Andy Mewborn

Distribute

🔥 NEW: AI SALES TOOL TRAINED ON 10,000+ CLOSED DEALS 🔥

Generate 1-Pagers From Any Sales Call in 30 Seconds

Turn your sales calls into 1-page business cases, proposals, and account plans that help close deals faster. One trackable link replaces 55 slides and 27 attachments.

Founder & Customer Support

Taplio

Co-Founder

Outreach

Enterprise Sales

Sales Engineering Lead

Scaled the early success team to 14 people.

Manager - Customer Success

Early Employee.
Specialties: Data Sync, API, Onboarding, Platform Integrations, Partner Ecosystem

Product 

Start-Up Chile

Our team was selected for Generation 11 of Start-Up Chile (the YC of South America). We provided solar energy services and installed solar power systems.

Gridlee - Co-founder & Sales

Progress Chef

Sales Development Representative

Muhuru Bay Community Microgrid Project

Designed 3kW off-grid power system
Modeled renewable energy resources at remote site
Implemented system in Kenya
Tested and installed 11-channel GSM telemetry system

Electrical Engineer

Seattle City Light

Power Systems Engineer

Distribute.so

I use to be young & cool. Now I do b2b SaaS. 

Husband. Dad. Ironman. Pilot. Taco lover. 

Founder of Distribute // Co-founder of Taplio (acq. by Lemlist) // Early @ Outreach.io.

Creator

A community of over 4,000+ B2B professionals growing together on Linkedin.

• "Brand30 absolutely did wonders for my business." -Maritha Koortzen

• "Brand30 changed the trajectory of my life...To say it’s opening doors for me is an understatement" - Amanda Stern

• "Brand30 provided the group accountability and expert advice I needed to more than double my LinkedIn engagement in just one month" 

🚀 Start Building An Audience Of Potential Buyers On LinkedIn In 30 Days👇

• https://www.brand30.io/

8 months ago, we had 0 users. Today, Distribute.so has 15,000+ users. I’ve helped build a $250M company before, but this feels different.

Building a startup is glamorized on social media. But the reality is messy. Here are the 7 ugly truths about building fast in 2025 that nobody talks about:

1. Hitting a wall is normal 
I've been stuck at revenue plateaus multiple times. It feels terrible. But you can get moving again if you don't freeze.

2. You will mess up 
I've hired the wrong people. I've built the wrong features. I've spent money on things I didn't need. It's part of the game.

3. People will copy you 
We just beat 4 competitors for a deal. They are going to look at our product and copy it. Let them. By the time they copy us, we will be onto the next thing.

4. Saying "No" is painful 
To close those 18 killer logos, we had to say "no" to hundreds of other ideas. It hurts to say no to customers. But if you try to please everyone, you please no one.

5. Cash flow is everything 
It doesn't matter how cool your idea is. If you run out of money, you die. We watch every dollar.

6. It takes longer than you think 
People overestimate what they can do in a year. And underestimate what they can do in a decade. We are playing the long game.

7. Just start 
Every successful founder started with nothing. No revenue. No customers. No audience. The only difference is they didn't quit.

I’m documenting the whole ride here. The wins. The losses. And the lessons.

Follow along if you want to see how we get to the next level. Just keep building.

Andrew Mewborn

Click my profile, get a free taco 🌮 (also I automate your follow-ups)

7 ugly truths about building fast in 2025

Everyone told me I was crazy. "You can't sell to Enterprise logos without a massive sales team." "You can't be Product-Led and Sales-Led at the same time."

I disagreed. We have 15,000+ users on our self-serve app. But we also just closed 18 massive killer logos in 3 months.

Here is the 7-step playbook we used to move upmarket without losing our soul:

1. We stayed lean intentionally 
Most founders hire 10 reps the moment they get traction. We didn't. We used our own product to handle the volume.

2. We looked at our own backyard 
We didn't buy cold lists. We looked at our 15,000 free users. We found the ones who were using the product every day. Then we asked them: "Who is your boss?"

