Charles E. Gaudet II

Most 6-, 7- and 8-figure founders share the same frustration:
"I built something successful… but I can't step away. I'm trapped inside my own company."

That's the Founder's Trap™ - and I've spent 16+ years helping entrepreneurs escape it.

The International Business Times named me "The Go-To Business Coach for 7 and 8-Figure Entrepreneurs" and MSN calls me "the leading coach to 8 and 9 figure CEOs." 

But what matters most isn't what the press says - it's what I've helped my clients achieve.  A few client highlights:

→ $250k a year to $250k every 3 weeks
→ $1M to $24.1M in 3 years
→ $1.4M in revenue to a $45M valuation (and an exit)

And countless others who escaped the grind and created more predictability in their revenue (https://predictableprofits.com/testimonials/ ) 

Recognition:

✅ #1 Marketing & Sales Thought Leader 2025 – DMNews
✅ "The CEO Whisperer" – Yahoo Finance
✅ "The leading coach to 8 and 9 figure CEOs" – MSN
✅ Certificate of Leadership Development – U.S. Army War College (nominated and selected)
✅ "10 Innovative CEOs to Follow" – CEO Weekly
✅ "Top 20 Business Experts to Follow" – Grit Daily
✅ "Top 50 Industry Influencers" – American Geniuses
✅ "Top 15 Business Coaches" – Disrupt Magazine
✅ SUCCESS Magazine Emerging Entrepreneur Finalist
✅ Ernst & Young: "One of the Best Seed Stage Companies" (and selected as such by VentureOne)

Featured in Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur Magazine, Fox Business, The Globe and Mail, Yahoo Finance, Thrive Global, and 100+ other publications worldwide.

My story: Entrepreneur since age 4. First multi-million dollar company at 24. Today I lead Predictable Profits - the premier coaching company for 7-, 8-, and 9-figure CEOs who are ready to scale without sacrificing their health, family, or sanity.

➡️ Author: "The Predictable Profits Playbook"
➡️ Podcast: Beyond 7-Figures (named a Top CEO Podcast by Inc. Magazine)
➡️ 3x State Wrestling Champion | 2x Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Gold Medalist

The discipline that builds champions on the mat is the same discipline required to scale a company.

Ready to escape the Founder's Trap?

✉️ DM me "SCALE" or visit PredictableProfits.com
🔈 For keynote and other speaking opportunities, visit CharlesGaudet.com

CEO & Founder | Business Coach for 7 & 8 Figure Companies

Predictable Profits is an international network of premium business coaches and strategists for 7- & 8- figure entrepreneurs who seek better sales and revenue systems for more predictability, profitability, and scalability in any economy.  

The company follows The Predictable Profits Methodology created in 2010, which has helped thousands of businesses in over 55 industries scale faster.

Advice from our team is featured on Fox Business, Forbes, Inc., Success, Entrepreneur, and countless other media channels around the world.

See what countless others have said about their experience with us here: https://predictableprofits.com/testimonials/

Charles II

97% of founder-led businesses never break $3M.

I've worked with 1,000+ founder-led businesses.

The pattern is clear: Those who depend on referrals hit a ceiling and stall out.

Here's the brutal math:

When your pipeline depends on someone else's conversation, you can't scale.

You can't hire confidently. You can't forecast accurately. You can't plan growth.

Because you have no control over when the next referral walks through the door.

**The excuse I hear most?**

"We're really good at what we do. Our clients love us. We don't need to market."

Let me translate that: "Hope is our lead generation strategy."

**Here's what nobody wants to admit:**

Being excellent at delivery doesn't build a pipeline. It creates satisfied clients.

Those are two completely different things.

You can be the best in your industry and still be trapped at $2.8M because you're waiting for referrals instead of creating systematic demand.

**The companies that break through?**

They don't abandon referrals. They just stop depending on them.

They build systems to:
1.  create demand, 
2. capture demand, and 
3. nurture demand 

...whether or not anyone's talking about them at a cocktail party.

They understand this formula:

**Predictable input = Predictable output**

Random referrals = Random revenue  
Systematic demand = Systematic growth

**So here's my question:**

What percentage of your revenue comes from referrals right now?

And if referrals stopped tomorrow, how long would your business survive?

Be honest... because the answer tells you everything about whether you have a business or just really good luck.

“The Go-To Business Coach for 7 & 8 Figure Entrepreneurs” (IBT) | “The CEO Whisperer” (Yahoo Finance) | Author, Podcast Host & Speaker

Most business owners think AI disruption is coming.

It’s not.

It already happened.

The problem is it didn’t arrive like a freight train.

It arrived like fog.

