Discterra

Executive Advisor | Strategic Thought Partner

Where others see operational problems, I see exit obstacles.

Every founder faces the same moment: realizing what got you here won't get you there.

For funded founders with early traction:
Just raised capital? Starting to scale? 
Now's when bad habits become permanent problems.
I help you build infrastructure for an 8 and 9 figure exit while you're still at $1M revenue. 
Think 10 steps ahead or pay for it later.

For leaders hitting the plateau:
Stuck at $3M? $10M? $25M? 
The number doesn't matter - the ceiling does. 
When growth stalls and everything runs through you, you've built a job, not an asset. 
I help you break through by building what buyers actually want.

For those eyeing the exit door:
3 years out or 3 months out, every decision now impacts your multiple. 
Most founders leave millions on the table through preventable mistakes. 
I help you see what buyers see - and fix what kills deals.

What I bring to each stage:
• Pattern recognition from 200+ deals
• The uncomfortable truths your team won't tell you
• Multi-exit experience across 4 continents
• Clarity on what actually drives valuations

How we work:
No templates. No theory. 
Just founder-to-founder strategic thinking that protects your future options.

The reality check:
Your business is either becoming more valuable or less valuable.
Every decision compounds.
Every delay costs money.

The best exit strategy isn't an event - it's every decision you make today.

Founder

G.B.I S.A

Strategic executive leader for Costa Rican companies in mining, hospitality, and wellness sectors.
Led mining operations refurbishment, implemented mineral processing pilot testing, and negotiated critical financial restructuring. 
Managed complex regulatory compliance, including environmental assessments and NI 43-101 documentation.
Leverage multilingual capabilities to bridge international stakeholder relationships and optimize business performance across diverse industries and cultural contexts.

FRACTIONAL CEO/CFO

Family Office - Private Equity

Directed strategic business development across automotive, technology, and energy sectors.
Led Euro 6 homologation for imported buses and light duty vehicles. Secured  import rights and negotiated exclusive distribution agreements for EV charging stations.
Evaluated 200+ emerging technology companies, registered chemistry patent, and mentored tech startups. 
Built international energy consortium while facilitating strategic acquisitions in hospitality, mining, security systems, and munitions management technology. 
Specialized in cross-border deal structuring and technology valuation across four continents.

VP BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND ACQUISITIONS

UCLAB INC

Founded and scaled digital imaging enterprise specializing in high-volume processing technologies. Developed proprietary software for image management and data integration across global operations. 
Expanded business to three continents, creating standardized workflows for international teams. Pioneered digital transformation solutions for industry-specific challenges when market alternatives didn't exist. 
Built resilient operational infrastructure supporting cross-border production capabilities, ultimately achieving successful business exit.

President

Spearheaded company's strategic transition from optical to digital workflow technologies.
Led research teams developing innovative solutions for image processing automation and digital asset management. 
Pioneered industry-specific software when market solutions were unavailable. 
Established technical standards for cross-platform integration and directed implementation across multiple international markets. 
Created foundation for digital workflow technologies that transformed industry practices for high-volume image processing and management.

VP of Technology

Noov Design

Co-founded innovative design company specializing in premium tech and photography accessories

Directed development of fashion-forward carrying solutions blending contemporary style with everyday functionality

Led creation of unique product collections for global distribution through select retail partnerships

Managed private label design projects, translating client requirements into market-ready accessory solutions

Collaborated with international creative team to establish signature aesthetic across all product lines

Co-Founder

Building Companies Buyers Fight Over | BUYER Method: Think Like a Buyer From Day One | 4x Exit Founder, 200+ Deals | Build to Sell, Never Have To

I help founders redesign their businesses to run without them, so they can create freedom now and options later.

Most companies only work because the founder does.
I know, because I’ve been there.

✅ Built & exited 4 companies across industries and continents
✅ 35+ years as founder, operator, investor
✅ Sat on the buy-side of PE, analyzing 200+ deals

And I kept seeing the same painful pattern:
Brilliant founders. Impressive revenue.
Crushed valuations because the business depended on them.

That’s why I created The Exit Mindset.
Not a finish line. An operating system.
It’s how you build freedom, sanity, and value from day one.

✨ Think like a buyer (The BUYER Method)
✨ Escape daily dependence without losing control
✨ Install systems & teams that create freedom and value
✨ Command premium valuations, not discounts

Because buyers don’t pay for hustle.
They pay for businesses that don’t need it.

