tight that average people produce elite outcomes.

#scalingup #growth #ceo #founder

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

No alternative text description for this image

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

Your First Product Is Not Your Last

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

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

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?

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

Most people would’ve quit.
They didn’t.

➡️ 2003.

Waco, Texas.
No hype.
No capital.
No backup plan.

Chip and Joanna Gaines quit stable jobs to flip houses.

They slept on air mattresses.
Made $300 in some months.
Maxed credit cards.
Half-finished renovations.
Joanna pregnant.
Chip doing the labor himself.

Friends kept asking the same question losers ask winners early:
“When are you getting a real job?”

Here’s the part most people misunderstand.

They weren’t building houses.
They were building taste.
A repeatable look.
A clear point of view.
Something people could recognize without a logo.

While others chased bigger markets,
they stayed small.
Cheap.
Ignored.

That was the advantage.

A local producer didn’t care about their revenue.
He cared about their authenticity.

How they treated clients.
How they worked together.
How real it felt.

➡️ 2013.

HGTV launched Fixer Upper.

By season two:

5M viewers per episode.
#1 show on the network.

Then they did what confused everyone.

At the peak…
They walked away.

Because TV was attention.
Not leverage.

So they built Magnolia.
A shop.
A restaurant.
A platform.

They stayed in Waco.
Lower costs.
Total control.
The town became the moat.

Today:
1.2M+ visitors every year.
$750M+ valuation.

Lesson:

Don’t chase scale.
Earn trust first.
Don’t compete where everyone goes.
Dominate where no one is looking.

That’s how you turn $300 months
into a generational business.

#scalingup #growth #ceo #founder

undefined undefined

cruzgamboadrive

patagonia-solar-llc

Founder Stories

Former GE Capital Executive | I help founders and executives see what their financials aren’t telling them.

A Sony engineer watched his daughter play Nintendo in 1984 and thought “the sound on this thing is garbage.”

Ken Kutaragi secretly built a better chip and gave it to Nintendo. Sony almost fired him for it.

Then he convinced Sony to partner with Nintendo on a CD-ROM console called the “Play Station.”

June 1991. Sony announces the partnership at CES.

Next morning? Nintendo takes the same stage and dumps Sony for Philips.

Sony’s board wanted to quit gaming entirely. Called it a “toy business.”

Kutaragi stormed into the president’s office. “Are you going to be a laughing stock to Nintendo for the rest of your life?”

The president’s response: “Just do it.”

They had to exile Kutaragi’s team to Sony Music because headquarters refused to house the project.

Then Kutaragi pitched Sega on a joint console. Their board laughed: “That’s a stupid idea. Sony doesn’t know how to make hardware.”

Betrayed by Nintendo. Rejected by Sega. Nearly killed by his own company.

December 1994. PlayStation launches. 100,000 units sold day one.
At E3, Sega announced the Saturn at $399. Sony’s Steve Race walked to the mic, said “$299,” and walked off. Standing ovation.

By 1998, PlayStation was 40% of Sony’s total profit. 563 million PlayStations sold across all generations. The PS2 is still the best-selling console ever.
The prototype’s codename? “PS-X.” Everyone knew the X was a reminder of who crossed them.

Most founders think this is a story about revenge. It’s not.
Kutaragi’s biggest fight wasn’t Nintendo or Sega. It was his own organization that thought the vision was beneath them.

That’s usually the real constraint. Not your competition. The blind spots inside your own company that nobody’s willing to name.

#scalingup #founder #ceo #growth

Uber didn’t scale by starting cheap.
It scaled by starting premium.

Black cars.
Polished drivers.
A reference point that said: 
this is what great looks like.

That first price wasn’t about revenue.
It was about positioning.

Once the market believed Uber = quality,
they introduced UberX.

Lower cost.
Same app.
Same brand trust.

Now scaling was easy, because value was already proven.

This is the Scaling Up lesson most founders miss:

➡️ Use a premium offer to validate demand
➡️ Anchor perception at the top
➡️ Expand down the price ladder without breaking trust

Luxury sets the ceiling.
Access fills the volume.

Start cheap and you fight on price forever.

Start premium and you control how, and when, you scale.
#scalingup #growth #ceo #founder

The most successful people I know believe in themselves… almost to the point of delusion.

Look at Sam Altman:

→ Ran Y Combinator → scaled Airbnb, Stripe, Dropbox
→ Learned one truth: distribution + technology = unfair advantage
→ Built OpenAI → ChatGPT hit 100M users faster than any product in history

Here’s what most entrepreneurs miss:

You don’t scale by working harder.
You scale by stacking leverage.
Capital, talent, technology, timing.

All amplified when you believe early and commit fully.

Sam didn’t just launch a product.
He built the platform the future rides on.
Multi-billion-dollar partnerships. Global adoption. AGI-level ambition.

Scaling up is seeing the future before everyone else does and forcing reality to catch up.

The formula is simple:

1️⃣ Recognize leverage early
2️⃣ Commit fully, almost to the point of delusion
3️⃣ Stack capital, talent, and distribution
4️⃣ Let results justify belief later

Stop waiting for perfect conditions.
Stack your leverage.
Scale now.

#scalingup #growth #ceo #founder

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 try to grow profit by chasing more revenue.

That’s backwards.

Profit doesn’t come from “more.”
It comes from better.

Here are the 5 levers that increase profit faster than revenue:

1. Pricing

If you’re scared to raise prices, you’re undercharging.
A 5% price increase beats a 30% increase in leads. Every time.

2. Costs

This isn’t about cutting coffee.
It’s about killing anything that doesn’t move revenue or retention.