Quiet. Gradual. Easy to ignore.

Your leads didn’t “dry up.”

AI overviews started showing answers (instead of your website) and buyers just started asking different questions… to something that isn’t you.

AI is already shaping:
• who gets discovered
• who gets shortlisted
• who gets trusted
• who never even gets considered

Most founders still think disruption looks like a new competitor.

Nope.

It looks like invisibility.

This year and the years ahead, AI won’t just automate tasks.

It will mediate demand.

Meaning:
If AI doesn’t understand your business, your offer, your proof, your outcomes, your differentiation… you don’t exist in the buyer’s decision process.

And no amount of hustle fixes that.

Here’s the fork in the road.

For founders who understand what’s happening:
- This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
- AI becomes leverage.
- Distribution.
- Authority at scale.
- Predictable demand without chasing it.

For founders who ignore it:
- It becomes death by confusion.
- Lower conversion.
- Longer sales cycles.
- More “ghosting.”
- More price pressure.
- More effort for worse results.

Same market.
Same economy.

Wildly different outcomes.

AI won’t replace great businesses.

But it will replace businesses that fail to adapt how they’re found, framed, and trusted.

This isn’t about tools.

It’s about strategy.

And it’s why my work as a business coach is increasingly about helping founders see what they can’t yet see.

(The link to the article can be found in the comments below.)

Over the last few weeks, I've been featured in the media and on podcasts for a bold prediction about the future of sales.

At first glance, I was told that I was "crazy."

Then again, I've been called crazy for most of my career (that's when I really know that I'm onto something.)

But I would ask you to suspect judgment and pay attention because most companies are completely unprepared for what's already happening to the buyer's journey.

Here's what I mean:
Between January and November of last year, we saw an estimated 60% drop in organic traffic for many businesses. 

Why? Because AI-generated search overviews prioritize answers over taking you to a website. 

And this AI-forward buyer's journey is growing FAST!

Giving your buyers curated answers, frameworks, pricing context, and even vendor red flags.

This is making a MAJOR impact on how your buyers make decisions.

And the data shows that by the time a buyer reaches out to talk to a human, they've already narrowed it down to 2-3 options. The decision is 80-100% made before you ever get a chance to have a conversation.

(I have the data to prove it!)

This isn't coming. It's here. Right now!

And this year? It's only going to accelerate.

This was the main topic of our conversation with our coaching clients during yesterday's Board of Directors meeting.

I cannot stress this enough.

The companies that understand this shift - that AI is becoming the front door to decision-making - will have an outsized advantage. 

Those who keep relying on the old playbook of expecting the sales rep to "sell" and "pitch" will severely struggle.

I'm not saying this to be dramatic. I'm saying it because I'm watching it happen in real time.

The window to adapt is short - maybe 18-24 months before the gap becomes impossible to close.

So my question for you: are you set up for the AI-forward buyers' journey? 

If you're not sure, send me a message or drop me a comment. It's time to find out.

I stopped trying to close deals in DMs.

Started helping instead.

Results quadrupled.

Here's what I learned: 
Nobody wakes up thinking "I hope someone pitches me today."

But they do wake up with problems. Questions. Challenges they can't solve alone.

So I changed the game.

**Before:**
- Lead with credentials
- Push for the close
- Track conversion rates
- Wonder why people ghost

**After:**
- Lead with insight
- Ask better questions
- Solve one problem for free
- Let them ask about working together

The shift isn't about being "nice." 
It's about being smart.

When you help first, three things happen:

1. **You disarm their skepticism** - They expected a pitch. You gave them value instead.

2. **You demonstrate competence** - Talk is cheap. Solving their actual problem proves you know your shit.

3. **You create reciprocity** - Humans are wired to return favors. Help them, and they'll want to help you.

Last month, I spent 20 minutes on a DM conversation helping a founder fix their sales qualification process.

Didn't pitch. Didn't ask for a call. Just solved the problem.

Two weeks later, he joined our Board of Directors program.

$30K deal. Zero sales pressure.

Because sales became a side effect of being genuinely useful.

**Here's the truth most coaches won't tell you:**

If your offer is strong and your help is real, you don't need to pitch.

You just need to show up, add value, and let them connect the dots.

The people who need what you offer will ask.

The ones who don't? You saved yourself a shitty sales call.

---

**What's your take?**

Are you still leading with pitches, or have you shifted to leading with help?

And if you've made the shift, what changed in your results?

---

**P.S.** This isn't about giving away everything for free. It's about strategically demonstrating value to the right people. There's a massive difference.  

I'm holding a workshop giving away the exact framework and process we use every day... (plus a few secrets I don't talk about here).  

Comment "LEADS" and I'll send you the details.

