Apoorva Pande

Focused Founder

Focused Founder is a mastermind company that puts tech Founders and operators into peer groups as they grow towards $20 million in revenue or $100 million in valuation. In addition, Focused Founder provides an end to end process for growing revenue, profit, and impact.  Founders and operators that join are focused on:  solving real world problems, being profitable, learning, and implementing systems.

Our core focuses are: green-tech, health-tech, AI, and resource allocation.

If you'd like to know more, go here: https://www.focusedfounder.com/

Advisor at Various Startups

Growth 

Different Hunger

We help digital agencies grow and automate their businesses.

President

Pande Solutions

A portfolio of companies that build solutions for the automation age.

Founder and Chairman

SPInternational

SPI builds multimillion dollar pipelines for high tech companies.

Principal

Awesm.io

Creating traction for Awesm Early Stage Products.

Chief Growth Hacker

Formsfield

A Utility-Based Curated 3D Printing Marketplace

Advisor

Cognitive Media Inc.

Medical 3D printing to increase surgery success rate.
CEO of their Novelties Subsidiary PhotoBiscuit.

Catalyst

Tara Designs

Interior, Retail, and Exterior Design Firm.

JunoWallet

First hire for the team that brought 3MM+ users to the App in under a year
Led and Managed a globally distributed team
Created Strategic Alliances with Amazon, InComm, Aarki and many more

Director of Business Development and Strategic Alliances

Mistakes, I've had a few...

❌Like running out of cash flow before making a profit

❌Like pouring my entire college career into a business that sank without a trace

❌Like draining my bank account, my friendships, and my will to keep going

❌Like watching a close friend make millions while I hit the big red FAIL button again

❌⌃⌃⌃Like not paying attention to the CLUES… 

❌Like scaling a service company to 7 figures in 4 months and realizing I'd built a prison for myself 

❌Like losing control of my own business

❌Like the time I crashed … and burned

❌ Like the time I built an ad agency from scratch and tapped out at 7 figures 

❌ Like the time I wasted years managing people instead of profits

❌Like the time my good friend invited me to create her well-oiled sales machine… 

And I failed so hard I still have whiplash all these years later.

There’s a word for this kind of “mistake”: 

Growth. 

Or more to the point: 

Sloppy growth. 

Sloppy growth is growth that doesn’t grow your impact.

Sloppy growth is sales that don’t scale your time, team or cash-flow.

Sloppy growth is losing control of your own purpose, time and freedom.

You get the idea. 

But life’s too short to put up with sloppy.

I wanted more. 

(MUCH more)

So I disappeared for a while.

Shut myself away.

Spent TWO years and a fistfull of days figuring out a growth system that actually works.

Here’s what I built:

A leverage-based growth model.

One that predictably closes more sales, bigger contracts, and more cash flow.

One minute in, ten minutes out. 

One dollar in, ten dollars out. 

One hire in, ten times the output – not ten times the stress.

One prod—well, you get the picture. 

I started Focused Founder.

Then I invited a small group of tech founders to oil the cogs of their own growth machine with hands-on coaching, scalable systems, and plug-and-play frameworks. 

Our small group of founders have already generated an extra $100+ million dollars:

✅Aviron Active went from ZERO sales to hundreds of thousands a month

✅Mailmonitor went from barely scraping by at $8K/month to $100K

✅That’s 11X cash-flow in just 30 days

✅iQi Air made $598K in the first month…

✅AND they landed a fat $30.5 million commitment

✅Blubanyan went from low 7 figures to solid 8 figures…

✅Massive cash reserves…

✅Another year of 100% growth…

✅And DELETED stress from their team…

✅Jan, the CEO, said getting this 10X growth felt "calm"

✅There’s plenty more where that came from.

Sloppy growth is a miserable grind that burns you out.

Leveraged growth lets you win.

Want to know more?

See below.

Scaling from $1M to $10M isn't luck.

It's a proven framework.

Most founders hit $1M and think they can keep doing what got them there.

That's the biggest mistake.

The playbook changes completely at scale.

VC firms come to me for advice on how structure their founder acceleration playbooks.

This is the exact guide I'll give them to help their portfolio companies break through the $1M ceiling and scale to $10M+.