3. We sold the Result, not the Method killer 
Buyers don't care how your tech works. They care about the problem disappearing. We showed them exactly how Distribute would solve their problem in week 1.

4. We gave before we asked 
We didn't try to trap them in long contracts immediately. We let them use the product. We let them see the value. Trust is built by giving, not taking.

5. We stopped chasing shortcuts 
We didn't use clever tricks. We just focused on making the product 1% better every day. Word of mouth is the only growth strategy that lasts.

6. We kept the team tiny 
We are doing millions in revenue potential with a team that fits in a minivan. This keeps us profitable. And it keeps us hungry.

7. We worked in public 
I shared the wins and the losses on LinkedIn. This built trust with buyers before we ever spoke to them. They felt like they knew us.

TAKEAWAY: You don't need to follow the Silicon Valley rules. You don't need to raise $100M. You don't need a fancy office. You just need a product that people love. And the guts to do it your way.

They said you can't sell Enterprise without a suit.

had our quarterly all-hands today

CEO said we're "laser-focused on execution"

CTO said we're "moving fast and breaking things"

CFO said we have "18 months of runway"

VP Sales said we're "building a repeatable sales motion"

i asked "what does any of that mean?"

got pulled into a 1-on-1 about "culture fit"

turns out "what does that mean?" is not a growth mindset question

i'm now "transitioning to focus on other opportunities"

which means i have 2 weeks to find another company where nobody knows what they're talking about

shouldn't be hard

I helped build Outreach to $250M in revenue. I helped over 4,000 people grow on LinkedIn. Now, I have 15,000+ users on my new company, Distribute.so

I have seen the movie before. And I can tell you that the sequel is very different from the original.

Back in 2015, the playbook was simple: Force the sale. Hire an army of BDRs. Buy a massive list of emails. Send thousands of messages a day. It worked then. It doesn't work now.

Here are the 6 things that have changed in the last 10 years:

1. Buyers ignore the noise 
Email open rates have tanked. Sending more messages doesn't work anymore. You have to earn their attention, not demand it.

2. Don't push, attract 
You can't force a sale anymore. You have to create interest through content and brand. Then you capture that interest when they are ready.

3. Small teams are winning 
We closed 18 killer deals with a tiny team. You don't need 50 reps. You need a few seniors who know what they are doing.

4. Reputation is the new advantage 
Features get copied in a week. But they can't copy who you are. Your personal brand is the most efficient sales channel that exists.

5. Easy beats Powerful 
killer software used to be clunky and expensive. Now, the best tools feel like consumer apps. If it feels like work, they won't use it.

6. Speed over Forecasts 
We don't try to predict every dollar. We try to move fast. We launch, we test, we fix. Speed is the only advantage a startup really has.

TAKEAWAY: If you are still running the 2015 playbook, you are working too hard. The game has changed. You can either complain about it, or you can adapt. We chose to adapt. And it's working.

I helped build Outreach.io to $250M in revenue

I just beat 4 competitors to win a killer contract. We didn't have the most features. We didn't have the biggest sales team. But we have 15,000+ users and just closed our 18th killer logo in 3 months.

How did we do it? We realized that the old way of selling software is broken. Most founders try to build everything for everyone. They add buttons, settings, and complex workflows. They think "more features" equals "more value."

They are wrong. In 2025, buyers are overwhelmed. They don't want another tool they have to learn. They want something that just works.

Here is the 7-step playbook we used to win on Simplicity:

1. Go where the big fish swim 
We didn't wait for them to come to us. We found where they were hanging out and showed up.

2. Prove it, don't pitch it 
Our competitors sent 40-page slide decks. We sent a link to the product. If you have to explain how it works, it's too complicated.

3. The "Zero-Training" Standard 
We built Distribute so a 5th grader could use it. If a user needs a certification to use your tool, you have already lost. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

4. Escape the "Feature Trap" 
Customers will ask for a million things. We said "no" to 90% of them. We only built the things that made the core product faster and easier.