You have to earn your right to scale...

...and most companies aren't ready.

If you're stuck at $1-3M, scaling is the LAST thing you should do.

Here's why: You don't have a growth problem. You have a founder dependency problem.

80% of your leads = referrals (no systematic marketing)
70% of your deals = you close them personally  
100% of important decisions = require your approval

Scaling this? You're just digging yourself deeper into the trap.

I've watched 1,000+ founders try to "push through" this stage. Know what happens?

→ They hire more people (who can't make decisions without them)
→ They work MORE hours (65+ per week becomes 75+)
→ They burn out and sell for pennies (or worse, shut down)

The ones who break through? They stop scaling and start SYSTEMATIZING.

They build:
→ Lead generation that works without networking
→ Sales processes teams can execute  
→ Operations that run when they're on vacation

Then (and only then) they scale.

Result? Predictable month-after-month growth without working longer hours.

That's why the International Business Times said I am: "...the expert that many seven and eight-figure CEOs turn to when they need to bring predictability (hence their name) to their sales organization."

If you're grinding at $1-3M, you don't need motivation. You need the Founder's Trap escape plan.

Been helping founders do this for 16 years. Happy to show you how.

Drop "TRAP" in comments if you want a lead strategy to get you started.

I asked a $4M founder last week: "What's actually breaking in your business right now?"

He listed 12 things.

Then I asked: "Which ONE is costing you the most revenue?"

Long pause.

"I don't know. They all seem urgent."

Here's what I've learned after working with 1,000+ CEOs:

Your business isn't breaking in 12 places. It's breaking in one of three.

The Three Breaking Points:

1. Lead Gen - You can't predict when the next qualified lead shows up. You're stuck in "hope marketing" mode, praying referrals keep coming.

2. Conversion - Deals only close when YOU show up. Your team can't seal it without you in the room. That's not a sales process. That's founder dependency.

3. Scaling - Quality falls apart the second you step away. You're approving everything because "no one does it like I do." Which means you can't scale.

Most founders try to fix all three at once.

That's the fastest way to burn out and change nothing.

The breakthrough happens when you pick ONE, fix it completely, then move to the next.

Here's my question for you:
If you're brutally honest with yourself, which of these three is actually costing you the most right now?

And what's the ONE thing keeping you from fixing it?

Drop it in the comments.

Dr. Emad Rahim, PMP, CSP-SM, CMgr

Associate Professor/ Cohort Chair

CenterState CEO

Operating the first BIPOC tech accelerator program in Central NY. The Syracuse Surge Accelerator is a one-year in-person accelerator that provides direct resources and support for Black-Indigenous-Persons of Color (BIPOC) entrepreneurs who want to launch and accelerate their tech-related startup in Syracuse, New York. We provide capital support, loan options, grants, business advisement, partnership opportunities, trainings, customer discovery, mentorship, coaching and so much more. The Accelerator is operated out of The Tech Garden and powered by CenterState State CEO. Severed as Judge, Advisor or Application Reviewer for GENIUS NY, Startup NY, Panasci Competition (Syracuse University), Dolphin Tank (Le Moyne College), Blackstone LaunchPad, and NYBPC statewide business plan competition.

Surge Entrepreneurship Manager 

Bellevue University

Serving as the Kotouc Family Endowed Chair for the Project Management Center of Excellence, Program Director of Project Management Degree Program (MPM) and Full Professor (Kotouc Family Professorship) in the College of Science & Information Technology at Bellevue University. Teaching and overseeing graduate level courses in project management. As the Endowed Chair and Program Director, I am responsible for leading the product lifecycle of new online degrees, courses and training programs from start to finish, and faculty supervision, recruitment, performance management, training and course scheduling, advisory board leadership, program assessment, and accreditation oversight.

Kotouc Endowed Chair/ Full Professor/ Director - PM Center of Excellence 

Ztudium

Partner at Ztudium, a new kind of consultancy for the information age – a multi-media engine and technology and communications specialist that builds businesses and brands.

Equity Partner/ Board

Project Management Institute

Conducted over a dozen accreditation campus visits, supporting the mission of the Gobal Accreditation Center (GAC).

Global Accreditation Center (GAC) Reviewer – Site Visitor, Self-Study, Accreditation Proposal

University of Arizona Global Campus

Adjunct Professor

Vera House, Inc.

Honorary Co-Chair of White Ribbon Campaign 

Claremont Lincoln University

Dean of Social Impact 

City of Syracuse

Candidate for Syracuse Common Council  3rd District 

Bryant & Stratton College, FIT, Keiser, Columbia, SNHU, Norwich, UOP, Grand Canyon, Scranton, LVC

RIT Kosovo (A.U.K)

Fulbright Specialist 

Specialties: Entrepreneurship, Project Management, Higher Education, Curriculum Design, Community Outreach, Nonprofit Management, Program Development, Strategic Planning, Marketing, Leadership. 

