Steve Taplin

CEO at Sonatafy, AI/ML led Nearshore Software Development synced with US time zones for maximum Productivity & Collaboration | Forbes & Entrepreneur Author

As CEO of Sonatafy Technology, I help enterprise companies scale smarter by building nearshore engineering teams that deliver AI-powered, custom software solutions at enterprise velocity.

Our teams are composed of senior LATAM engineers who work in your time zone, speak your language, and integrate seamlessly into your existing workflows. We help tech leaders accelerate digital transformation, embed AI into their products, and ship software that actually moves the business forward.

Over the course of my career, I’ve founded and led more than 30 companies. Twenty failed. Ten succeeded. That journey shaped my best-selling book Fail Hard, Win Big, where I reveal the strategic power of custom software and the business lessons only failure can teach.

I also host the podcast Software Leaders UNCENSORED, now with over 80 episodes, featuring candid conversations with top CTOs, founders, and engineering executives who are defining what’s next in software and AI.

As a contributor to Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazine, I focus on helping leaders build resilient organizations, make bold decisions, and avoid the costly missteps that stall growth and innovation.

Let’s connect if:
➤ You need a fresh approach to engineering velocity
➤ You’re curious about nearshore but want a trusted partner
➤ Or you just want to trade stories from the startup trenches

➤ Learn more at sonatafy.com or DM me.

Chief Executive Officer & Board Member

Sonatafy Technology is a premier nearshore software development services company that provides its clients with expertise in Cloud Solutions, Web and Mobile Applications, E-Commerce, Big Data, DevOps Practices, QA, IoT, and Machine Learning.   With current and past signature clients such as IBM, FOX, Cisco, TaylorMade, Caterpillar, Alcatel, and more. Sonatafy Technology helps software teams perform at their best.

Check out a new episode of The Software Leaders UNCENSORED Podcast! This time, I had a great conversation with Mathias Herzog, CEO of Korn Ferry Digital Business and President of Global Technology Industries, one of the world’s most influential leaders at the intersection of people, technology, and strategy.

From his early days in consulting to executive roles at Deloitte, Infosys, and Salesforce, Mathias has built a career out of scaling complex organizations, and now he’s driving Korn Ferry’s transformation into a digital powerhouse.

In this episode, Mathias shared:
• How a small-town kid from Southern Germany ended up in San Francisco’s tech boom, working with the biggest technology firms of the early 2000s.
• His journey from consulting to execution, leaving advisory work to “get his hands dirty” as an operator, first at Salesforce, then at Automation Anywhere, helping lead their shift from on-prem to the cloud.
• Why he joined Korn Ferry, and how he’s now leading their $400M+ digital business, a SaaS operation inside a $3B global enterprise.
• What makes Korn Ferry Digital unique: a massive repository of proprietary data, IP, and talent science, now being unified into a single enterprise platform.
• How he’s building an engineering organization of 600+ people across the U.S. and India, and the art of managing time zones, collaboration, and productivity at scale.
• Why the biggest opportunity lies in combining software + services, merging product-led innovation with human consulting expertise.
• How Korn Ferry defines an AI-ready leader, blending technical literacy with curiosity, adaptability, and self-awareness.

Mathias’s Advice for Tech Leaders: “Listen first, chances are, someone already had that great idea and couldn’t get it off the ground. Surround yourself with smart, driven people who challenge you. And don’t get distracted by shiny objects. Focus, deliver, and land what you start.”

Check the full episode in the comments!

#AI
#Podcast
#KornFerry
#SteveTaplin
#MathiasHerzog
#SonatafyTechnology
#SoftwareLeadersUncensored

sonatafy

sonatafy-technology-mexico

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Talks about #culture, #entrepreneurship, #softwaredevelopment, #softwareengineerjobs, and #nearshoresoftwaredevelopment

The Software Leaders UNCENSORED Podcast

CEO, Korn Ferry Digital // President, Global Technology Industries at Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry

CEO, Sonatafy-Scaling Engineering Teams w/ Senior LATAM Talent | Host, Software Leaders UNCENSORED Podcast | Best-Selling Author, Fail Hard, Win Big | Forbes & Entrepreneur Contributor

Check out a new episode of The Software Leaders UNCENSORED Podcast! This time, I had a great conversation with Edward Calvesbert, VP of Product Management for IBM watsonx at IBM, the man helping lead IBM’s next generation of AI for business.

With over 20 years of experience driving digital transformation, Edward brings a unique, insider perspective on how one of the world’s biggest tech companies is shaping the enterprise AI revolution, from governance and data strategy to real-world AI deployment at scale.

