Noemi Kis✨

Founder, CEO

Serial Entrepreneur / AI enthusiast / TEDx speaker

Hey there! 👋

I'm obsessed with helping non-techie founders like you build lean, profitable businesses (think team of 5 or less) using AI, smart automations, and social media that actually converts.

I built my seven-figure business with a small team and grew to 145K followers on LinkedIn plus 5K newsletter subscribers. Not by accident, but by figuring out what actually works.

Tomorrow's successful founders won't be grinding 80-hour weeks. They'll be the ones who learn to build with AI, automate the boring stuff, and find their people in the right corners of the internet.

That's what I share in my weekly newsletter "Entrepreneurial Mindset" - mindset, AI stuff, automation hacks, and the strategies that are working right now (not the stuff everyone else is talking about).

Join here: www.noemikis.com/newsletter

Brands & sponsorship inquiries: hello@noemikis.com

AquaQuote is a global digital marketplace for buying and selling industrial water treatment products in the aftermarket space.  Brands have an opportunity to digitize their catalog and offer their products to a wider audience, while end users can easily find and purchase products via a self-service dashboard.  We focus on fast and excellent customer service and sourcing products from the best suppliers with the shortest lead times. 

The fastest way to kill your career:

Act like you already know everything.

Top performers don’t do that.

They treat every interaction like a chance to level up.

They’re not afraid to be wrong, they WANT to be wrong.

Because every mistake is a shortcut to growth.

Here's what that actually looks like:

1/ Ask better questions:

→ Replace "I know" with "tell me more"
→ Collect perspectives like they're currency
→ Make every conversation a learning opportunity

2/ Document your failures:

→ Write what you thought vs. what was true
→ Review it monthly to spot your patterns
→ Turn mistakes into a personal playbook

3/ Seek uncomfortable feedback:

→ Ask someone: "What could I do better?"
→ Shut up, listen, and don't get defensive
→ Apply at least one piece within 48 hours

The people who rise fastest aren't the smartest in the room.

They're the ones humble enough to realize they're never done learning.

So if you're building something right now, ask yourself:

When's the last time you changed your mind about something important?

Because staying the same is comfortable.

But growth requires you to be wrong first.

And then be humble enough to learn how to get it right.

Found this valuable? Please reshare with your network! ♻️ 

And follow Noemi Kis✨ for daily growth tips!

Microbusiness Ideas / AI enthusiast / TEDx speaker

If they can't afford your value,

It’s not your job to give them a discount.

And I'm not talking about business.

I'm talking about life.

For years, I made myself smaller so others would feel comfortable.

→ Dimmed my wins so friends wouldn't feel bad
→ Downplayed my boundaries so people would stay
→ Apologized for taking up space

I thought that's what good people did.

Make everyone else feel okay, even if it cost me.

But after being burned multiple times by this mindset, here's what I've learned:

The right people don't need you to shrink.

They don't ask you to:

→ Be less ambitious so they feel better
→ Lower your standards so they can keep up
→ Discount your worth so they can afford you

Because real relationships aren't built on you being less.

They're built on mutual respect.

And to be honest, this shift changed everything for me.

I stopped explaining my choices.
I stopped justifying my boundaries.
I stopped making myself "easier" to love.

Because I realized:

If someone can't meet you where you are, that's information.

It's not your job to:

→ Convince them you're worth it
→ Prove your value over and over
→ Make yourself "affordable" emotionally

The people who belong in your life will rise to meet you.

They won't ask you to dim your light.

They'll bring sunglasses.

So if you're someone who's been shrinking...

Here's your permission to stop:

You don't owe anyone a smaller version of yourself.

Not your family.
Not your friends.
Not your partner.

Your only job is to be fully you.

And let the right people find you there.

The most underrated skill I’ve learned? 

Observing without judging.

Most of us walk through life with instant opinions about everything.

Someone's business model. Their choices. Their timeline.

We see 5% of the picture and form 100% of our conclusion.

I used to be the same until a mentor said to me:

“Judgment closes doors. Observation opens them.”

When you judge, you decide:

→ This is right or wrong
→ This will or won't work
→ They should or shouldn't do that

When you observe, you notice:

→ What's actually happening
→ What patterns are emerging
→ What you might be missing

There's a massive difference.