5. Sell it yourself 
I didn't hire a VP of Sales to figure this out. I did it myself. Founders should sell until at least $500K ARR because nobody knows the product like you do.

6. Find the "Aha!" instantly 
We found the one specific thing that made users say "wow." Then we made that experience happen in under 60 seconds.

7. Let the product drive the deal 
When the product is simple, the champion can sell it internally for you. They don't need you to fly in for a demo. They just show their boss, and the boss gets it.

TAKEAWAY: Startups are hard. But in 2025, complex startups are impossible. Stop building more. Start building simpler. That is how you win.

I just beat 4 competitors to win a killer contract

intern: "should I add my phone number to my email signature?"

CEO: "absolutely, we're accessible"

intern: "what about my LinkedIn?"

CEO: "yes, we're modern"

intern: "calendar booking link?"

CEO: "of course, we're efficient"

intern: "headshot?"

CEO: "why not, we're human"

intern sends first email

signature is 47 lines long

includes:

• 3 phone numbers
• 4 social media links
• calendar link
• company tagline
• legal disclaimer
• "Sent from my iPhone"
• sustainability notice about not printing emails
• AI-generated motivational quote

the actual email says "sounds good"

we promoted them to Head of Email Excellence

I spent 3 hours on a crap ton of follow-ups at Outreach while we scaled to $250M. Now our 15,000+ Distribute users do better follow-ups in 30 seconds. After closing 18 deals in the past few months, I learned something most founders miss: complexity kills deals, simplicity closes them.

Here's why the best salespeople are deleting tools, not adding them:

1// YOUR BUYERS DON’T WANT YOUR 55-SLIDE DECK

They want one page with what you discussed, the ROI, and next steps.

We tracked 10,000+ deals.

Average time on slide decks? 47 seconds.

Average time on simple deal pages? 8 minutes.


2// YOUR CHAMPION CAN’T SELL INTERNALLY WITH MEETING NOTES

They need a business case, ROI calculator, and executive summary.

Not a transcript.

When we switched from sending 27 attachments to one link, deal velocity increased MUCHO.


3// EVERY TOOL YOU ADD CREATES ANOTHER PLACE TO LOSE

The average rep uses 10+ tools for follow-ups.

Fathom for notes. Loom for demos. Google Docs for emails. Canva for slides.

The winners? They use one tool that does it all.


4// SIMPLICITY SPREADS FASTER THAN FEATURES

When we made Distribute dead simple, word-of-mouth exploded.

No training needed. No change management.

Just send your follow-up in 30 seconds and move on.


TAKEAWAY:

I watched Outreach grow because it simplified prospecting.

Now I'm watching Distribute grow because it simplifies follow-ups.

The pattern is clear.

Simplicity isn't just a feature.

It's a moat.

We beat 4 competitors  with 90% fewer features

prospect: "tell me about your product"

me: "what if I told you that you could save 20 hours per week?"

prospect: "how?"

me: "great question. let me share my screen. can you see this?"

prospect: "yes"

me: "perfect. so imagine your current workflow..."

**proceeds to spend 40 minutes describing their own job back to them**

me: "...and that's where we come in"

prospect: "what does your product actually do?"

me: "I'm going to send over some case studies and let's reconnect next week"

booked the follow-up

still haven't answered what we do

this is sales

investors rejected our pitch deck last month

they said our projections were "unrealistic"

we were forecasting $100M ARR by year 2 with zero marketing spend

i asked "don't you believe in product-led growth?"

they said "you have 3 customers"

so i updated the deck

changed "customers" to "enterprise partners"

changed "3" to "a curated selection of design partners"

changed "$47 MRR" to "high-intent early revenue signals"

we raised $8M Series A last week

words matter more than numbers

Last week I asked 4,000+ sellers how long they spend on follow-ups. 73% said 2-3 hours. That's 750 hours per year writing emails nobody reads. I helped build Outreach to $250M, and even we were wasting time on follow-ups.

