Alper Yurder 🤝

Co-founder & CRO of Flowla, interactive deal rooms your buyers LOVE 👉 Follow our podcast #salestherapy by Flowla 🎙️ on spotify

I’m a former B2B SaaS founder with 10+ years of experience in sales, marketing, and go-to-market strategy.

I’ve built and scaled startups through the seed-to-Series A journey raising VC funding, leading sales teams, and turning unknown products into trusted brands.

Today, I work as a fractional CRO & CMO, helping B2B founders design and execute their go-to-market systems from message-market fit to scalable revenue.

I act as the founder’s right hand to:

- Build GTM strategy, positioning, and demand generation
- Turn your brand from unknown to known through founder-led content and sales
- Install repeatable sales and marketing systems that actually drive revenue

Alongside my client work, I advise and mentor founders at accelerators and VC programs across Europe, and lecture on founder-led growth and GTM strategy.

If you’ve built a great product but the market doesn’t quite see it yet or if you feel your growth stalled and can use some support, I help make it seen, understood, and bought.

👉 Feel free to DM me if you’d like to chat about your GTM or sales strategy.

Co-Founder

Hey there, I'm an ex-sales leader turned co-founder, and I spend all day sharing ideas, solving problems and having #salestherapy with sales professionals from every sector and level. If you're after sales and G2M advice, you've come to the right place! And believe me, I've been through it all - from building SDR teams to closing multi-million dollar deals and everything in between. So, let's have some fun and chat sales!

🙌 I'm a big fan of Gamma (AI presentation builder that hit $50M ARR in 2 years), so when HubSpot For Startups invited me to hear founder Grant speak, I cleared my calendar. One of the best events I've been lately. Key GTM insights below 👇

---

👉 **The state of B2B SaaS investing**

AI funding VC Panel with Sitar Teli (Connect), Luke Smith (Molten), Will Wells:

Sitar: "We look for 70-80% margins in B2B SaaS. But with founders building on existing platforms, we're seeing 10-20% instead."

The democratization of building has a trade-off - easier to ship, but unit economics under pressure.

Luke: "At Series A, we need at least one founder who deeply understands the customer. That's where defensibility lives."

Will's focus on European deeptech: neo computing, AI inference challenging Nvidia, foundational businesses in defense and space.

Europe's deeptech moment feels real.

---

👉 **What's changing for technical founders**

The commercial co-founder requirement is softening.

VCs increasingly back product founders who partner with experienced operators early, then build commercial teams later.

The bar: Deep product understanding + customer empathy.

GTM can be layered on. Product vision can't be outsourced.

---

👉 **AI agents are here**

HubSpot's new Breeze AI agents: prospecting, content generation, customer service.

What stood out: truly contextual outreach beyond templates.

We're past "AI tools." We're entering "AI agents that execute workflows."

---

👉 **Building AI unicorns** (Husayn Kassai, Onfido)

His framework: 6-12-18 max team for speed.

Culture: "How are decisions made when you're not in the room?"

Product-led growth as foundation.

---

👉 **Product always wins** (Grant Lee, Gamma)

"If people aren't talking about your product organically... you're in trouble."

This resonated deeply from our Flowla journey.

When product hits home, you scale to $50M ARR in 2 years like Gamma did.

I've seen founders try to scale without organic pull. It never works.

Marketing amplifies what exists. It can't create something from nothing.

When PMF is real, GTM pours fuel on fire.

When it's not, GTM is expensive noise.

---

Two days of high-signal conversations with investors, founders, and operators.

Grateful to be part of these discussions.

Many thanks to Anna Gordon and HubSpot For Startups for curating such a strong lineup and for the invitation. Great inspiration for my upcoming workshops and speaking events! And why looking so serious in the pic Richard Lee 😉

Alper Yurder

Founder at Forte | We build scalable GTM systems for B2B startups with founder brand, AI-led inbound-outbound and scalable sales process | Exited B2B SaaS Founder | Angel Investor | Fractional GTM leader to +20 startups

🙂 Great pleasure being with the founders of Tenitys latest cohort last week for the series of Sales Masterclasses. We workshopped on founder brand, how to grow on LinkedIn, finding scalable growth loops, and building trust with early customers to get to your first 100.

these are late-seed and pre-Series A founders - making the move from £500K or £1M ARR to what's beyond, and figuring a scalable growth loop! love it!