Here’s what this actually means for you: 
• A business that runs without you 
• Options to sell, keep, or step back 
• More freedom today, more valuation tomorrow

How we can work together
My FREE newsletter: The Founder’s Paradox - A weekly letter on creating freedom and value without the grind. https://fromday1.beehiiv.com/
My FREE mini Bottleneck Audit - pinpoint what’s keeping you trapped
My 90-Day Freedom Sprint - step back without your company falling apart
My Exit Mindset Transformation Program - 6 months to a business that thrives without you

I’ve lived both sides:
✔ 80-hour weeks that didn’t add value
✔ 30-hour weeks that sold for a premium
✔ Buyer meetings where millions were left on the table

All preventable with the right mindset and systems.

If you’re ready to jump off the hamster wheel, book a Clarity Call with me here: 
https://tidycal.com/martinwir/30-minute-clarity

My mission: 
Help founders turn chaotic control into clean optionality, so they get freedom now and the exits they deserve later.

The night I found my daughter asleep on my office couch,
I finally understood why buyers pay less for workaholics.

August 2010. 
Last week of summer.
Last chance for a weekday outing before school starts.

Production update launching in 48 hours.
 "Critical" fixes needed. 
Just a quick stop at the office.

Found her curled on my office couch. 
Still in her summer dress. 
Drawing pad on the floor.

She’d sketched two pictures while waiting: 
One showed us at the ice cream shop. 
Another showed daddy at his desk.

That “critical” update? 
Three lines of code. 
Could’ve waited until morning.. 
But I was addicted to being needed.

I carried her to the car. 
Drove straight to the 24-hour diner instead.
Ice cream for dinner at 9 PM. 
She still talks about that night.

After 200+ valuations, the pattern I've seen is clear:

Founders trapped in the business: 2.8x multiple 
Founders with systems and freedom: 5x+ multiple

5 years later when I exited, my buyer told me:
 "We knew you had systems because you had a life."

Those systems - the ones that made me redundant - tripled my valuation. 
But I remember the cost: those lost moments with my family.

The paradox that built my fortune: 
✨ The less your business needs you, the more life gives you.

Which drawing is your kid making tonight?

♻️ Share with a founder who might be choosing work over moments that matter 
🔔 Follow Martin Wirtschafter for truths that multiply

Martin Wirtschafter

Building Companies Buyers Fight Over | BUYER Method: Think Like a Buyer From Day One | 4x Exit Founder, 200+ Deals | Investor

Tuesday morning felt off. 

Eight hours later, I was in a hospital bed.

Conference call at noon. 
Cramps hitting every few minutes. 
Pushed through anyway.

By late afternoon: 
ambulance. First time since 1990.

Diagnosis: 
intestinal obstruction. 
Stomach pump. IV drip. 
Overnight stay.

But here’s what didn’t happen: 
❌ No panicked calls from my team 
❌ No urgent decisions waiting 
❌ No business fires to put out

In 36 hours, one item needed my attention. 
One.

The nurse asked what I did for work. 
“I run several businesses,” I said. 
She looked puzzled. 
"You seem so calm?”

That’s when it hit me.

Most founders would be on their laptop. 
Barking orders from the hospital bed. 
Managing while medicated.

I was scrolling my phone.

Ask yourself: 
If you landed in that hospital bed…
Would you be browsing on your phone?
Or managing from it?

Your answer = your actual valuation.

Because fifteen years ago, this would’ve been different. 
The business would’ve stopped. 
Deals would’ve died. 
The team would’ve frozen.

But exits taught me something: 
Buyers don’t pay for founders who can’t disconnect. 
They pay premiums for businesses that thrive without them.

My systems test? Passed. 
✔️ Every process documented 
✔️ Every decision delegated 
✔️ Every system designed for my absence

The paradox that pays: 
The best time to test your systems is when you can’t. ✨

👉 If you disappeared for 36 hours, would your business lose momentum - or keep creating value?

♻️ Share with a founder who needs this wake-up call
🔔 Follow Martin Wirtschafter for exit truths

Your team doesn't need more training.
They need permission to think.

Tuesday morning.
Second espresso.
7:47am.

Most founders are already firefighting.
I'm on my patio.

This isn't luck.
It's design.

15 years ago, I'd be drowning in "urgent" emails.
Racing between time zones.
Convinced my 80-hour weeks proved value.