Here's the math that'll make you sick:

Let's say you close 20 deals per year. Each deal takes 5 calls. Each call needs a 3-hour follow-up. That's 300 hours. Or 37.5 work days. You're spending 2 months per year on admin work.

**screams at sky***

While you write follow-ups, your competitors are on their next call.

Here's what actually works in 2025:

1// Stop crafting. Start automating.

AI can write better follow-ups than you.
It remembers everything. Never forgets the ROI discussion.
Includes the right case studies.
Our 15,000 users proved this.

2// Stop sending files. Send experiences.

PDFs get lost.
Attachments get ignored.
But a personalized page? That gets shared with the CFO.
We see 3x higher engagement on deal pages vs traditional follow-ups.

3// Stop hoping. Start tracking.

You need to know when the CFO views pricing. When legal downloads the contract. When your deal goes cold.

Email can't tell you this. 

The sellers crushing quota aren't working harder.

They're working different.

They turned 3-hour follow-ups into 30 seconds.

And their buyers actually engage.

Holy sh*t, right?

You waste 37.5 days per year on follow-ups

I helped scale Outreach to $250M. Then I started my own company and made every mistake I swore I never would. Here are the 6 dumbest things I did building Distribute to 15,000 users:

1// I spent 3 months building features nobody asked for

We had a roadmap. It was beautiful. Customers wanted something else entirely. I should have talked to 50 more people before writing a single line of code.


2// I chased logos instead of problems

Early on, I got excited when big names showed interest. I bent the product to fit them. They churned anyway. The customers who stayed were the ones whose problem we actually solved.


3// I wrote follow-up copy like a robot

I'm embarrassed to show you our early emails. Corporate garbage. The moment I started writing like a human, reply rates doubled.


4// I ignored my own LinkedIn audience for 6 months

I had built a following. I knew how to create content. But I thought "real companies" needed paid ads and SDR teams. Wrong. My posts still drive more pipeline than anything else.


5// I hired before I had a repeatable process

Brought on help too early. They failed. It wasn't their fault. I didn't have a playbook to hand them yet.


6// I thought the product would sell itself

It doesn't. Nothing does. Even great products need someone to explain why they matter.


TAKEAWAY:

Building a startup is just a series of mistakes.

The winners aren't the ones who avoid them.

They're the ones who make them faster and don't repeat them.

I'm still making mistakes every week.

But at least they're new ones.

I made every mistake I swore I never would

spent all morning analyzing our competitors

Competitor A: raised $50M, has 200 employees, beautiful website
Competitor B: raised $30M, has enterprise clients, won industry awards
Competitor C: bootstrapped to $10M ARR, profitable, amazing product

Us: 1 founders, $a couple mil raised, website built on Webflow template, LinkedIn is our entire marketing strategy

but here's the thing...

we respond to customer emails in under 5 minutes

our competitors take 3 business days

we shipped 12 features last month

they shipped a new font

we're not better funded

we're not better positioned

we're just more desperate

and in B2B SaaS, desperation scales

posted "what if we just... listened to customers?" on LinkedIn

38,000 impressions

427 comments saying "this is so true"

16 VCs sent connection requests

got invited to speak at a SaaS conference

my talk is titled "Revolutionary Customer-Centric Strategies for Modern B2B"

it's a 45-minute presentation on literally just talking to people who pay you

they're paying me $5k to speak

i'm writing a book about it called "The Listening Framework"

it's 280 pages explaining how to have conversations

pre-orders are through the roof

disruption is just common sense with better marketing

We just won a deal against 4 established competitors. They had 10X the funding, bigger brands, and fancier demos. But we won all 4 times. After helping 4,000+ people grow on LinkedIn and scaling Outreach to $250M, I knew exactly why: buyers don't want more tools, they want less work.