In this episode, Edward shared:
• How IBM evolved from Watson to WatsonX, building a full-stack AI platform for training, governance, and data orchestration across enterprises.
• Why AI for business is fundamentally different from consumer AI, focusing on security, data privacy, and reliability instead of poetry and parlor tricks.
• How WatsonX integrates GenAI, data governance, and AI lifecycle management to help companies build safe, compliant, and scalable solutions.
• The rise of the semantic layer, bridging structured enterprise data with large language models so AI can “speak the language of your business.”
• Edward explained why 95% of AI projects fail, not because of the models, but because of poor data, missing governance, and a lack of enterprise readiness.
• The importance of building data lakehouse architectures that unify analytics and data warehousing using open standards like Iceberg and Delta Lake.
• Why true success comes from connecting stochastic (non-deterministic) models with structured enterprise data in meaningful, contextual ways.
• How GenAI is revolutionizing software development at scale: “A good developer using GenAI can be 100x more productive than one who isn’t.”
• Developers now spend less time writing code and more time understanding massive codebases, refactoring legacy systems, and applying AI-assisted quality assurance.
• Why IBM treats GenAI deployment just like software development, with CI/CD, testing, and quality management baked in from day one.
• His advice for companies starting out:
“Start with internal use cases, sales, HR, customer support, where humans stay in the loop. You’ll learn faster, and you’ll manage risk better.”

Edward’s Advice for Tech Leaders: “Get your hands on it. Don’t just talk about AI, use it. Build something with a GenAI coding tool. Once you do, you’ll see how much it changes your expectations of yourself and your team.”

Check the full episode in the comments!

#AI
#IBM
#Podcast
#WatsonX
#SteveTaplin
#EdwardKelsbert
#SonatafyTechnology
#SoftwareLeadersUncensored

Fullstory isn’t just about session replay; it’s redefining digital experience and analytics.

In my conversation with Claire Fang, CPTO of Fullstory, we explored how Fullstory enables organizations to truly understand their users by transforming behavioral data into actionable insights.

Check the full episode in the comments!

#AI
#Sonatafy
#Fullstory
#Analytics
#Innovation
#ClaireFang
#SteveTaplin
#DigitalExperience
#SoftwareLeadersUncensored

Chief Product & Technology Officer, Fullstory | (ex-Facebook, Microsoft, McKinsey, Qualtrics) | Ph.D. in Computer Engineering

Fullstory

AI has the power to transform healthcare, but only if we prioritize the customer.

In my conversation with Chris Sullens, CEO of CentralReach, we discussed how innovation is meaningless unless it improves care, access, and outcomes for patients.

Check the full episode in the comments!

#AI
#Podcast
#SteveTaplin
#ChrisSullens
#CentralReach
#SonatafyTechnology
#SoftwareLeadersUncensored

Check out a new episode of The Software Leaders UNCENSORED Podcast! This time, I had a great conversation with Michael Campbell, a 35-year tech veteran, serial entrepreneur, and longtime CEO, now leading the charge as CEO of Fusion Risk Management, the global leader in operational resilience.

Michael’s career spans from startups to the C-suite at FICO, and today he helps Fortune 500 companies stay operational through various challenges, including pandemics, cyberattacks, and global crises.

In this episode, Michael shared:
• How Fusion Risk Management created the concept of operational resilience, combining business continuity, risk management, and incident response into one unified platform.
• Why Fusion’s clients, including 21 of the world’s largest banks, rely on the platform to ensure they can keep operating, no matter what hits them.
• How Fusion Risk Management uses AI simulations and Monte Carlo modeling to predict vulnerabilities and rank them by probability, impact, and ease of resolution.
• Why Fusion Risk Management built its platform on Salesforce as a low-code/no-code architecture, and how that choice unlocked scalability, security, and speed.
• How generative AI is automating 80% of complex software configuration by ingesting thousands of business continuity plans and dynamically mapping them into actionable systems.
• Why Michael’s team runs on a “best athlete” model, hiring top talent regardless of geography, and the surprising benefits of going fully remote.
• Why focusing on fewer, high-impact priorities is the secret to innovation and growth.
• The importance of understanding AI as a relationship, not a rule set: “AI doesn’t follow your rules. It interprets your intent. You have to know how to talk to it.”
• The speed of innovation: “Every iteration of AI is exponentially better. You have to build for where the puck’s going, not where it is.”

Michael’s Advice for Tech Leaders: “We’re sitting on the biggest wave of change and wealth creation any of us has seen. Move fast, learn fast, and don’t get comfortable. AI can obsolete your business overnight. Be paranoid, be opportunistic, and always skate to where the puck is going.”

Check the full episode in the comments!

#AI
#Podcast
#SteveTaplin
#MichaelCampbell
#SonatafyTechnology
#FusionRiskManagement
#SoftwareLeadersUncensored

Chief Executive Officer at Fusion Risk Management

Fusion Risk Management

Check out a new episode of The Software Leaders UNCENSORED Podcast! This time, I had a great conversation with Corey Ercanbrack, Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO) at Vasion, a leader who’s mastered the art of bridging the gap between product vision and engineering execution.