Dr. Emad Rahim is a distinguished Fulbright Recipient, TEDx Speaker, Postdoc Fellow, and award-winning Author, Entrepreneur, and Educator. With a proven track record in higher education administration, program/project management, and business leadership, Dr. Rahim is renowned for his rapid business assessments and strategic action plans. He excels in forming strategic partnerships and securing sponsorships.

Dr. Rahim holds post-doctorate credentials from Tulane University, Harvard University, and the University of Maryland Global Campus. His academic journey includes a Ph.D. in Organizational Sustainability from Capitol Technology University, a Doctor of Management (D.M.), and an MS in Project Management and Business Management from Colorado Technical University. He completed his undergraduate studies at SUNY Empire State College and SUNY Onondaga Community College, and received an honorary Ph.D. from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

Dr. Rahim is certified in various industry standards, including Certified Scrum Master/Agile (CSM, A-CSM, CSP-CM, SAFe 6 Agilist), Online Marketing Certified Professional (OMCP), Certified Manager (CM, C.Mgr.), Project Management Professional (PMP, CPM, APMC), and Certified Business Manager (CBM).

Dr. Emad Rahim's distinguished career is marked by numerous accolades and honors. He holds an honorary Ph.D. from The Chicago School, has been inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame at SUNY OCC, and received the prestigious 2025 Dr. Curt Reimann Baldrige Scholarship and Quality Award. Recognized as an Empact100 Honoree by the United Nations Foundation, Dr. Rahim has also been awarded a Congressional Award for Civic Engagement and the John H. Mulroy Founder's Award from the SUNY OCC Board of Trustees. In February 2021, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh issued a City Proclamation for his Volunteerism. Dr. Rahim's contributions have further been celebrated with the LGS Leadership Alumni Award from Leadership Greater Syracuse and receiving the Geneva Mayor Certificate of Recognition. Additionally, he was named Community Volunteer of the Year by the CNY Business Journal, Diversity Champion by the YWCA of Syracuse & Onondaga County in 2019, and received the Community Impact Award from SUNY Empire State College in 2018.

Surge Entrepreneurship Manager

Emad Rahim, PhD., DM., PMP

The future of Project Management is here, and it’s about more than just tools.

​I was incredibly honored to have served as a contributing author for the upcoming PMBOK® Guide – 8th Edition! 🚀

​During the process, I shared a perspective that is close to my heart:

​"Project management isn’t just about tools and techniques; it’s about empowering teams to deliver outcomes."

​The 8th Edition marks a pivotal shift toward mindset. We are moving toward a proactive, ownership-driven, and value-focused approach. This new framework streamlines value delivery by connecting:

​Principles (The Why): The foundation of our actions.
​Performance Domains (The How): How we execute with excellence.
​Focus Areas (The When): Timing our impact for maximum results.

​With a renewed emphasis on sustainability and leadership, this edition is built to help project professionals thrive in a complex world. I can't wait for you all to dive in!

https://lnkd.in/ezT-gd32 via Bellevue University 

​#ProjectManagement #PMBOK8 #Leadership #PMP #ValueDelivery #Sustainability

Endowed Chair/ Prof. & Entrepreneurship Manager @ Bellevue University & INSPRYE Innovation Hub | Forbes Contributor

Open article: Dr. Emad Rahim's Role in PMBOK® Guide 8th Edition by news.bellevue.edu

Dr. Emad Rahim's Role in PMBOK® Guide 8th Edition

It’s truly humbling to see my words traveling across the globe, reaching so many people who share and recommend my book to their loved ones. I’m so grateful for this journey.

"The prisons we erect in our minds can be far more limiting than any physical restraints could ever be; however, mental constraints are only as effective as the power we give them." - Dr. Rahim 

I highly recommend Dr. Emad' s beautifully crafted book, Resilience: From Killing Fields to Boardroom The S.A.L.T. Effect. An inspirational story and a practical guide to facing adversity. - Polly Woodbury

Dr. King didn’t just offer words, he offered a blueprint for radical transformation. In 2026, these truths hit harder than ever:

​On Strategy: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that."

​On Endurance: "I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."

​On Integrity: "A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything."

Leadership isn't about the titles we hold; it's about the principles we refuse to compromise. Let’s choose light. Let’s choose love. And above all, let’s stand for something that matters.

​#MLK2026 #Leadership #Purpose #Justice

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