And honestly? The challenges are similar to what I see in general:

"How do I make this repeatable?"
"How do I build trust with new clients fast?"
"How do I get more visibility without spending millions?

---

We went through real examples from founders in the room and I gave examples from recent work on building trust, expanding beyond first network and trying different gtm motions such as:

-> building trust for a fintech app through private dinners with CFOs, one is a happy customer, let them evangelize you in a private setting,

-> Another is an edtech - now truly beyond founder-led sales so doing paid search, retargeting, and cold calls all at once in a sequence that makes sense.

Each founder's business is unique.

But there's still a playbook 👇

Finding and recording signs of:
→ Faster sales cycles (who closes in 2 weeks vs 2 months?)
→ Good ICP fit (who converts easily vs who ghosts you?)
→ The one scalable motion that's unique to YOUR business

Then doubling down on what works for you.

---

Always a pleasure working with founders who are in the thick of it, building real businesses.

Thanks for having me Tenity 🙌 

And special thanks to Eda Taskin, Wiktoria (Victoria) Przybylska, and the team for organizing. And great pleasure to meet Mehnaaz Maleta who're doing wonderful work helping create the new Nordic unicorns! Looking forward to collabing more on that too...

---

👉 If you're a founder cracking these things right now (£500K-£2M ARR, trying to make founder-led sales repeatable) - DM me, happy to share my playbooks and presentations from these events

👉 If you're a VC or accelerator looking for someone who's actually built this to share real practical tips with your portfolio - hit me up too.

✈️ Many are heading to Slush and wanted to drop my real-talk GTM stack before wheels up for you to up your GTM game on the go.

These aren't bookmarks I never opened. These are resources that actually built my knowledge on sales, AI workflows, and founder-led growth.

Playbooks & Books That Moved the Needle:
- SaaStock sessions with Adam Robinson, zero fluff, all systems
- Balderton's B2B Sales Guide, best advice for technical founders
- Predictable Revenue, still the outbound essentials
- The Qualified Sales Leader by John McMahon, hire sales or close deals better
- Founder Brand by Dave Gerhardt, your personal brand IS your GTM 
- Series A Benchmarking Report, know your numbers before you raise

Podcasts Worth the Flight:
- 20VC, Harry Stebbings bringing founder + investor truth weekly
- Lenny's Podcast: product, growth, GTM from operators who've done it
- Balderton Podcast: European founder focus
- Startup Sales: Adam Springer's early-stage B2B playbook
- How I Built This: for when you need founder energy
- My own "Sales Therapy": shameless plug but listeners say it helps

GTM + AI Stack I'm Using Now:
-Brian Balfour's essays, growth loops + systems thinking
-Holloway's GTM Playbook, comprehensive, not surface-level
-My AI workflow: Fathom → Claude → 10 LinkedIn posts per sales call (will share the prompts soon)

Tools I actually use: Clay, Gamma, Napkin, Replit, Claude (enterprise version is fire!) Relevance.ai tests, Empler.ai, Ujji.ai

Founders/Operators I Follow:
davegerhardt - founder brand + content harrystebbings — founder + VC mindset 
pierreherubel - B2B positioning frameworks
justinkan - raw founder perspective 
lennysan - product-led growth 
alexgarcia - distribution tactics
and me (obviously) - sharing how I help founders build systems starting with their own founder brand -> trust building -> linkedin -> outbound -> sales process -> inbound engine -> scale creator marketing and referrals

Drop a 🔥 if you find this useful!

💪 I'm always in awe of technical founders who hit £1-2M ARR with almost no marketing. Just pure product. Deep expertise. Word of mouth. Which honestly is gold. But not enough 👇

Yesterday I spoke with a founder who:
- Built IoT security for 20M devices
- Grew to £1M+ ARR in 14 months  
- Has only ONE salesperson
- Posts on LinkedIn "only when there's really valuable content"

Here's what always happens at this stage

👉 The Pattern:

→ Revenue plateaus around £1.5M
→ Sales is 100% founder-led (doesn't scale)  
→ Pipeline is unpredictable
→ Competitors with worse products but better marketing start winning

👉 The breakthrough isn't working harder

It's adding structure to what already works

If you're at £1-2M ARR with minimal GTM, here's what to fix:

1️⃣ Document your customer language

Interview 5 customers: "How did you describe us internally?"

That's your messaging. Not your features.

2️⃣ Make the founder visible

You close deals in the room. Get in more rooms.