Here's how we beat everyone:

Competitor 1: 55 features, 3-hour onboarding
Us: 3 features that actually matter, 5-minute setup

Competitor 2: "AI-powered intelligence platform"
Us: "Your follow-up in 30 seconds"

Competitor 3: 47-page implementation guide
Us: Chrome extension. Click. Done.

Competitor 4: $500/month per user
Us: $49/month. Everything included.

**drops mic**

Here's what I learned closing our first big deals:

1// FEATURES ARE A TAX ON YOUR BUYERS

Every feature needs explaining.
Every option needs deciding.
Every setting needs configuring.
We do one thing perfect instead of 50 things okay.

2// COMPLEXITY IS WHERE DEALS GO TO DIE

The moment a buyer says "let me check with IT," you lost.
The moment they need training, you lost.
Make it so simple they can start now.

3// YOUR CHAMPION NEEDS TO LOOK SMART

They don't win by showing a complex tool.
They win by solving a problem fast.
Give them a quick win, not a science project.

We have 15,000+ users not because we're the best.

But because we're the simplest.

And in 2025, simple beats everything.

Every. Single. Time. YALL.

Step by step ↓

Let me tell you what's really going on…

When a prospect says "we don't have budget"…

They're not broke.

They just spent $47 on DoorDash last night. They've got budget for a new CRM. Budget for that conference in Miami.

What they DON'T have?

A reason to fight for YOUR deal.

See… right now, they're sitting in some internal meeting. Your proposal is open on their screen. And their CFO asks:

"Why do we need this?"

And your prospect?

They freeze.

They fumble.

They can't remember what you said. Can't articulate the ROI. Can't justify the spend.

So the deal dies. Not because of "budget." Because you made THEM do the selling.

That's on you.

Here's the fix:

Send them a Deal Summary BEFORE they go dark.

One page. One link. Everything they need to sell this deal internally:

→ The bleeding-neck problem you're solving 
→ The cost of doing NOTHING (this is the killer) 
→ Exactly what you're proposing 
→ What happens next

You do the selling. They just forward the link.

Takes 2 minutes. Saves you from chasing ghosts for 3 weeks.

💬 Comment "TACO"

I'll send you the exact Deal Summary template I use to close deals without begging for follow-ups.

💬 Comment "TACO"

Year 1: "we're pre-product-market fit, iterating rapidly"
Translation: nobody wants this

Year 2: "we're finding early signals of PMF"
Translation: 2 customers didn't churn

Year 3: "we've achieved strong product-market fit"
Translation: we stopped pivoting because we're tired

Year 4: "we're scaling past PMF into market domination"
Translation: we hired a VP of Sales who convinced us we're doing great

Year 5: "we're exploring strategic alternatives"
Translation: acquisition talks because we never actually found PMF

Year 6: got acquired for $8M by a company that will shut us down in 9 months

called it a "successful exit"

changed LinkedIn title to "Founder & CEO (Exited)"

already working on the next one

customer: "can you add dark mode?"
us: "it's on the roadmap"

customer: "can you fix this bug?"
us: "it's on the roadmap"

customer: "can you add SSO?"
us: "it's on the roadmap"

customer: "can we see the roadmap?"
us: "that's on the roadmap"

our roadmap is a Google Doc titled "stuff_we_might_do_idk.doc"

it hasn't been updated since 2023

we closed $2M ARR this year

turns out "it's on the roadmap" is enterprise software for "leave me alone"

Sellers

What’s more dangerous for sales teams: bad managers or bad AI tools?

A) Bad managers – morale killer
B) Bad AI – data chaos
C) Both – one demotivates, the other misleads
D) Neither – blame the process, not the tools

P.S. - My AI handles 90% of my sales process now—prospecting, follow-ups, closing. Set it up in 90 seconds: https://lnkd.in/eNYQ3DeQ

What’s more dangerous for sales teams: bad managers or bad AI tools?

Sellers

What’s the biggest shift in sales since 2020?