Now I know better.

Yes, crises still happen.
But here's what changed:

The trivial fires? Systems handle them.
The medium decisions? My team owns them.
The strategic moves? Those find me here.

Not in a conference room.
Not buried in Slack.
Here. With clarity.

Last week: "URGENT - budget variance needs approval!"
My team knew the answer.
Had the protocol.
Just needed permission to trust themselves.

That's 90% of "urgent" - people who know what to do but won't pull the trigger.

My Tuesday ritual:
- Early morning: Deep work on strategy
- Clear mind, clear priorities
- Never: Operational quicksand

Those "urgent" requests?
90% solve themselves.
8% get handled by process.
2% actually need me.

And that 2%? 
Gets my best thinking.
Not my exhausted reactions.

The math is simple:
High-value decisions need high-quality thinking.
You can't think strategically from inside the tornado.

So while others race through their inbox,
I'm here. 
Second espresso.
Same chair.
Different life.

Your highest value doesn't come from doing more.
It comes from designing systems that do it without you.

The paradox every exit proved:
The less operational you become, the more strategic value you create. ✨

What would you solve with two hours of clarity today?

♻️ Share with a founder drowning in their inbox
🔔 Follow Martin Wirtschafter for exits that multiply

💬 DM me "BUYER" - I'll show you how to reclaim your mornings

If you get hit by a bus, this whole thing dies, doesn’t it?”

My closest childhood friend looked me dead in the eye.
I laughed it off. But that line stuck.

I spent 10 years at the spearhead of breaking technology.

Creating systems for high-volume digital imaging.
Solving problems no one else could touch.
The exhilaration of discovery was my drug.

And it was killing my valuation.

R&D was my identity. My happy place.
Meanwhile, the business funding those breakthroughs?
Neglected. Dependent on me for every decision.

The brutal truth hit me:
I could be a creator of technology.
Or a creator of value.
Not both.

So I pulled myself out.
It felt like cutting off my own arm.

But here's what happened when I let go:
• The team started bringing solutions, not problems
• Innovation happened without my fingerprints
• The business became an asset, not an expensive hobby
  
After 200+ valuations, I keep seeing my old self in founders:

Genius at the craft.
Prisoner in the business.
Building 3x companies when they've got 8x in their hands.

I didn't abandon innovation.
I systematized it - with what became my 𝗕𝗨𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱:

𝗕uild systems, not dependencies
→ Create repeatable processes your team can own

𝗨nderstand what buyers actually value
→ Hint: It's not your code. It's that it runs without you

𝗬ield control to multiply worth
→ Let go of day-to-day, keep the vision

𝗘ngineer your exit from day one
→ Measure decisions made without you

𝗥eplace yourself ruthlessly
→ Hire thinkers, not followers

The raw truth:
Your value isn’t in the work you do.
It’s in building a business that works without you.

The numbers tell the story:
BEFORE: 80% in R&D = lucky to get 3x multiple
AFTER: 20% strategic = 7.2x exit on my terms

The paradox that multiplied my exit:
The less essential you are,
the more valuable you become. ✨

What's your happy place that's killing your valuation?

♻️ Share with a founder addicted to doing instead of building
🔔 Follow → Martin Wirtschafter 

💬 DM me "BUYER" - let's see where you're still in the weeds

27 Exit Truths I Know at 57 (That I Wish I Knew at 27)
Today I turned 57.
On birthdays, most people receive. I prefer to give.

So here's mine to you - with gratitude for another year of purpose:

30 years of hard-earned, battle-tested, exit-proven advice.

Read every word.

𝗢𝗡 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣

1. Fire yourself as CEO before you think you're ready.
   
2. Hire innovators who extend you,
   not executors who copy you.
   
3. Your team doesn't need more training.
   They need permission to think.
   
4. Compassionate clarity > brutal honesty (every time).
   
𝗢𝗡 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞-𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘

5. The less essential you are, 
   the more valuable you become.

6. Vanishing from business = power.
   Vanishing from life = tragedy.

7. Your family needs your presence. 
   Your business needs your absence.

𝗢𝗡 𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗧𝗬

8. Stop saying "my business." 
   Start saying "the business."

9. Your value isn't the work you do,
    it's building what works without you.

10. In boardrooms, you're replaceable.
    In hospital rooms, you're not.

11. Work yourself out of a job to build yourself into wealth.

𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘

12. Friday at 3pm should find you at home, not the office.

13. Monday mornings are for strategy, not firefighting.

14. The fewer mental tabs you run, the more life you live.

15. Your inbox can wait.
    Your daughter's ice cream date can't.

𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗨𝗘

16. Your exhaustion isn't noble. It's a discount.
     80-hour weeks = 3x multiple.
     30-hour weeks = 7.2x exit.

17. Every task only you can do slashes 20% off your valuation.

18. Complex businesses sell for half. 
    Simple sells at a premium.

19. Buyers pay for your absence, not your presence.

𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗬𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗦

20. Your team waiting on you isn't loyalty. 
    It's a liability.

21. 90% of "urgent" problems disappear,
    when you stop micromanaging.

22. Weekend emails don't prove dedication. 
    They prove broken systems.

23. If getting hit by a bus kills your company, 
    you built a job, not a business.

𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗚𝗬

24. Your best decisions happen when you disconnect,
    not when you double down.
    
25. Distance gives you vision. Proximity gives you noise.
    
26. A quiet neighbourhood café beats a boardroom - every time.
    
27. Your “zone of genius” might be overvalued. 
    Mine was R&D. It blinded me to what buyers valued.

I've built and exited four companies.
Here's the one truth I'd stake it all on:

The less your business needs you, the more it's worth.

To help other founders reach that same freedom, I developed a simple framework I call the BUYER Method:

𝗕uild systems, not dependencies
𝗨nderstand what buyers actually value
𝗬ield control to multiply worth
𝗘ngineer your exit from day one
𝗥eplace yourself ruthlessly

It's how I turned my exits into freedom and help others do the same.

Know a founder who needs this? 
Share it with them.
It might save them 10 years - and millions.

Fresh out of the hospital this week.
IV bruise still on my arm.
My 25-year-old daughter sits across from me.

"Dad, why do you work so hard to not work?"

She'd watched me build four companies. 
Exit them all. 
Create systems designed to make me optional.

And there I was, in a hospital bed.
The businesses running without me.
Just like I'd designed.

But her question cut deeper.

We spend decades engineering our own irrelevance.
Call it freedom. Call it systems. Call it smart.

Yet when that ambulance came Tuesday, know what mattered?
Not the systems that ran without me.
But the daughter who came to visit me.

The math we teach:
Scale.
Exit.
Disappear.

The math that matters:
Scale your life.
Build to live.
Systematize so you can show up where it counts.

My daughter gets it at 25.
Took me four exits to learn.

The paradox she exposed:
Work hard to not work.
Not to disappear.
But to appear where you're irreplaceable.

In boardrooms, you're optional.
In hospital rooms, you're not.

In business, vanishing is power.
In life, vanishing is tragedy.
Choose wisely. ✨

♻️ Share with a founder who needs this reminder
🔔 Follow Martin Wirtschafter for wisdom beyond the boardroom

7 Founder Truths That Cost Me Millions to Learn
Every founder pays tuition. 
Mine cost millions.

1️⃣ 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗵𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲. 
In my first company, I wore 80-hour weeks like a badge. 
Buyers saw it as a liability. 
80-hour weeks = 3x multiple. 
30-hour weeks = 7.2x exit.

2️⃣ 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗴, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.
 I collapsed on a couch in my Nanjing office. 
My team stood frozen, waiting for me to decide.
 That’s when I realized: I wasn’t leading. I was bottlenecking.

3️⃣ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗽𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂 - 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂.
 I lost $8M hiring executors who could mimic, instead of innovators who could multiply.

4️⃣ 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 “𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹” 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁. 
Hard truth: 
 • 90% solve themselves
 • 8% are handled by process
 • Only 2% actually need you

5️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳. 
I stripped my manufacturing company to the essentials. 
The buyer called it “exceptional.”
Simple sells. Complexity discounts.

6️⃣ 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲.
 My happy place was 10 years in R&D.
 Then a friend looked me in the eye:
 “If you get hit by a bus, this whole thing dies, doesn’t it?”
 I laughed. Then I realized he was right.

7️⃣ 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗼𝘀. 
Every major exit decision I’ve made happened OUTSIDE the office.

After 4 exits, I learned the paradox that built my wealth:
The less your business needs you, the more it’s worth.✨

That’s why I created the 𝗕𝗨𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱:
 𝗕uild systems, not dependencies 
 𝗨nderstand what buyers actually value 
 𝗬ield control to multiply worth 
 𝗘ngineer your exit from day one 
 𝗥eplace yourself ruthlessly

Which of these truths are you still paying tuition on? 
Let’s stop the bleeding.