LinkedIn: 2 posts/week sharing what you see in the market + 1 for credibility and social proof

3️⃣ Create repeatable outbound

You've proven the product works. Now prove you can find customers systematically.

Target → Message → Test → Scale 

Record tests somewhere, review every month to hit message-market fit

4️⃣ Build forecastable pipeline

Stop hoping referrals arrive. Build a system that generates 20 qualified conversations/month. Either an inbound engine with a content hire,

AIO, founder brand

or trust building activities like webinars and private dinners

---

👉 The founders who scale past £2M don't have better products

✅ They have better distribution

You've done the hard part (building something people need)

Now do the uncomfortable part (telling people it exists)

---

DM me "GTM" if you're at this stage and would like a chat - I'll send you the full diagnostic I use with founders.

2X Exits | Built $MM Businesses over 20 years | CEO Coach | Helping founders grow revenue, profit and valuation

20 years ago, if someone had told me that I would run multiple, multi-million dollar companies, simultaneously, I would have laughed. But here I am.

Over the last 2 decades, I’ve built 2 multi-million-dollar ARR companies and led them to successful exits.

Was it easy? Hell, no.

My transition from an Engineer to an Entrepreneur was hard. 
Being good at our craft and good in business are 2 very different things.

Tejora Technologies was my flagship; I built it to over 200 employees and 30+ clients across the US, UAE, and India, and profitably exited in 2022.

Our systems and strategies enabled me to unlock its value when I was ready to exit. 
I could secure a full buyout and walk away in 3 months because it was built to be cash-rich and founder-free.

In 2007, while growing Tejora, launched Elixir Fitness, diving headfirst into the retail sector. Double the challenges and double the learning. 
 
Successfully exited Elixir Fitness in 2012 to focus fully on Tejora. 
Biggest takeaway? Building and selling a business is an art and a science.

Now, in my 3rd venture —I help founders do the same:

Build businesses that generate profit — and become buyer/investor-ready.

Wealth creation is at the center of everything I do.

Working together, we will: 
- Scale the business in ways that increase enterprise value
- Build a team that can run without you
- Create clarity that successors can trust, and buyers will pay for.

After all, businesses aren’t sold. They’re bought.

So —here are 4 ways I can help you build an Exit Ready business.

1) CEO Coaching & Advisory: 
Work with me 1:1 to increase revenue/profit, maximize valuation, and make your business attractive to buyers or successors.

Book a Free Clarity Call: https://topmate.io/surabhishenoy/1314664

2) Subscribe to My Newsletter — CEO Mastery
Every Thursday, I share actionable strategies on scaling and valuation. This is my best content — and it’s free.

Subscribe Now: https://surabhishenoy.com/newsletter-subscribe/

3) Take My Course — Founder’s Freedom Blueprint
The first condition of any exit? Your business must run without you.
FFB helps you get there — with systems, delegation, and founder freedom.

Get it here: learn.surabhishenoy.com

4) Follow me here on LinkedIn for tips throughout the week.

To know more about me and my story, please visit: https://surabhishenoy.com/from-engineer-to-ceo-to-ceo-coach/

Thank you for being here,

Best, 
Surabhi

Surabhi Shenoy

Control felt safe.

Until it didn’t.

For years, I called it “being a hands-on founder.”
First in.
Last out.
Every call.
Every decision.

It looked like commitment.
But it was 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳.

Fear of dropping the ball.
Fear of being judged.
Fear that if I let go, everything would fall apart.

My wake-up moment came after yet another 15hr day.
I wasn’t leading. I was gripping.

And gripping is not growth. It’s survival.

So I changed my operating style.
I delegated from clarity, not panic.
I built systems instead of heroics.
I worked from design, not fear.

That shift didn’t just change my companies.
It changed me.

If this hit home, you’ll love my newsletter — 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆.

2300+ ambitious Founders read it every week.

Join here: https://lnkd.in/d5BWB_Cx

Every Thursday, get 1 sharp one sharp, actionable system to help you 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.

🎁 BONUS: Read To Lead: 30 Books Every Founder Must Read.

And if you’re still reading this…
maybe it’s time to loosen the grip a little.

Your business doesn’t grow because you hold on harder.
It grows because you design it to.

In my Tech company, salaries were our biggest expense.

Every month, I would stare at the P&L and think:
“If we can optimize this one line…our entire bottom line will improve.”