A) Buyers research more than sellers
B) Remote selling is the new normal
C) Champions have more power than AEs
D) Product-led growth changed everything

P.S. - Turns out I've been following up like an IDIOT for 5 years. This 90-second quiz showed me my actual follow-up style (and how to fix it): www.distribute.so/quiz

Sellers

Would you take feedback from an AI “sales coach”?

A) Yes – No bias, just data
B) Maybe – Only if it knows context
C) No – You can’t coach without empathy
D) I already do — ChatGPT’s my therapist

P.S. - My AI handles 90% of my sales process now—prospecting, follow-ups, closing. Set it up in 90 seconds: www.distribute.so/quiz

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.

Yesterday, I participated in a closed-door roundtable at #IGFMiddleEast2025 

No cameras.
No PR talking points.
Just real leaders talking honestly about 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘨𝘦.

And that format changed everything.

When people don’t have to perform, they speak truth.

We explored the weight of the challenge.
And the size of the opportunity ahead.

A few reflections I shared:

𝟭 / 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹. 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁.
AI doesn’t know gender or color.
But its training data reflects decades of male-dominated decisions.
Leaders need to navigate this consciously.

𝟮 / 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹. 
Capability is real. Confidence needs support.
Women today have more access than ever.
What’s missing is exposure, belief, and encouragement to scale and exit.

𝟯 / 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁.
I shared the story of Rose Blumkin — “Mrs. B.”
Built Nebraska Furniture Mart in 1937.
Sold to Berkshire Hathaway at 89, for $60M.
Buffett called her his favorite founder.
Not "female founder", just "founder".

𝟰 / 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵.
Kevin O’Leary says his highest-performing companies are led by women.
He isn’t biased.
He’s optimizing returns.

𝟱 / 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁.
Women-director mandates. 
MSME financial support. Digital skilling.
Policy is shifting, but culture and capability must follow.

𝟲 / 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿.
Tech moves fast.
Human systems don’t.
We need leaders who redesign roles, expectations, and evaluation systems, so AI-powered workplaces are fair by design, not by accident.

My takeaway:
The digital age isn’t automatically an equalizer.
It becomes one only when leaders make intentional choices.

We’ve come far.
There’s more to do.

Grateful for the honest, unfiltered conversation and to share the table with inspiring leaders Meeta Gupta Prerna W Sudha Sarin Ananda Shakespeare Sandeep Dahiya Faheem Ahamed 

A big thank you to Devapriya Khanna and Connexus Global Ventures for making this happen.

♻️ Repost, if this resonated.
We need more leaders to push the agenda of gender equity. 

-

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 grow your revenue, profit, and valuation. 

🔗 Click “View my newsletter” above 👆

#IGFMiddleEast2025  #GenderEquity #CEOMastery

A group photo from the IGF Middle East 2025 closed-door roundtable featuring Surabhi Shenoy and fellow leaders discussing gender equity in the digital age. The quote on the image reads: ‘The digital age isn’t automatically an equalizer. It becomes one only when leaders make intentional choices.’ Participants stand together in a modern conference setting.

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.

Picking a co-founder is crucial.

Protecting the partnership is 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

In the early years, things feel effortless.
You move fast.
You skip hard conversations.
You align even when habits aren’t healthy.

But as the business grows, and life changes, the partnership gets tested in ways you didn’t see coming.

Your priorities shift.
Communication patterns change.
And the small tensions you once ignored starts feeling heavy.

Partnerships rarely break from one big argument.
𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄, 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘁.

Here’s the part most founders overlook:
Long-term co-founder success isn’t about chemistry or luck.

It comes from a simple foundation that:
1. Protects you from drifting apart.
2. Keeps you aligned as complexity increases.

At a high level, here’s what that foundation includes:

- Clear ownership so decisions stop colliding
- Healthy communication habits under pressure
- A consistent weekly rhythm to reset alignment

These aren’t “nice-to-haves.”

They’re what keep the partnership steady as the company demands more from both of you.

For the full breakdown, refer the cheatsheet below.
Save it. Share it. Help a founder who needs it.