♻️ Share this with a founder still stuck in the weeds
🔔 Follow me Martin Wirtschafter for exit wisdom & founder freedom 

💬 DM me “𝗘𝗫𝗜𝗧” - let’s uncover together what’s costing you millions

For years, I watched brilliant founders settle for 3x valuations when they deserved 8x.

Same revenue. Same market. Half the price.

The difference? Where they spent their time.

After 200+ valuations, the pattern is undeniable:

Founders working IN the business: 3x multiple
Founders thinking ABOUT the business: 8x multiple

I discovered this 15 years ago.
In my Nanjing office.
On a couch.

Just landed from Montreal. Bangalore next week.
80-hour weeks across 3 time zones.
Collapsed on the couch - too jet-lagged to make it to my hotel.

My entire team waiting.
Decisions piling up.
And there I was - horizontal on a couch.

"Is this the version of the leader I want to be?"

That night I asked myself:
"If something happened to me tomorrow, what happens to all this?"

The answer terrified me.

So I created what became the BUYER Method.
Stripped my involvement to bare necessity.
Built systems that could function without me.
Turned myself from operator into architect.

The transformation:
80 hours → 30 hours
3 time zones → 1 location  
Headed for 3x → Sold for 7.2x

When I got into private equity, I saw it everywhere:

Brilliant founders. Working their 80-hour weeks.
Building 8x businesses. Operating like 3x founders.

The tragedy?
They thought dedication was their value.
It slashed their price in half.

Every task you won't delegate costs millions.
Every meeting you shouldn't attend shrinks your multiple.

Here's the math buyers run:
Your presence is overhead.
Your absence is an asset.

Now I help founders see these blind spots before buyers exploit them.

Because you're already building 8x value.
You're just operating it like a 3x business.

The paradox that multiplies wealth:
The less operational you become, the more valuable you are. ✨

Which timezone are you still trapped in?

♻️ Share with a founder who needs to wake up from their operational coma
🔔 Follow Martin Wirtschafter for exits that multiply

💬 DM me "BUYER" - I'll show you where you're leaving millions on the table

37 browser tabs open.
Beach ball spinning.
Everything frozen.

That's not just your computer.
That's your business.

I discovered this managing my teams across 3 continents.
Montreal. Nanjing. Bangalore.
Every timezone adding multiple tabs.

Follow all the expert advice?
More tabs.
Implement every strategy?
More spinning.
Try every tool?
Complete freeze.

The hamster wheel of "more."

Then last Tuesday morning brought it all back.
Nothing loaded.
Not the business. Not me.

The fix wasn't more RAM.
It was ruthless deletion.

Nothing like a hospital bed to teach you this:
Every tab costs you.
Not just speed. Life.

That Tuesday in the ambulance?
37 tabs became 1.

Just one: 
staying present, calm, focused on making it through.

Because when you're strapped to a gurney, you discover how few actions you actually have.

Now every move is deliberate.
Calculated for maximum impact.
The fewest actions. The highest results.

The ambulance ride validated why I built a method exactly for these moments:
The task that lives only in your brain?
That's your bottleneck.
That's your discount.
That's your time thief.

That's why I had created the BUYER Method:

𝗕uild systems, not dependencies
→ If it only works in your head, it doesn't work

𝗨nderstand what buyers actually value
→ They pay for simplicity, not complexity

𝗬ield control to multiply worth
→ Let go of the small to gain the big

𝗘ngineer your exit from day one
→ Design everything to work without you

𝗥eplace yourself ruthlessly
→ Turn your brain into systems others can run

Now I spend my time on two things:
Finding the best system.
Finding the best way to communicate it.

So the task doesn't remain trapped in my brain.
So I don't remain trapped in the business.

Because buyers know:
Your 37 open tabs = their future headache.

The paradox that multiplied my exit:
The fewer tabs you run, the more life you live. ✨

How many tabs are stealing your oxygen?

♻️ Share with a founder who needs this wake-up call
🔔 Follow Martin Wirtschafter for wisdom beyond the boardroom

Which Of Your Tabs is Stealing Your Oxygen?

Yesterday was my birthday. 

And like every Wednesday, I fired myself from one task.

It’s a ritual I started before my last exit.
Every week, I ask:
👉 “What am I still doing that someone else should be doing?”