But how do you do that
- when salaries only go up,
- talent is scarce,
- and clients want better outcomes at lower cost?

Here’s what we did...
(Save this if you’re scaling a services business in 2026)

12 levers to optimize your salary costs:

1. 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗳𝘆 every role as revenue‑producing, revenue‑enabling, or overhead, and review the mix quarterly.

2. 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 cost per engineer per month, per billable day, and per key output (story point, feature, project).

3. 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 utilization, blended rate, and gross margin for each team and major client, not just at company level.

4. 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 clear salary bands and promotion criteria so raises follow level changes, not tenure.

5. 𝗖𝗮𝗽 % of revenue for non-billable roles, and require a business case to exceed it.

6. 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 every engagement bottom up (fully loaded cost + target margin) and enforce hard floor.

7. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝘇𝗲 delivery processes, templates, and technical patterns to juniorize.

8. 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲 a hiring / backfill justification that shows impact on revenue, margin, or a specific constraint being relieved.

9. 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 the fully loaded cost of attrition (recruiting, ramp, discounts, quality risk) and use it in leadership decisions.

10. 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 in a small set of retention levers (growth paths, 1:1s, coaching, sane workload) that are cheaper than constant hiring.

11. 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 a simple monthly cost and margin dashboard to your leadership team and discuss variances and corrective actions.

12. 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 team leads on unit economics and empower them to make local decisions that protect utilization and margins.

Cost control is not frugality.
It’s financial leadership.

The founders who win aren’t the ones who spend less.
They’re the ones who spend deliberately.

If this resonated, then repost. 
Someone in your network needs to start controlling costs today.

And if you want systems like this every week, subscribe to 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿.

2400+ founders already read it. It’s free.

🔗 Click “View my newsletter” above 👆

#CEOMastery #Founders #CostControl

Black-and-white image of Andrew Carnegie sitting with folded hands. Large quote on the left reads: “Control your costs. Control your costs. Control your costs. Gentlemen, control your costs.” The bottom banner shows Surabhi Shenoy’s photo, a call to subscribe to CEO Mastery, and a QR code.

Every big thing starts small. 
A single idea. 
A quiet “let’s see where this goes.”

That’s how CEO Mastery began.

No launch plan. 
No strategy. 
Just a way of thinking clearly about growth — about founders and business.

70 editions later, it’s become something much bigger — 
a space where founders learn to scale with calm, clarity and confidence.

And if there’s one thing I’ve learned in the process, it’s this: 
You don’t chase success. 
You grow into it.

Tomorrow’s edition is a special one — 
a curation of the 𝟳 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 
and a thank-you gift: 30 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥. 🎁

If you lead, build, or dream bigger than before, you’ll want to read this one.

📌𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 so you don’t miss it. 

🔗 Click "View my newsletter" above👆
📲 Or scan the QR code👇

#CEOMastery #Founders  #Growth

He didn’t say, “5GB MP3 player.”

He said, “1000 songs in your pocket.”

That line was Steve Jobs at his best, turning tech into pure feeling.
Not a slogan.

A masterclass in clarity.

Steve Jobs didn’t describe what it was.
He described what it meant.

You could see it.
You could feel it.
You got it instantly.

That’s the power of sticky ideas.
And that’s what 𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 teaches.

A great idea isn’t enough.
It has to spread.
It has to stay.

The Heath brothers found 6 traits behind ideas that stick:
SUCCES (yes, one S)

1. Simple
2. Unexpected
3. Concrete
4. Credible
5. Emotional
6. Story-driven

Most founders miss this.
They sound smart... but forget to make it memorable.

They say:
“We optimize digital workflows for operational scalability.”

When they could say:
“We cut delivery time in half, no extra hires.”

Or:
“We build AI-driven marketing automation systems.”

Instead of:
“We help close 30% more leads, without bigger ad spend.”

Or even:
“We provide leadership coaching.”

Instead of:
“We help leaders escape daily firefighting so that they can focus on growing business.”

See the difference?

One sounds impressive.
The other makes an impression.

If people can’t picture it, they won’t remember it.
And if they don’t remember it, it never happened.

I put together a cheatsheet:
𝟲 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 👇
Built for founders who want their message to spread... to customers, teams, and investors.

Save it.
Use it to clarify your pitch.
Or get your team’s buy-in without the blank stares.

-- 

If you enjoyed this post, 
You’ll love my newsletter: 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 

2300+ ambitious Founders read it every week.

Want in?