Read the complete solution here:
https://lnkd.in/dwxv77QR

To get more such in-depth systems, 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 👆

#CEOMastery #FounderWisdom #Cofounders

A visual cheatsheet titled ‘How to Work With a Co-Founder’ showing the common drift areas in partnerships—ownership, decisions, communication, cadence, tensions, pace, life changes, expectations—and a three-part rescue system: clear swim lanes, communication under pressure, and a weekly founder reset. Includes warning signs of drift and what scaling partnerships really need. Designed by Surabhi Shenoy, CEO Mastery.

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.

We lost deals we should’ve won.

Because we wrote for one person, not ten.

A proposal never lands in one inbox.
It travels through rooms you never see.

A sponsor may love it.
But someone else blocks it.
Someone you never spoke to.

Their concerns stay hidden.
And the deal slips.

That’s what kept happening to us.

Perfect proposals.
Silent rejections.
No second chance.

The turning point:
𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿.
Not just the person we knew.

We mapped every stakeholder.
We learned what each of them needed to say yes.
And we wrote the proposal to speak to all of them.

– CEO cared about growth.
– CFO cared about cost and ROI.
– CTO cared about integration risk.
– Users cared about adoption and training.

One proposal.
Many voices understood.

Win rates climbed.
Doors opened.
Deals closed faster.

Because proposals don’t persuade groups.
They persuade individuals inside groups.

If you want to learn how to do this with confidence:
I’ve shared a simple tactic, the Stakeholder-Centric Proposal Approach, inside this CEO Mastery edition:
https://lnkd.in/duKm2Piv

It includes: 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘅. 
You can download and use it 𝗶n your next proposal.

For more systems like this:
Subscribe to 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆.

Every Thursday: one deep, actionable idea for founders who care about revenue, profit, and valuation

Click "𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿" above 👆

#CEOMastery #FounderWisdom #Sales

Stakeholder centric proposal with template by Surabhi-CEO 

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.

Jeff Bezos owns “Relentless.com”.

Type it.
Even today, it redirects to Amazon.

Because that’s who he was and that’s what built Amazon.

One idea.
Taken seriously.
For decades.

Exactly what Charlie Munger meant when he said:
“𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺.”

Most founders don’t fail because they lack ideas.

They fail because they don’t take their 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 idea seriously, for long enough.

Here are 𝟳 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 in your business:
(Save this for 2026)

𝟭. 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮
What is the core of your business?
Can you say it in one sentence?
Does your team know it too?

𝟮. 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀
When 𝘺𝘰𝘶 are tired of saying it,
𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 are just starting to hear it.

𝟯. 𝗢𝗯𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻
Not your roadmap.
Not your features.
Bezos built Amazon on this single obsession.

𝟰. 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸
Small fixes > big transformations.
52 small fixes a year change a company.
What will it be this week for you?

𝟱. 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀
Utilization. 
Gross margin by project.
Cash Conversion Cycle time.
Only numbers tell the truth.

𝟲. 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝗱-𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸
Relentlessness is a protected focus.
It’s discipline over time, 
not random intensity.

𝟳. 𝗦𝗮𝘆 𝗻𝗼 𝟭𝟬× 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲
If everything is a priority,
nothing is.

Relentless founders don’t chase more ideas. 
They take one great idea and make it impossible to ignore.

♻️ If this resonated, then repost.
Someone in your network needs to stop trying too many things and focus.

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

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

Every Thursday, get one deep, actionable idea to increase revenue, profit, and valuation.

🔗 Click “View my newsletter” above 👆

#CEOMastery #FounderWisdom #Relentless #Focus

Graphic featuring Charlie Munger with his quote: ‘Take a simple, basic idea and take it very seriously.’ Designed in a minimal style with Munger’s portrait below the quote. Footer invites readers to subscribe to CEO Mastery for founder systems.

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 
🔔 Follow @𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗵𝗶 𝗦𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘆 for more CEO insights 

-- 

👉 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 

-- 

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.