Inside this framework:

→ Which pricing model actually scales (and why most founders choose wrong)
→ The exact math: leads, calls, and demos needed to hit $10M
→ How to restructure your sales motion for enterprise-level deals

This framework has helped 6+ B2B tech companies successfully scale add $10M+.

The difference between stalling at $1-2M and hitting $10M+ comes down to knowing which levers to pull and when.

If you're a founder currently between $1M-5M and serious about reaching $10M, this guide will save you years of trial and error.

Want the full framework?

1. Connect with me
2. Comment "10M" below

I'll send it directly to your DMs.

Simplicity is not the absence of complexity - it is the presence of clarity.

Diageo

• Developed and implemented the Group’s Sustainable Innovation Strategy worldwide.
• Direct the global sustainable innovation pipeline across core and breakthrough initiatives.
• Lead the Global Sustainable Innovation team and major sustainability big bet programs.
• Lead the global circularity strategy driving an innovation pipeline of new circular business models.
• Lead Fusion Allterra, Diageo’s open innovation programme for ESG with start-ups and scale-ups.
• Serve on the Global Executive ESG Leadership Team, representing marketing and innovation.
• Acts as the Group’s spokesperson for sustainable innovation across all brands and categories.

Global Sustainability & Innovation VP | Strategy | Transformation | ESG

• Built the Global Breakthrough Innovation team and defined its sustainability strategy.
• Designed the innovation roadmap for packaging, ingredients, circularity, and new formats.
• Represented marketing and innovation on the Global Executive ESG leadership team.
• Acts as the Group’s spokesperson for sustainable innovation across all brands and categories.

Global Sustainability & Innovation Director (VP) | Breakthrough | ESG

L'Oréal

• Spearheaded green transformation across Emerging Markets (LATAM, Africa, APAC) in beauty CPG.
• Orchestrated green sciences, waterless, and eco-design programs, delivering ESG commitments.
• Built and scaled a sustainable innovation pipeline driving market growth and competitive claims.
• Directed top innovation portfolio and led priority marketing categories including hair care.
• Served on Global Executive Committee, shaping and executing the sustainable innovation strategy.

Emerging Markets Research & Sustainable Innovation Sr Director | Sustainability | ESG

• Directed innovation portfolio and strategy for LATAM Hair Care with global deployment impact.
• Led the regional innovation pipeline from consumer insight and product development to launch.
• Pioneered inclusivity-driven technologies delivering sustainable, high-performance products.
• Headed the sustainable innovation pillar of L’Oréal for the Future, advancing 2030 ESG goals.
• Drove sustainability transformation strategies in Emerging Markets, including category programs.

LATAM Research & Innovation Director | Sustainability | R&D | Personal Care

• Designed and executed LATAM circularity strategy, creating scalable new circular business models.
• Developed Dow’s first post-consumer recycled resins, now commercialized globally.
• Built and led innovations and sales teams across Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and the USA.
• Forged partnerships with cooperatives, recyclers, TPOs, and brands, accelerating PCR adoption.
• Directed development of Plastic Pallets and Plastic Roads using hard-to-recycle plastics.
• Oversaw all risk management, toxicology, safety, and LCA processes for new recycling solutions.
• Managed LATAM rigid & flexible packaging innovation portfolio, ensuring business-aligned delivery.
• Defined sustainability strategy and innovation roadmap as part of Circular Value Center leadership.
• Secured $450K in funding for recycling projects through the Olympics Carbon Program.
• Launched the LATAM Packaging Internship Program to build a talent pipeline and boost retention.
• Led and executed marketing multigenerational plans, boosting regional commercialization growth.

LATAM R&D and Sustainability Director | Innovation  | Packaging  | TS&D

• Directed regional packaging pipeline, delivering record sales volumes in flexible packaging.
• Oversaw rigid packaging and pipes innovation portfolio, delivering its execution across LATAM.
• Led wire and cable R&D agenda propelling growth in specialty and infrastructure segments.
• Built and managed a high-performing 20+ member team across five countries and two regions.
• Shaped LDPE value center strategy, unlocking growth and creating a new innovation pipeline.
• Led technical sales teams, driving sales volume growth with major brand owners and converters.
• Led and executed marketing multigenerational plans, boosting regional commercialization growth.