🔗 Click "𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿" above 👆
📲 Or scan the QR code in the cheatsheet 👇

Surabhi Shenoy, CEO Coach, shares ‘6 Rules to Make Your Ideas Stick,’ inspired by Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. The visual breaks down the SUCCES framework — Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, and Story-driven — with examples for founders on how to make their message memorable. Designed for entrepreneurs who want to communicate clearly with customers, teams, and investors. Promotes the CEO Mastery newsletter.

Everyone’s chasing speed. 
Very few chase clarity.

But that’s what separates the frantic from the focused.

Charlie Munger knew this decades ago. 

Speed without clarity creates rework.
Decisiveness without reflection creates waste.

He built a billion-dollar clarity by thinking 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 than everyone else— and acting 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 once he knew what mattered.

Last week’s 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 was the concluding part.
I unpacked the final 5 filters from Charlie's playbook:

- How to stay independent when the noise rises.
- How to stay humble when you’re winning.
- How to stay adaptive when everything shifts.

Read it all here: https://lnkd.in/d68wNYVQ

If your decisions feel heavy, or your team keeps “almost” aligning, this edition will hit home.

And if you haven’t yet, 
Subscribe to CEO Mastery now.

2300+ founders read it every week. 

Every Thursday, get 1 sharp, actionable system to increase your revenue, profit, and valuation.

🔗 Click “View my newsletter” above 👆

Surabhi Shenoy, CEO Coach, shares ‘Charlie Munger’s 10 Mental Filters for Founders,’ a framework on decision-making clarity for business leaders. The visual outlines ten principles — Risk, Preparation, Allocation, Patience, Focus, Independence, Intellectual Humility, Analytic Rigor, Decisiveness, and Change — to help founders think slowly, act wisely, and scale sustainably. Designed for entrepreneurs who value clarity over speed and want systems that compound results. Promotes the CEO Mastery newsletter by Surabhi Shenoy.

A $1 million contract.

I knew I had just one shot.

Win it, we leapfrog.
Lose it, we slow down. 

Being an engineer, I was strong technically.
But I wasn’t trained in negotiation.
Or persuasion.
Or high-stakes selling.

I had one week to prepare.
So I turned to the place I always turn when I’m under pressure.

A book.

I picked up 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.
One lesson hit me hard: people decide with emotion first.

So I rebuilt my entire pitch.
I focused less on features.
More on the 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘺.
The 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
The 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 behind their decision.

That shift changed the whole room.
And I walked out with the $1 million deal — giving away a few things in kind. 𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘺.

That $1M deal was just one moment. 
But moments like that stack. 

And almost all of them were shaped by ideas I learned from books.

Books built me. 
They guided me through tough decisions, stressful leadership calls, and every major transition in my career and life.

So I put together my top 30 books...
and the exact business takeaways I’ve applied from each one.

A curated list.
Clear insights.
Real-world applications a founder can use today.

And if you want to build this kind of thinking into your 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘩𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘮, 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆. 

It’s the newsletter I wish existed when I was scaling my first company — one practical mental model, system, or strategy every Thursday.

Subscribe now: https://lnkd.in/d5BWB_Cx

I will send the "𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥" guide along with the next edition of CEO Mastery.

The kind of founder you become depends on the ideas you feed your mind. 

Start today 🚀

♻️ Repost this to help a fellow founder.
🔔 Follow Surabhi Shenoy for daily CEO insights

“Surabhi Shenoy, CEO Coach, introduces Read to Lead — a curated guide of 30 books every founder must read. The animated GIF shows a phone screen and bold text ‘READ TO LEAD,’ inviting founders to sign up for the free guide via QR code. The resource highlights 30 books and 30 business lessons with real-world takeaways that helped Surabhi scale multiple companies. Promotes the CEO Mastery newsletter and founder learning resources.

65% of all startups fail for one reason.

Not because the idea was weak.
Because the founders fight.

Most founders don’t see it early.
The warning signs are quiet.
The damage shows up years later.

I’ve studied partnerships that lasted decades and partnerships that collapsed under pressure.

The gap is clear.

Strong co-founders pass five simple filters long before they build together.

Here are the five that matter:

1/ 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘁 – steady under stress
2/ 𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 – calm when things break
3/ 𝗘𝗴𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 – low drama, high clarity
4/ 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 – same pace, same ambition
5/ 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 – real commitment, real stakes

Founders who pass these filters save years of conflict.
They protect trust, decisions, and momentum.