From starting at Intel in the 90s during the dot-com boom to scaling global teams and steering a full SaaS transformation, Corey’s journey is a roadmap for anyone building at the intersection of innovation and leadership.

In this episode, Corey shared:
• How his early career at Intel taught him about growth, leadership, and the hard truth behind acquisitions, and how those lessons shaped his management philosophy.
• His time leading 250+ engineers at Avanti, managing global teams across continents and navigating multiple buyouts and integrations.
• Why he left a massive organization to join a three-person engineering team at a small company called PrinterLogic (now Vasion), and how he scaled it to 150+ engineers building a multi-product SaaS platform.
• The evolution of Vasion, from print management to automation and digital workflow transformation, with a clear goal: finally making the paperless office a reality.
• Why combining product and technology under one leader can unlock speed and alignment, but also comes with unique mental gymnastics

Corey’s Advice for Tech Leaders: “There’s too much noise out there. Find what works for your business and your people, and double down on it. Let the outcomes speak for themselves.”

Check the full episode in the comments!

#AI
#Vasion
#Podcast
#SteveTaplin
#CoreyErcanbrack
#SonatafyTechnology
#SoftwareLeadersUncensored

Chief Product & Technology Officer at Vasion

Vasion

AI and humans aren’t competitors; they’re complementary tools for innovation.

In my conversation with Samuel Clemens, CEO of Reprise, we discussed how the future of technology relies on humans and AI collaborating, each complementing the other’s strengths.

Check the full episode in the comments!

#AI
#Reprise
#Sonatafy
#SteveTaplin
#SamClemens
#TechLeadership
#TheSoftwareLeadersUncensored

CEO and Cofounder @ Reprise

Reprise

Ken Johnson, CTO of DryRun Security brought sharp, practical insight to our podcast conversation. Here are a few highlights that stuck with me.

• Ken digs into how they are modernizing security by amplifying developers, not burying them under a pile of alerts. If you sit in AppSec or engineering leadership, this one is worth your time.

• I also appreciated his push to move away from “security theater” and toward tools that developers can actually work with and interact with. If your security program creates more friction than protection, Ken’s perspective will hit home.

• He shares some blunt lessons on hiring for intellectual curiosity, plus what it really takes to sustain a remote-first engineering culture, shaped by his years at GitHub. There is zero fluff here; just what works and what doesn't.

Highly recommend giving it a listen if you are building secure software teams without slowing delivery.

Our own Ken Johnson sat down with Steve Taplin for an episode of #SoftwareLeadersUncensored 👀 

They dive into Ken’s path into tech, the innovations we’re driving at DryRun Security, and the real-world challenges engineering teams face as the landscape shifts at such a fast pace. 

They also get into AI’s impact on software delivery, how to keep team communication healthy, and winning strategies for engaging non-technical stakeholders.

If you lead engineering or AppSec, you’ll appreciate Ken’s practical takeaways.

 🎧 Watch/listen: link in comments

https://lnkd.in/guatMNPJ

Open video: How AI Will Reinvent Developer Education ft. Ken Johnson on youtube.com

How AI Will Reinvent Developer Education ft. Ken Johnson

AI in e-commerce is moving beyond hype, and finally delivering real, measurable impact.

Mathias Herzog, CEO of Korn Ferry, and I explored how data-driven personalization, smarter automation, and predictive insights are transforming the customer journey from end to end.

Check the full episode in the comments!

#AI
#KornFerry
#SteveTaplin
#MathiasHerzog
#TechLeadership
#SonatafyTechnology
#SoftwareLeadersUncensored

Check out a new episode of The Software Leaders UNCENSORED Podcast! This time, I had a great conversation with Peter Horadan, CEO of Vouched, a leader in digital identity verification.

Peter’s career spans some of the biggest names in tech, Microsoft, Concur, Avalara, and Sage, and now he’s tackling one of the most critical problems in the digital world: proving who we are online.

In this episode, Peter shared:
• How his journey began at Microsoft in the early days of online banking, long before most people had ever used the internet.
• How he helped Concur redefine expense reporting, taking the company’s stock price from $0.25 to $25 and leading to an $8 billion acquisition by SAP.
• His time as CTO at Avalara, where he built automation systems to manage complex sales tax compliance, a business that scaled to a $16 billion valuation.
• Founding Lockstep, focused on automating accounting workflows between businesses, which was later acquired by Sage.
• Why he joined Vouched and how he’s leading the company into the next wave of digital transformation through identity automation.
• He predicts that by 2027, over 50% of Americans will have a mobile ID, allowing users to control what data they share and proving their identity with a thumbprint or face scan.
• Vouched is building the platform to connect it all, integrating dozens of state and international digital ID systems into one secure solution.
• On AI in software development: “AI is great for prototypes, but enterprise systems still need humans who understand how things really work.”