Great ideas look wrong at first.

That’s the sign.

Most people judge new ideas using old rules.

Amazon(.)com looked “wrong.”
Kindle looked “wrong.”

Your product? 
Probably looks “wrong” to someone right now too.

This week, while reading Jeff Bezos’ 2007 shareholder letter, I found something so sharp… so useful… that every founder facing resistance should hear it.

Bezos didn’t argue with critics.
He reframed the pitch.

You’re not supposed to “match” the old way.
You’re supposed to 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗼.

In this week's CEO Mastery edition, I break down:

→ How Bezos reframed Amazon(.)com
→ The insight that made Kindle possible
→ The mental model founders can use so users adopt your product quickly.
→ A real example from a company I advise CandidHR.ai applying this shift today

If you’re building something new and keep hearing:
“That’s not how we do it today”…
You can’t miss this one.

Subscribe to 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝟰 𝗣𝗠 𝗗𝘂𝗯𝗮𝗶 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.  

2400+ ambitious Founders read it every week.  

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

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

#CEOMastery #FounderWisdom #ProductStrategy #Sales

Teaser graphic for CEO Mastery featuring the Jeff Bezos quote: ‘We change our tools. Then our tools change us.’ The image promotes an upcoming newsletter edition unpacking Bezos’ mental model for turning objections into adoption. Footer includes Surabhi Shenoy’s profile photo, website link, and a QR code to subscribe.

Last month, I studied 4 tech acquisitions.  

None were unicorns.  
None were viral.  
None were flashy.
 
They were “boring” businesses —  
but they exited for serious money.
 
Here’s the pattern almost every founder misses:
 
Most founders chase fast growth.  
The smart ones chase 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵.
 
Because revenue doesn’t guarantee valuation.  
𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀.
 
High-valuation companies live in one quadrant:
 
Recurring, predictable revenue  +  
A business that runs without the founder
 
That’s it.  
That’s the formula.  
That’s what buyers pay a premium for.
 
Your Market Value Map has 2 axes:  
X → Founder dependency  
Y → Revenue quality
 
Only one quadrant earns premium multiples.  
Every serious founder should know where they sit.
 
The four acquisitions I studied proved it —  
from a $189M Salesforce consultancy to a 17-year DevOps shop.  
All wildly different.  

All built on the same two levers: predictability + founder independence.
 
I break down all four case studies 
(and what founders can copy) here: https://lnkd.in/demK6YAw  
(Short read, big mindset shift.)
 
The 𝟮-𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 that changes everything:  
1/ How dependent is my business on me?  
2/ How much of my revenue is recurring?
 
If your next decisions reduce founder dependency  and increase recurring revenue…  you’re building a business the market respects.
 
Because the market doesn’t buy momentum.  
The market buys predictability.
 
—
 
If you enjoy this kind of depth, you’ll love 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 newsletter —  

It’s free and trusted by 2,400+ growth-minded founders.
 
Every Thursday: 1 sharp, actionable system to scale yourself and your business.
 
🔗 Click “𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿” above 👆  
📲 Or scan the QR code in the cheatsheet 👇
 
 #CEOMastery #FounderWisdom #BusinessValuation

Four-quadrant Market Value Map graphic by Surabhi Shenoy. Vertical axis shows revenue quality from one-time to recurring. Horizontal axis shows founder dependency from low to high. The top-left green quadrant is labeled ‘Valuable (Target Zone)’ with recurring revenue and low founder dependency. Other quadrants are ‘Tiring’, ‘Stagnant’, and ‘Fragile’. Footer invites founders to subscribe to CEO Mastery newsletter and includes a QR code.

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 👆

taplio

The Battle

Andy Mewborn

Surabhi Shenoy

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreAndy Mewborn's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreSurabhi Shenoy's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Andy Mewborn

Surabhi Shenoy

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);}Andy Mewborn's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreSurabhi Shenoy's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreAndy Mewborn's LinkedIn Performance