And these filters show you who someone really is before equity ties you together.

If you’re choosing a co-founder, this week’s newsletter breaks each filter down so you can build safer and scale smoothly.

Read it here > https://lnkd.in/dMX5QUZh

To get more such in-depth insights, subscribe to CEO Mastery now.

2400+ founders read it every week. 

Every Thursday, get 1 sharp, actionable system to increase your revenue, profit, and valuation.

🔗 Click “View my newsletter” above 👆

In last week's CEO Mastery Newsletter, I shared how to choose a co-founder.

Got a reply, “I already got one… it’s not working.”

This is the part most founders never prepare for.

In the early years, urgency holds everything together.
You move fast.
You skip hard talks.
You assume alignment because nothing feels broken.

Then the business grows.
Life grows.
And the cracks you ignored start widening.
Decisions feel heavier.
Small tensions linger longer.
You sense the drift before you can name it.

Here’s the part we rarely admit:
Strong partnerships don’t stay strong by luck.
Something underneath keeps them steady as things get more complex.

in tomorrow's CEO Mastery edition,
I'll share the secret I learned from working with a co-founder for over 20 years.

If you build with a co-founder or want to get one, 
you don’t want to miss this one.

𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝟰 𝗣𝗠 𝗗𝘂𝗯𝗮𝗶 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.

2400+ ambitious Founders read it every week.

Every Thursday, you will get 1 sharp, actionable system to:
✔️ Grow revenue
✔️ Maximize profit
✔️ Increase valuation
✔️ Reduce founder dependency

Want in?

🔗 Click "𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿" above 👆
📲 Or scan the QR code in the cheatsheet 👇

#CEOMastery #FounderWisdom  #CoFounderDynamics

Graphic teaser for CEO Mastery newsletter by Surabhi Shenoy. Text reads: ‘How to REALLY work with a co-founder to achieve long-term success. I’ll unpack it in tomorrow’s CEO Mastery.’ Includes QR code to subscribe. Light beige background with bold blue and red text.

Critics don’t build companies.

Builders do. Even when they fall.

This clip from Brené Brown’s talk on courage reminded me of what I see in every founder I work with…

Every founder wants to grow.
But growth needs risk.
And risk requires courage.

Not the loud kind.
But the quiet kind.

Like making a hard call with incomplete data.
Like hiring for potential, not pedigree.
Like holding the line when investors disagree.

You’ll never feel “ready” for these.
But the point isn’t to be ready.

The point is to be willing.

Willing to step in.
Willing to get it wrong.
Willing to lead, anyway.

That’s where real growth begins.
Not in the comfort of knowing.
But in the courage to act.

Because critics write opinions.
But builders write history.

Found this valuable? 
♻️ Repost to your network 
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👉 Want to become the CEO your growing business deserves?

📥 Subscribe to CEO Mastery —
My weekly newsletter, trusted by 2300+ founders. 

Every Thursday, get 1 sharp, actionable system to increase your revenue, profit, and valuation.

🔗 Click “View my newsletter” above 👆

#LeadershipCourage #FounderMindset #BreneBrown #CourageToLead

You don’t need to do more.

You need to be 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥.

A founder I coached had it all.
Strong pipeline. Smart team. Big goals.

But his leadership team?
They got fragments of his attention while he drowned in busywork.

We worked through the 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁 together. 

Here’s what changed in just 6 weeks:
→ Cut 12 hours/week from his calendar 
→ Delegated 3 major workflows 
→ Built a 90-day plan that team could execute confidently

The results were transformational.

The company finally had a 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘊𝘌𝘖 again.
Decisions moved swifter.
Momentum returned.

Freedom isn’t about doing less. 
It’s about being fully available for the work 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 can do.

🔥 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹:
𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝟱𝟬% 𝗼𝗳𝗳. 

Get it here: https://lnkd.in/duAd48XD

This is a 5-module, 60-minute video course that you can apply instantly.

It's time to take the first step toward a calmer, more focused way of leading. 

And if this resonated, please repost ♻️
Some leader in your network needs this reminder today. 

Question for you: 
If you got 10 hours back this week, where would you put them — clients, strategy, sales, hiring, or your team? ⏱️

Black Friday Sale visual promoting Surabhi Shenoy’s Founder’s Freedom Blueprint online course. The text reads: ‘Founder’s Freedom Blueprint — Step out of firefighting, into focused leadership. 50% OFF.’ The image includes a QR code linking to learn.surabhishenoy.com. The program teaches founders how to delegate, build leadership systems, and regain focus using Surabhi Shenoy’s 5-module, 60-minute framework for freedom and growth.