Peter’s Advice for Tech Leaders: “If you’ve ever thought about starting a company, do it. You already have the skills. It’ll be the most rewarding experience of your career.”

Check the full episode in the comments!

#AI
#Podcast
#Vouched
#SteveTaplin
#PeterHoradan
#SonatafyTechnology
#SoftwareLeadersUncensored

CEO at Vouched

Vouched

AI in healthcare isn’t here to replace people; it’s here to help them connect better.

In my conversation with Frank LaSota, CTO of Zyter|TruCare, we discussed how AI is being utilized to enhance the patient-care relationship, allowing providers more time to focus on what truly matters: human connection.

Check the full episode in the comments!

#AI
#SteveTaplin
#FrankLaSota
#ZyterTrueCare
#TechLeadership
#SonatafyTechnology
#SoftwareLeadersUncensored

CTO | CIO | Global technology & product engineering leader credited with envisioning & implementing technology strategies & solutions that drive product development, enhance operational efficiency, & fuel company growth.

Zyter|TruCare

AI is reshaping the legal industry, turning massive workloads into streamlined, data-driven decisions.

Jim Sullivan, CEO of eDiscovery AI, and I discussed how AI is accelerating discovery, reducing costs, and giving legal teams clarity they’ve never had before.

Check the full episode in the comments!

#AI
#Sonatafy
#SteveTaplin
#JimSullivan
#eDiscoveryAI
#TechLeadership
#SoftwareLeadersUncensored

Founder eDiscoveryAI.com

eDiscovery AI

AI in 2026 isn’t just an evolution; it’s the next step in how companies operate, compete, and deliver value.

Corey Ercanbrack, CPTO at Vasion, and I discussed why the organizations that lean into AI now will define the standards that everyone else follows.

Check the full episode in the comments!

#AI
#Vasion
#SteveTaplin
#TechLeadership 
#CoreyErcanbrack
#SonatafyTechnology
#SoftwareLeadersUncensored

Check out a new episode of The Software Leaders UNCENSORED Podcast! This time, I had a great conversation with Jimi Li, CTO of ALM, who transitioned from an electrical engineer dreaming of robotics to leading global digital transformation across multiple industries, including GE, L’Oréal, Coach, News Corp, and now ALM. Jimi’s story is all about reinvention, adaptability, and leading people through major technological change.

In this episode, Jimi shared:
• How his career evolved from hands-on developer to executive technologist across industries like finance, retail, media, and legal, and how each role shaped his perspective on transformation.
• His work at ALM Global, a digital-first company providing data, insights, and analytics for the legal industry, is known as “the Bloomberg for law.”
• How he’s leading a global engineering team across the U.S., India, Europe, and Latin America, leveraging a “Fusion Team” model that unites product, engineering, and business functions under a shared mission.
• How ALM is building its own “Genie” system, an agentic AI engine that acts like an intelligent router between data and user questions, making enterprise knowledge more searchable and actionable.
• The biggest challenge with Agentic AI in legal tech: “Accuracy and trust. In law, if the AI gets something wrong, that mistake can cost everything.”
• How his team uses AI as a digital second brain, bridging global time zones by automatically documenting meetings, creating summaries, and transferring context between teams.
• The three types of AI value companies should focus on, and why most are getting it wrong: “Employee value, the time saved, doesn’t always translate into real ROI unless you reinvent the workflow and process around it.”

Jimi’s Advice for Tech Leaders: “You don’t have to be from a top school to succeed. What matters is learning every day. Spend one or two hours daily updating yourself, because in this field, if you stop learning, you stop leading.”

Check the full episode in the comments!

#AI
#JimiLi
#Podcast
#ALMGlobal
#SteveTaplin
#SonatafyTechnology
#SoftwareLeadersUncensored

Chief Technology Officer, CIO, Digital Transformation, AI Strategy & Implementation

In the race to develop smarter AI, user privacy is often the first thing sacrificed. This clip features my conversation with Anthony Presley, CTO of CBS NorthStar, as we explore the tough questions every software leader must confront regarding ethics, data collection, and accountability. Privacy isn’t just a feature; it’s a fundamental choice.


Thank you again for the great conversation on the podcast, Anthony!

Check the full episode in the comments!

#AI
#Podcast
#SteveTaplin
#AnthonyPresley
#SonatafyTechnology
#CustomBusinessSolutions
#SoftwareLeadersUncensored

Software Exec | Technology Nerd | HR and Retail Tech | Connector of People | Father of a Few

CBS NorthStar

It was an honor having Charles Yeomans  from Atombeam Technologies  on the The Software Leaders UNCENSORED Podcast.
 
Here are some key points Charles brought up that stuck with me:

• 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿, 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗯 from Navy intelligence to Stanford to Wall Street to biotech CEO to deep tech founder. Charles treats new arenas like reps in the gym, not a risk.
 
• 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗵.  His filter is simple: if the customer cannot do something meaningfully better, faster, cheaper, or safer, then it is just a clever science fair project.
  