3. Capacity

Your team isn’t maxed out.
Your systems are broken.
Fix utilization before hiring another person.

4. Customer Mix

Some customers cost you money.
Fire them.
Double down on the ones that pay, stay, and refer.

5. Operating Leverage

Build it once. Sell it many times.
Processes, automation, and repeatability are profit multipliers.

Here’s the truth:

Revenue feeds the ego.
Profit buys freedom.

Stop asking, “How do we grow faster?”
Start asking, “Which lever moves profit today?”

Founders who get this don’t need motivation.
They need systems.

Save this.
You’ll need it when growth starts hurting.

#scalingup #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

Your business is bleeding cash.
And you probably can’t tell me exactly where.

I know because I ask founders this one question all the time:

“What’s the ONE constraint holding back your growth right now?”

Most can’t answer it.

They give me three answers.
They say “hiring.”
Or “marketing.”
Or “we just need more leads.”

That’s not clarity.
That’s guessing with confidence.

The scary part isn’t that a constraint exists.
Every business has one.

The scary part is running a company for years without knowing what it is.

Last month, a $3M founder told me his margins were “pretty healthy.”

So I asked him to break it down by service line.

Long pause.

He couldn’t.

Turns out ~40% of his revenue was barely breaking even.
He’d been feeding his best people to his worst clients for two years.

He’s not dumb.
He’s sharp.
He’s just never been forced to look at the numbers that actually matter.

So I built something.

12 questions.
3 minutes.

It won’t fix your business.
But it will show you exactly where the money is walking out the door while you’re busy chasing the next deal.

Pricing gaps.
Forecasting blind spots.
Team financial literacy.
Working capital readiness.

The difference between a $3M business that stays stuck
and one that cleanly moves to $5M and beyond.

Fair warning:
Most founders score lower than they expect.

That’s the point.

Take it free here: scalingcfo.io/assessments
No email wall.
No credit card.
No funnel gymnastics.

Just 12 questions and a mirror.

You might not love what you see.
But you’ll stop guessing.

#ceo #founder #growth #scalingup

“Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.”

This becomes painfully true when you start scaling.

In the early days, doing everything feels productive.
At scale, it becomes dangerous.

Most founders don’t break while starting.
They break while growing.

Jobs understood that scale isn’t about adding more.
It’s about removing friction.

➡️ Fewer priorities = faster execution

➡️ Clear principles = consistent decisions without micromanagement

➡️ Simplicity = systems that don’t collapse under growth

➡️ High standards = quality that survives volume

➡️ Speed = mistakes fixed early, not amplified later

➡️ Strong teams = decisions made without the founder in every room

Scaling fails when founders try to stay involved in everything.

It succeeds when decision-making becomes repeatable.

The real work of scale is subtraction.
Less noise.
Less ego.
Less unnecessary complexity.

This is exactly what I help founders with, turning chaos into clear systems so the business can grow without burning you out.

If you’re scaling and feel stuck in the middle,
DM me “SCALE” and I’ll walk you through how to simplify, delegate, and grow with clarity.

Stop treating video like content.

That’s why it’s not making you money.

I was in Austin and went to Aleric Heck’s “Video Authority” book launch at Self Publishing.com.

I expected marketing fluff.
I got a mental reset.

Aleric built Ad Outreach into an 8-figure company from a college dorm.

No VC babysitters.
No Silicon Valley permission.
Just execution.

Here’s the mistake I see founders make with video:

They post to be seen.
Not to be useful.

Views become the goal.
Virality becomes the metric.
Sales become the mystery.

Aleric’s framework is the opposite:

If someone doesn’t buy from you, they should still feel stupid NOT to follow you.

Give so much value that:

➡️ They trust you
➡️ They respect you
➡️ They assume you’re expensive

Counterintuitive part?

The more you give away, the more you make.

Because trust compounds faster than attention.

This is leverage.

You record once.
It sells for you while you sleep.
While you work.
While you scale.

But only if you do it right.

Here is one of the pearls I took away from his talk...

One test Aleric shared wrecked most “AI content strategies”:

In the lecture, he talked about a split-test they ran at his firm:

✓ Full AI videos
✓ Talking head
✓ AI hook + real human

The winner? Hybrid. By a landslide.

Full AI lost.

Why?

AI gets attention.
Humans get trust.
Trust gets money.

Tools multiply.
They don’t replace.

Your face.
Your voice.
Your thinking.

That’s the asset.

If you’re a coach, consultant, or expert business doing $1M–$10M and video isn’t part of your growth system…

You’re choosing slow growth.

Not because video is magic.
Because leverage is.

Read Video Authority.
It’s not theory.
It’s a playbook.

Congrats on the launch, Aleric Heck.🔥🤝

If you want the exact framework behind this, not opinions, not theory,
Aleric put the full system in Video Authority.

👉 https://lnkd.in/eN7v7eqi

#sclaing #founder #ceo #growth

What’s one AI tool you wish existed, But still doesn’t?

Share your thoughts!

I will share more in about a week.

Best

Cruz

#scalingup #growth #ceo

taplio

The Battle

Simon Gould ✪ CEO ✪ Sydney Digital Marketing Agency ✪

Cruz Gamboa

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreSimon Gould ✪ CEO ✪ Sydney Digital Marketing Agency ✪'s LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreCruz Gamboa's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Simon Gould ✪ CEO ✪ Sydney Digital Marketing Agency ✪

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);}Simon Gould ✪ CEO ✪ Sydney Digital Marketing Agency ✪'s LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreCruz Gamboa's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreSimon Gould ✪ CEO ✪ Sydney Digital Marketing Agency ✪'s LinkedIn Performance