Ever replayed a conversation in your head… 
wishing you’d said what you really meant?

Most people don’t avoid difficult conversations because they’re weak. 

They avoid them because no one taught them 𝘩𝘰𝘸 to have them.

A managing partner I coached kept clashing with her co-founder. 

Every big discussion ended the same way: she went silent. 
Not from agreement… 
but from fear of saying it wrong.

Turns out she didn’t need courage. 
She needed tools.

When she learned how to structure the conversation,
separate facts from stories,
and make it safe to speak,
she finally said what she’d held in for years.

Founder conflicts rarely explode overnight. 
They build—one unsaid thing at a time.

That’s why 𝘊𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 is powerful.

When stakes rise and emotions spike, people default to silence or aggression. 
Both break trust. Both slow growth.

The solution isn’t bravery. It’s skill.

Here are eight steps to speak the truth without drama.

1. Start with Heart: know what you want.
2. Learn to Look: spot silence or pressure.
3. Make It Safe: use contrast and purpose.
4. Master Your Stories: separate facts from your tale.
5. STATE Your Path: facts → view → invite.
6. Explore Their Path: use AMPP to draw them out.
7. Move to Action: agree on next steps.
8. End with Alignment: leave with shared clarity.

Simple when you read them.
Transformative when you apply them.

📌 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘁: 𝟴 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.

Save it and share it with your team.

Use it to prevent small issues from becoming big problems.

Found this valuable? 
♻️ Repost to your network 
🔔 Follow Surabhi Shenoy for daily CEO insights 

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Want to become the CEO your growing business deserves? 

📥 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 —
My weekly newsletter, trusted by 2400+ founders. 

Every Thursday, get 1 sharp, actionable system to help you move from Stuck to Scaling. 

I write from my personal experience of building, scaling, and exiting 2 MM$ businesses and now coaching founders 1:1.

🔗 Click “View my newsletter” above 👆

Surabhi Shenoy, CEO Coach and 2X founder, shares ‘8 Steps to Master Difficult Conversations’ — a framework inspired by the book Crucial Conversations. The visual outlines how leaders can communicate with clarity and safety: 1) Start with Heart, 2) Learn to Look, 3) Make It Safe, 4) Master Your Stories, 5) STATE Your Path, 6) Explore Their Path, 7) Move to Action, 8) End with Alignment. Designed for founders, executives, and teams to resolve conflict, rebuild trust, and lead with calm authority.

Care too little and people leave.

Care too much and performance drops.

Every founder I know walks this tightrope.

You want to be kind.
But you also want to be clear.
You want to support your team.
But you also expect high standards.

And most days, it feels like you’re choosing between being the “nice boss” or the “tough boss.”
But 𝘙𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘳 teaches something different.

You don’t have to choose.
You have to combine.

𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆.
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆.
That’s the whole game.

When you 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦, 
you protect feelings but kill growth.

When you 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦, 
you get results but lose trust.

And when 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 
you build a team of silence and second-guessing.

But when you do both?
People feel safe.
People feel supported.
People know exactly how to win.

Because clarity is care.
And candor is love in leadership form.

If you want a team that grows with you, not around you start with conversations you’ve been delaying.

Save the cheatsheet: 7 Rules of Radical Candor 👇
Share it with your team.

--
If you enjoy this kind of depth,
You’ll love my 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 newsletter.

It's Free and trusted by 2400+ growth-focused Founders.

🎁 Get instant access to my guide: 30 books every founder must read.

Want in?

🔗 Click "𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿" above 👆
📲 Or scan the QR code in the cheatsheet 👇

Found this valuable? 
♻️ Repost to your network 
🔔 Follow Surabhi Shenoy for daily CEO insights

Radical Candor summary for founders — 7 rules to lead with care and direct challenge, inspired by Kim Scott’s book Radical Candor. Includes principles like caring personally, challenging directly, praising clearly, correcting behavior, giving real-time feedback, asking for criticism, and making expectations visible.

One change moves revenue fast.

But you must pick right.

Early in my career, I worked as a software test engineer.

The job was simple:
Change one input.
Watch the output.
Trace the real cause of failure.

A controlled test never changes 5 variables at once.