• 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗶𝗻, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻.  Speed without security is just getting hacked sooner. He designs for both from day one because real buyers demand it.
  
• 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀.  Fintech and defense customers, plus multiple DoD contracts. If your tech works in those environments, it's no longer just a theory.
 
My takeaway, most founders chase novelty. Charles chases impact. That difference shows up fast.

Atombeam CEO Charles Yeomans recently had the opportunity to chat with Steve Taplin, host of the Software Leaders podcast. Watch at the link for a lively discussion on AI, and the 'command center of the future' https://lnkd.in/gFFPaazs

#Atombeam #AI #SoftwareLeaders

Open video: Charles Yeomans, AtomBeam CEO on AI, PCM & the Command Center of the Future on youtube.com

Charles Yeomans, AtomBeam CEO on AI, PCM & the Command Center of the Future

Check out a new episode of The Software Leaders UNCENSORED Podcast! This time, I had a great conversation with Ken Johnson, CTO & Co-Founder of DryRun Security, a longtime security expert, multi-time CTO, and one of the sharpest minds in application security today. Before launching DryRun, Ken led security teams at GitHub and helped shape how modern developers think about secure engineering.

In this episode, Ken shared:
• The unusual story of how he co-founded DryRun, after telling his now co-founder that his original startup idea was a terrible one. Three years later, that honest feedback turned into a thriving company.
• How DryRun Security is rethinking application security for developers, replacing noisy alerts and false positives with actionable, intelligent, and conversational insights.
• Why their new Deep Scan product shocked customers by finding serious vulnerabilities that even top-tier human consultants missed.
• How Ken built a small, elite team of fewer than 8 engineers, each the best in their craft, from ex–MIT recruits to game-performance specialists.
• How his remote-first structure borrows lessons from GitHub, prioritizing written clarity, deep work, and asynchronous trust across time zones.
• How rapid prototyping with AI is changing what “shipping fast” means, and why that speed can be dangerous if unchecked.
• Why senior engineers are still critical: architecture, testing, and design reviews aren’t optional; they’re what make AI-generated software enterprise-ready.
• How DryRun is solving one of the biggest industry pain points, the 4-person AppSec team responsible for 800 developers.
• A hilarious (and painful) real-world story: an AI spellchecked the word process across the entire codebase, breaking key functions. Testing saved the day.
• His takeaways: even with AI, you can’t skip code reviews, context awareness, or a strong testing culture.

Ken’s Advice for Tech Leaders: “If you’re going to use AI, set guardrails. Context matters. The difference between chaos and control is whether your AI knows what ‘good’ looks like.”

Check the full episode in the comments!

#AI
#Podcast
#SteveTaplin
#KenJohnson
#DryRunSecurity
#SonatafyTechnology
#SoftwareLeadersUncensored

Co-Founder & CTO @ DryRun Security

DryRun Security

WARNING: This Isn’t Your Feel-Good Founder Advice

I wanted to recap from one of my Forbes articles featuring 10 BRUTAL Truths from my book, 𝙁𝙖𝙞𝙡 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙙. 𝙒𝙞𝙣 𝘽𝙞𝙜.

These aren’t sugar-coated mantras. These are the cold, uncomfortable realities I’ve learned from building 30+ companies, with more failures than successes.

Most people won’t discuss this topic. I decided it’s time for someone to do so.
Truths like:
• Why passion alone won’t save you
• How being “early” is just a fancy word for wrong
• And why failure is the best investor in the room

Here’s one more brutal truth:
• Off-the-shelf software won’t make you a winner.

If your tools weren’t built for you, they’ll never give you a competitive edge.

That’s why the most innovative companies double down on custom software solutions, and that’s what we deliver at Sonatafy Technology | Nearshore Software Development.

Read the article, and let’s start normalizing the real story behind success.

https://lnkd.in/eRc8-W78

#Startups #FailHardWinBig #EntrepreneurTruths #Forbes #LeadershipUnfiltered #TechCEO #NoBS #sonatafy #SonatafyTechnology #NearshoreDevelopment #SoftwareDevelopment #SoftwareEngineering #CustomSoftware

Open article: 10 Brutal Truths I Wish I Knew Before I Became An Entrepreneur by forbes.com

10 Brutal Truths I Wish I Knew Before I Became An Entrepreneur

The "Tyranny of the Urgent" is Killing Your Innovation 

I had a great conversation with Matt Ryan  Co-Founder & CTO of Kythera Labs , about the most challenging part of managing engineering teams today. He nailed it with one phrase: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝘆𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁.

It’s the constant battle between the deep, creative thought required to build the future and the "ping" of a customer question that needs an answer 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘁:

1. 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝗻: Keep teams small to maintain effectiveness and ownership.

2. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝘄: You have to protect your engineers' "zone." Context switching is a productivity killer.