LATAM Senior R&D & Marketing Leader | Innovation | Packaging | TS&D

Procter & Gamble

• Home & Personal care for product development;
• Surfactant systems and bio-based alternatives for FMCG; 
• Sensory analysis and evaluation methods;
• Open innovation and external partnerships;
• Pilot plant management and scale-up optimization.

EMEA Sr R&D Manager | Home & Personal Care | Sustainability | Innovation

• Home & Personal care for product development;
• Surfactant systems and bio-based alternatives in FMCG; 
• Sensory analysis and evaluation methods for CPG;
• Open innovation and external partnerships;

EMEA R&D Manager | Home & Personal Care | Innovation

FCA Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

•  Design and characterization of novels environmentally-friendly bio-composites;
•  Bio-based materials and natural fiber polymer reinforcement;
•  Light-weighting materials development to minimize environmental impact.

EMEA Senior R&D Sustainability Lead | Bio-based Materials | Sustainability

Empa

• Materials process optimization - energy saving;
• Bio-based materials characterization and environmental analysis;
• Nanomaterials fillers and additives for sustainable innovation.

Sr Innovation R&D Scientist  | Polymers | Sustainability

Ipiranga

• Directed and audited the integrated management system including ISO 9001 (Quality management), ISO 14001 (Environmental management), and OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health and Safety);
• Coordinated the fuel quality control lab and led the compliance management process;
• Trained and inspected staff on health and safety (OHSAS 18001) reducing operational accidents to zero.

Operations Engineering | Fuel | Quality & Environmental Management 

BIO EXTRATUS COSMÉTIC NATURAL

• Developed and tested hair care formulations using natural ingredients.
• Managed raw materials to ensure high-quality product development in the cosmetics industry.
• Conducted consumer testing, analyzed data insights, and validated formulations for optimal results.

Formulation Scientist | Chemical Product Development

🌎 Global Sustainability & Innovation Director | ESG | Consumer Goods | R&D | Green Sciences | Chemicals | Home & Personal Care | Recycling | Packaging | Climate | Sustainable Business | Circular Economy 🍃

🌍 𝕌𝕟𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕊𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕀𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕠 ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕝 𝔹𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕀𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕥 

Have you ever wondered how innovation can shape a sustainable future? 

With a passion for scientific discovery and a global outlook, I’ve dedicated my career to pioneering sustainable solutions that make a real impact. 

My journey began in the sciences and has evolved into a fulfilling focus on sustainable business and innovation. 

Armed with multidisciplinary degrees in chemical engineering, business, and sustainability, I’ve embraced every opportunity to learn and grow, collaborating with leading institutions around the world over the past two decades.

As a Transformation and Innovation Executive, I blend leadership expertise with technical skills across sustainability, ESG, consumer goods, chemicals, packaging, and the circular economy. 

I have built and led global teams that deliver measurable growth, while fostering a culture of innovation and sustainability.

I believe that innovation is not confined to a single department; it’s a catalyst for growth that can inspire entire organizations. 

By helping companies develop and implement sustainable innovation strategies, I guide them toward achieving their goals while ensuring a positive impact on the planet. 

📩 Feel free to reach out… 

I’m always eager to connect and collaborate on meaningful projects that drive positive environmental change and business impact! 🌱

Leadership domains:
• Strategic Leadership: Global Innovation, Business Development, P&L, Marketing
• Sustainability & ESG: Circular Economy, Circular Business, Climate Change, Green Sciences
• Industry Expertise: Consumer Goods, Chemicals, Packaging, FMCG

Dave Lütkenhaus

🎓 ℕ𝕐𝕌 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟 𝕄𝔹𝔸 𝕃𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖: ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕋𝕒𝕝𝕜 𝕠𝕟 𝕊𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕀𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 🧑🏼‍🏫

Professor for a day. It was so fun joining Professor Alison Taylor's class at NYU Stern School of Business last month to speak with MBA students about what sustainable innovation looks like inside companies.

We talked openly about:
• The messy reality of driving innovation that actually sticks
• Why leaders must confront internal greenwashing before fixing anything externally
• How translating complex technical work into clear business language is now a non-negotiable leadership skill
• And how progress requires courage, not slogans

Huge thanks to Alison and the students for an energizing, honest session. Well, when it comes to her, honesty is a given! 

Great to see that the next generation of business leaders is asking the right questions and demanding better answers.

We need more discussions like this, as it could benefit many other companies and academic institutions. 

Onward. 🌱🚀

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