But yesterday hit differently.

Instead of just asking what I’m firing myself from, 
I asked:

👉 “What am I firing myself from this year?” 
👉 “And what am I choosing to take on instead?”

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜’𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗼 𝗼𝗳:
✅ Getting dragged into the day-to-day 
✅ Being busy instead of being intentional
✅ Playing small with my time

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜’𝗺 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻: 
✅ Mentoring the next generation of founders 
✅ Helping them grow from 7 → 8 figures and beyond 
✅ Turning 7-figure chaos into long-term clarity

Because I’ve noticed a pattern.

A lot of the 1st and 2nd-time founders I meet?

They’re brilliant. 
Creative. Fast. Fearless.

They spot trends faster than most can GPT them. 
Three new ideas before lunch. 
Half a product flow in Miro. 
Already posting about it on X or LinkedIn.

They call it “ADHD”. 
I call it raw founder genius that’s quietly worried it’s all held together by instinct.

Because when I ask: 
“What’s the long game?” Most can’t answer.

They build fast, but fragile. 
And when the wind blows? 
The whole thing falls apart.

Because they’re building momentum with no map. 
Fast as hell. But headed nowhere scalable.

Not because they’re bad founders. 
But because no one ever taught them how to scale with intention.

This year, I’m taking on a new challenge:

✅ Select a handful of high-potential founders 
✅ Fill in the strategic gaps 
✅ Help them grow from 7 to 8 figures and beyond

Not by moving faster. 
But by building stronger.

Scaling isn’t about doing more. 
It’s about doing less, with more leverage.

If this is you, I want to hear from you:

✅ Running a 7-figure business, or on track to hit it in Q4 ‘25
✅ Profitable
✅ Hungry to learn and willing to hear it as it is 
✅ Driven by a purpose bigger than “just being successful”

If that hit home, 
DM me, introduce yourself, and let’s see if you’ve got what it takes to make the cut.

You know a founder like this? Share this with them.

They called me "the polite Canadian."
So I overcorrected.

Polite but firm → Abrasive and short.
Probably one of the toughest skill shifts I've ever had to make.

For a while, it worked.
In a world of high-stakes deals, where propriety took a back seat to verbal flex, directness was respected.
Being politically correct had no place.

That's when the line from A Few Good Men came to mind:
"You can't handle the truth!"

Brutal honesty felt like leadership.
But soon I learned: it was also a liability.

Then came the acquisitions.
New continent. New language. New way of working.
A culture that couldn't handle "abrasive and short."

Let's just say it took me a few weeks to acclimatize.
And I ruffled more than a few feathers along the way.

The people who needed to go? They went.
But I also lost people I desperately needed to keep.
Fighting their mañana tendencies with Private Equity urgency for results…
My abrasiveness met their passive resistance.

By week three, integration was failing.

At 3am, I remember thinking:
"Have I lost my cultural intelligence and blown this deal? Bulldozing through won't get us results here."
I wrestled with that for quite a while.

That's when it hit me:
If you only know how to deliver truth one way, you're not a leader.
You're a liability.

The skill isn't brutal honesty.
The skill is compassionate clarity.

Here's how I learned to deliver it:

1️⃣ 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀.
"We're 3 weeks behind on integration milestones."

2️⃣ 𝗧𝗶𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀.
"This delay risks our Q4 launch."

3️⃣ 𝗔𝘀𝗸, 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲.
"What's the real blocker here?"

4️⃣ 𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳.
"I've seen you solve harder problems."

The results:
• That failing integration turned profitable in 6 months
• The team surfaced problems early instead of hiding them
• The gentler I got, the harder they worked

The paradox:
👉 The clearer AND kinder you are, the faster people run with you.

What's the hardest feedback you've ever had to give?

♻️ Share with a founder who needs to balance truth with trust
🔔 Follow Martin Wirtschafter for exit truths that multiply

💬 DM me "TRUTH" - let's master compassionate clarity together

Taplio

Martin Wirtschafter's Linkedin Analytics

's Best Posts (last 30 days)

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

Taplio

.css-1jgreyo{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39,43,72,1) 0%, rgba(33,47,183,1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Martin Wirtschafter's Linkedin Analytics

's Best Posts .css-qqfgvy{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);}(last 30 days)

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

Martin Wirtschafter's Linkedin Analytics

's Best Posts (last 30 days)