3. 𝗥𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: If everything is a priority, nothing is. As leaders, if we don't control the priority, the individual engineer will solve the problem that's making the loudest noise.

Great insights from a guy managing petabytes of healthcare data. See full episode in the post below.

#Leadership #SoftwareEngineering #Productivity #CTO #HealthcareTech

View company: The Software Leaders UNCENSORED Podcast

Check out a new episode of The Software Leaders UNCENSORED Podcast! Host Steve Taplin sits down with Matt Ryan, Founder & CTO of Kythera Labs, to talk candidly about healthcare data, engineering leadership, and the realities behind AI adoption.

In this episode, they cover:
- Matt’s move from large enterprises into the startup world, and why he thrives there
- How Kythera Labs evolved from early Spark infrastructure to becoming a long-time Databricks partner
- The challenge of extracting real value from massive healthcare datasets without runaway costs
- Why context switching and the “tyranny of the urgent” quietly erode engineering productivity
- How unclear prioritization shifts strategic control away from leadership
- Why AI initiatives fail when scope and expectations aren’t aligned with real business needs

Matt shares grounded lessons from building data products, leading remote teams, and navigating the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders.

If you’re building or scaling data-driven software, this conversation delivers practical perspective without the hype.

Full episode in the comments below.
#AI
 #SoftwareLeadersUNCENSORED
 #HealthcareData
 #TechLeadership

Reposting this conversation between Christopher Horvat and me because the message matters. 

Engineering teams that share their work, whether through open-source projects, internal write-ups, or public tech insights, consistently operate at a higher level. Invisible teams lose credibility. Teams that show their thinking earn trust.

In this Fireside Chat, we talk about how sharing forces better habits, a stronger culture, clearer thinking, and even better hiring outcomes. 

Great engineering speaks for itself, but only if you let people see it.
Full episode is in the comments.

Sonatafy Technology | Nearshore Software Development

View company: Sonatafy Technology | Nearshore Software Development

In this Fireside Chat, our CEO Steve Taplin and CTO Christopher Horvat dive into a simple but powerful truth:

When development teams share their work through open-source platforms, blogs, or tech talks, they build more trust, visibility, and pride in their work.

💡 In this episode:
🔹 Why invisible teams lose credibility
🔹 How sharing knowledge proves real value beyond pitch decks
🔹 Why open source and content push teams toward higher quality
🔹 How transparency fuels better habits, culture, and even hiring

It’s not about “going viral.” It’s about showing your work—and letting great engineering speak for itself.

Full episode in the comments below! ⬇️ 

#AIProductivity
#FiresideSeries
#DevCommunity
#AIinEngineering
#SonatafyTechnology

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

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 30 min call and let's see if we are a fit.
https://calendly.com/cruzagamboa/call-with-cruz-ascend-30min

Cruz Gamboa

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

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

Wall Street declared it dead.

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

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

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

Customer acquisition costs...improving. 

Fulfillment efficiency...improving. 

Contribution margin per unit...improving. 

Defect rates...declining.

The stock price reflected fear. 

The operating metrics reflected reality.

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

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

Watch the video. Bezos is calm. 

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

He knew exactly what was true inside his business.

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

That's how $6 becomes $1.7 trillion.

So here's my question for you:

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

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

That's the game worth playing.

Check out comments for details

#founder #growth #ceo #scalingup

At 40, he’d lost everything.
His company. His savings. His confidence.
Most people would’ve walked away.

But Aaron Krause wasn’t “most people.”

He went back to the garage.
Back to tiny problems no one cared about.
And from that… came a smiling sponge the world didn’t see coming.

Stores rejected him.
Investors laughed.
The idea sat on a shelf for years.

But he didn’t quit.
He took one uncomfortable shot: Shark Tank.

He walked in with a box of sponges.
He walked out with Lori Greiner.
$200,000 for 20%.
Momentum activated.

Then the episode aired…

Overnight demand.
Shelves cleared out.
Factories overloaded.
Scrub Daddy everywhere, from Walmart to Bed Bath & Beyond.

A simple sponge became a billion-dollar brand.
Not because it was cute.
Because he executed when life said “stop.”

Here’s the truth:

👉 He didn’t need a perfect plan: he needed one more attempt.
👉 He wasn’t chasing validation: he was chasing resilience.
👉 He proved the principle every founder forgets:
A small idea + relentless execution can beat a big idea that never ships.

Critics mocked the smile.
Then watched it become one of Shark Tank’s biggest wins ever.

The ones who win?
They push past rejection.
They build through uncertainty.
They keep going when almost everyone quits.

Because billion-dollar outcomes don’t happen in comfort, 
they happen right after the moment you think it’s over.

#resilience#scalingup#founderstory#entrepreneurship

Stephen Schwarzman built Blackstone into a global giant…
without using calculus.

Why?
Because the game he played didn’t reward equations.

It rewarded judgment, negotiation, and understanding people.