But founders do it every time growth stalls.

New hire.
New offer.
New funnel.
New pricing.
New strategy.

𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦.

Then wonder why months of effort don’t translate into movement.

The problem usually isn’t ambition.
It’s misdiagnosis.

After years of working with founders, I’ve learned that revenue gets stuck in only a few places.

Seven, to be precise.

The 7 Revenue Levers:

𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 (create demand + conversion):
1/ Positioning
2/ Offer
3/ Pricing
4/ Lead flow

𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 (multiply scale + consistency):
5/ Sales engine
6/ Customer lifetime value
7/ Growth assets

And here’s the part most founders miss:
In almost every business, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯.

Fix the wrong lever → no change.
Fix the right one → everything starts to move.

Want to know how to choose and fix that 1 revenue lever?

Read this detailed newsletter: https://lnkd.in/diKEY-jr

--

If you enjoy this kind of depth,
You’ll love my 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 newsletter.

It's Free and trusted by 2400+ ambitious Founders.

Every Thursday, get 1 sharp, actionable system to:
✔️ Grow revenue
✔️ Maximize profit
✔️ Increase valuation
✔️ Reduce founder dependency

Want in?

🔗 Click "𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿" above 👆
📲 Or scan the QR code in the cheatsheet 👇

#CEOMastery #FounderWisdom #RevenueGrowth

Cheatsheet titled ‘7 Revenue Levers – Diagnose Before You Scale’ by Surabhi Shenoy. Visual framework showing why growth stalls, the tester’s mindset, and where revenue breaks. Highlights seven revenue levers in two groups: Positioning, Offer, Pricing, Lead Flow, Sales Engine, CLTV, and Growth Assets. Includes diagnostic questions, icons for each lever, and a QR code to subscribe to CEO Mastery.

Growth needs depth.

Depth needs reading. 

People say they want to grow.
But very few sharpen that one skill:
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Not doom-scrolling.
Not information snacking.
Not shallow content that vanishes in minutes.

I’ve always been a voracious reader.
And I realize many aren’t.
They like the speed.
They move fast.
And reading feels “slow.”

But slow 𝘪𝘴 the point.

Reading gives depth.
It builds clearer thinking.
You retain far more information.
You understand concepts better.
You can recall ideas later in seconds.
And you, not algorithm, decide what to read.

What if you don’t have time for books?

Read things you 𝘤𝘢𝘯 finish.
Read some long-form articles.
Read a thought-provoking newsletter.
Read anything that stretches your thinking...
(instead of just entertaining your mind.)

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗜 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘾𝙀𝙊 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙮. 
For founders who want to grow fast but don’t have time for books.

Each week, I send one deep insight you can apply the same day.
Revenue. 
Profit. 
Valuation. 
People. 
Systems. 
Leadership.

The real levers that move a business.

Who is this for?

- Founders who're pressed for time.
- Leaders who want sharper decisions.
- Executives who want depth without overwhelm.
- Anyone who wants to think better, and build better.

When you subscribe, I’ll send you my guide “𝟯𝟬 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱.”

And here’s the real value:
Each book comes with an article. 
I break down the idea, the takeaway, and how it shaped my decisions... so you get the wisdom in minutes, not hours.

If this speaks to you, read one long-form piece this weekend.
A book.
A newsletter.
A well-written article.
Give your brain the upgrade it has been asking for.

If you're already in the habit, what's your favorite book?

🔁 Repost if you believe reading still matters.
🔗 Join CEO Mastery by clicking “View my newsletter” above 👆

Scaling isn’t about effort.
It’s about 10 boring fundamentals.

I coached 47 founders this year.
The ones who scaled 2x+?
They all mastered the same 10 basics.

No hacks.
No wild experiments.
Just quiet, steady execution.

The ones who stalled?
They skipped at least 3.

So I broke them down.
10 fundamentals.
10 days.
Frameworks in every post.

The series got:
- 59K+ impressions
- 110+ reposts
- Multiple client conversations

I've shared them in this carousel.
Save it, download it, share it.

𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵?

Read about the BTS and the entire series here: 
https://lnkd.in/dFpRxdYz

Found this valuable?
♻️ Repost to your network
🔔 Follow Surabhi Shenoy for daily CEO insights

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If you enjoy this kind of depth,
You’ll love my 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 newsletter.

2300+ ambitious Founders read it every week and it's free!

🔗 Click “View my newsletter” above 👆

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