Those were the leverage points.

Charlie Munger said the same thing:

Simple thinking beats complicated math in most investing.

But here’s what most people miss:

It’s not about whether calculus matters.
It’s about whether it matters in the arena you choose.

Private equity = people, decisions, patterns.

Quant trading, derivatives, risk modelling = math, models, precision.

Different games.
Different skills.
Different leverage.

People fail because they try to be good at everything…
and end up great at nothing.

The real move?

👉 Pick the game you want to win.
👉 Identify the skills that game rewards.
👉 Get insanely good at those, and ignore everything else.

That’s how you scale.
Not by doing more.
But by mastering the few things that actually move the needle.

#scalingup #growth #ceo #founder

At 22, he was rejected by Toyota.
At 38, his factory was bombed. Twice.
Most people would’ve accepted defeat.

But Soichiro Honda wasn’t “most people.”

He went back to the workshop.
Back to broken engines and scraps no one wanted.
And from that… came a machine the world didn’t see coming.

Japan had no money.
Fuel was scarce.
Factories were rubble.

But he didn’t quit.
He bolted a tiny motor onto a bicycle 
not pretty, not perfect, but powerful enough to move people again.

Stores ignored it.
Critics dismissed it.
He kept building anyway.

Because he wasn’t chasing applause.
He was chasing motion.

Then came the breakthrough…

The Super Cub.
Light. Reliable. Unbreakable.
The bike that took Japan and then the world by storm.

A simple motorbike became a $100B legacy.
Not because it was glamorous.
Because he refused to stop when everything told him to.

Here’s the truth:

👉 He didn’t need perfect conditions: he needed one more rebuild.
👉 He wasn’t chasing status: he was chasing solutions.
👉 He proved what most innovators forget:
Small beginnings + relentless persistence beat rejection every time.

Toyota turned him down.
Life knocked him down.
But he got back up again and again until the world couldn’t ignore him.

The ones who win?
They rise after failure.
They create after chaos.
They build when everyone else quits.

Because billion-dollar stories don’t start with luck
they start with someone who refuses to give up.
#scalingup #founder #CEO #boston

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s the truth:

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

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

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

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

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

#scalingup #growth #ceo #bostonfounders

He went to Texas to buy a bank.
He walked out owning a hotel.

Most people would’ve gone home.

Conrad Hilton didn’t.

1919. Cisco, Texas.
Oil boom town. 
Money everywhere.

Hilton arrived with $40,000 and one clear plan.

Buy the local bank.
That was the dream.

He studied the deal for months.
Location checked out.
Customers were guaranteed.

Then the last meeting happened.
The owner doubled the price.
Take it or leave it.

Hilton left. Furious.
Plan A was dead.

That night, he needed a bed.
The only option was the Mobley Hotel.
40 rooms. Run down. Forgettable.

But something didn’t add up.

Every room was full.
Not just full.
Overfull.

Beds were rented in 8-hour shifts.
Same room. Three guests a day.

It wasn’t pretty.
But it worked.

The owner wanted out.
“I’m chasing oil,” he said.

Hilton didn’t see a bad hotel.
He saw demand screaming for supply.

So he did the unthinkable.
He spent his banking money on beds.

$40,000.
Deal closed.

A banker became a hotelier by accident.

He rebuilt everything with one rule.
Minimum cost. Maximum comfort.
Every square foot had to earn.

Profits bought the next hotel.
Then another.
Then another.

Banking faded away.
Hospitality took over.

Years later, he bought the Waldorf Astoria.
From a 40-room flophouse
to the most iconic hotel in the world.

Today?
7,000+ Hilton hotels globally.

Here’s the real lesson:

👉 The rejection wasn’t a setback. It was a redirect.
👉 The failure wasn’t the end. It was the entry point.
👉 He didn’t find his calling by planning harder. He found it by paying attention.

Most people quit when the plan breaks.
Builders look around and ask,
''What’s working?''

Sometimes the wrong deal saves your life.
Sometimes Plan B builds the empire.

Because the stories we admire don’t start with perfect plans
they start with someone who refuses to walk away empty-handed.

#entrepreneurship #founder #businessstories #resilience #scalingup

Security Verification | LinkedIn

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And that decision changed their entire valuation trajectory.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#CFOInsights #Leadership #Strategy #Scalingup

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

But Steve Jobs didn’t stop.

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

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

Here’s the thing:

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

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

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

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

#scalingup  #growth #ceo

Steve Jobs

He built pole barns to pay for college.

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

Most people call that luck.

I call it financial discipline.

He opened a small lumber yard in 1964…

Kept prices rock-bottom by building his own factories…

And built every store with cash, not debt.

No investors. No loans. No noise.

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

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

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

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

Today?

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

The lesson?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Except Debbie.

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

That's it. 

That's the difference between winners and everyone else.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Don't sit in the room wishing. 

Be Debbie.

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

Most people think scaling a business is about speed.

Jeff Bezos once reflected on Warren Buffett’s approach and said the real reason it isn’t copied more often is simple: it’s slow.

Not because it’s complicated, but because most people aren’t willing to wait.

Scaling, growing profits, and building something lasting work the same way.

It’s about thinking 7 years ahead instead of 3.

It’s about delaying gratification when everyone else is chasing quick wins.

It’s about obsessing over operational excellence and the tiny details nobody else notices.

It’s about doing the hard things quietly, consistently, and with pride.

That discipline?
That patience?
That’s the real unfair advantage.

Fast growth might make headlines, but slow, intentional scaling builds businesses that last and profit sustainably.

I help founders and leaders harness that mindset, turn operational excellence into financial clarity, and scale profits with impact.

🔗 Start scaling with impact: https://lnkd.in/epcnGuXE

#ceo #founders #scalingup #growth

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

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

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

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

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

#scalingup #growth #ceo #founder

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#ceo #scalingup #growth #founder

No alternative text description for this image

Most founders grind hard for years… and never hit $10M.

Here’s the brutal truth: it’s not about working harder. It’s about thinking differently.

The founders who scale don’t chase approval. They hunt reality.
They don’t run the machine they build the machine.

They don’t wait for perfect conditions, they turn constraints into leverage.

Scaling isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing the few things that actually move the needle.
It’s about creating systems that work without your mood, decisions that multiply impact, and alignment that accelerates everything.

You can keep grinding, or you can flip the mindset switches that separate founders who stall from founders who explode past $10M.

Which one are you?

#scalingup #founder #ceo

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

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

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

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

10x isn’t harder.

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

Stop playing safe. Start playing big.

I learned this lesson the hard way.

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

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

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

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

Did I accomplish my goal?
NO. 

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

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

And that's the whole point. 

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

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

Want to apply 10x thinking to your finances? 

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

Download the guide; link is in the comments. 

#founder #ceo #growth #scalingup

10X Thinking = 10 X Results

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

Most people would’ve stayed broke.

Dan Gilbert didn’t.

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

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

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

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

Here’s the lesson most people miss:

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

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

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

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

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

#growth #scalingup #entrepreneurship #CEO #execution

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

Most people call that impossible.
I call it vision.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let creators dream.
But keep the business razor sharp.

While tech giants chased disruption…
Arnault chased timelessness.

While others discounted…
He raised value.

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

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

#entrepreneur #growth #businessstrategy #founder #scalingup

Most people obsess over predicting the next 10 years.
Wrong game.

Real builders, real investors, real wealth-creators?
They ask a different question:
“What’s NOT going to change?”

Because the things that never change…
are the things you can compound for decades.

In business AND in finance.

Think about it:
People will ALWAYS want

➡ Lower prices
➡ Faster delivery
➡ Higher value
➡ Better convenience

And most importantly…experiences.

And in finance, the same truths hold:

✅ People will always chase returns
✅ Risk will always exist
✅ Cashflow will always matter
✅ Compounding will always win
✅ Discipline will always outperform prediction

No one in 2035 is saying:
“Please increase my fees.”
“Give me slower growth.”
“Charge me higher interest.”
“Help me stay at home so I don’t connect with others”

Not happening.

You don’t get rich predicting trends.
You get rich betting on constants…
and repeating the same right actions for years.

Business rewards consistency.
Finance rewards patience.
Both reward those who stop guessing and start executing.

Find the truths that never change
and go all-in until the rest of the market wakes up.

#scalingup #ceo #growth #founder

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

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

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

Here's what I've learned:

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

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

That's Event Profit Engine.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Strategic. Intentional. Partnerships that lead to revenue.

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

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

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

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

Here's my Black Friday deal for you:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Every business grows until it hits a constraint.

Then it grows no further.

I just hit mine.

Here's how I'm breaking through in 2026:

Brought on Diego Bravo as COO—20+ years of finance and ops leadership across Latin America. I see the blind spots. He builds the systems.

Speaking at Event Profit Engine in Austin (Dec 10-12). 200 founders. Real deal flow. I have 4 tickets left at $1K (normally $4K).

Launching the CEO Financial Intelligence OS in January. 15 spots. First cohort.

Building Alex—an AI-powered CFO copilot that answers "can I afford this AND hit my next milestone?" in seconds.

Leaders go first.

Full breakdown → link in comments.

#scalingup #ceo #founder #growth

Every business grows until it hits a constraint. Then it grows no further—until you remove that constraint. I've been thinking about this a lot lately

Open article: The Three Moves That Change Everything by Cruz Gamboa • 4 min read

taplio

The Battle

Steve Taplin

Cruz Gamboa

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Performance ScoreCruz Gamboa's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Steve Taplin

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);}Steve Taplin's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreCruz Gamboa's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreSteve Taplin's LinkedIn Performance