Judgment feels certain. Observation stays curious.

And to be honest, our need to judge comes from fear.

→ Fear of being wrong
→ Fear of looking naive
→ Fear of not having an opinion

We think strong opinions make us look smart.

But some of the smartest people I know are ones who say "I don't know yet" and mean it.

They watch longer.
They ask more questions.
They change their minds when new information comes in.

That is what true intelligence looks like in action.

So if you catch yourself rushing to judgment today...

Pause.

Watch for 10 more seconds.
Ask one more question.
Consider what you might be missing.

Because the world reveals itself to those who observe.

Not to those who already decided what they're looking at.

Found this valuable? Please reshare with your network! ♻️ 

And follow Noemi Kis✨ for daily growth tips!

My biggest fear used to be failing.

Now it's dying with my best work still inside me.

I spent most of my 20s procrastinating and “playing it safe.”

I had ideas I didn't launch.
Projects I didn't start.
Things I wanted to say but kept quiet.

I was always waiting for:

→ More experience
→ Better timing
→ Proof it would work

Then 10 years ago, something happened that changed everything.

I was sitting in an airport with my dad, waiting for our flight home.

And I just... broke down.

My dad looked at me with concern: "Are you okay?"

And that's when it all came out.

"I don't want to go back," I said through tears. "I have nothing to go back for."

The truth was:

I'd been sitting on a business idea for 2 years.
I had a plan written out in a notebook I kept hidden.
I knew exactly what I wanted to build.

But I was too scared to start.

→ What if I failed?
→ What if people thought I was naive?
→ What if I wasted money and embarrassed myself?

So I stayed in a job I hated, telling myself I'd start "when I was ready."

My dad didn't say much that day.

But later, on the plane, I asked myself one question:
"What's the worst that could happen if I tried?"

I listed everything:

Losing money. Looking stupid. Failing publicly.

Then I asked: "And what's the worst that happens if I don't?"

I couldn't answer. Because I already knew.

I'd spend the rest of my life wondering "what if."

That airport conversation became my wake-up call.

6 months later, I gave myself an ultimatum: When my contract ended, I would never get another job.

I had 6 months to build something of my own.

And here's what I realized: The things I was afraid of were all temporary.

→ Failing? You recover.
→ Looking stupid? People forget.
→ Losing money? You earn it back.

But dying with your best work still inside you 
That's permanent.

In 100 years, no one will remember if I failed.
But I would've known if I never tried.

So I stopped waiting for permission, confidence, or the "right time."

I started building.

10 years later, I've failed more times than I can count.

But I've never cried in an airport again, paralyzed by my own fear.

Because I finally understood:

In 100 years, everyone you know will be gone.

So go do the thing you're afraid of.

Because one day you'll run out of time to try.

One of the hardest truth to accept:

You can't grow new leaves while holding onto dead ones.

But we try anyway.

We hold onto the job that stopped fulfilling us years ago.

The relationship that's been over in every way except officially.

The version of ourselves we've outgrown but can't seem to let go of.

And we wonder why nothing new is growing.

I came across this quote in a book the other day and it stuck with me.

Because trees are perhaps the best teachers of letting go.

Every fall, they shed everything they spent months building.

They stand there, bare and exposed, through the coldest months of the year.

And they don't panic about whether they'll grow again.

They just trust the process.

We've lost that trust somewhere along the way.

We think holding on means we're strong. That letting go means we've failed.

So we grip tighter to things that are already gone.

And then we're surprised when nothing new can take root.

But here’s something I’ve learnt over the years:

Letting go isn't loss. It's just preparation.

You can't build the next chapter while you're still clinging to the last one.
You can't become who you're meant to be while holding onto who you were.

So if you're in a season right now where everything feels like it's falling apart...

Maybe it's not falling apart.
Maybe it's just falling away.

Making room for what's trying to grow next.

Let go of the dead leaves.

Because better days don't come by holding onto what's dead.

They come when you finally let go.

Found this valuable? Please reshare with your network!♻️ 

And follow Noemi Kis✨ for daily growth tips!

The only person who can save you?

The version of yourself who's had enough.

Here's what I’ve seen most people do when they're stuck:

→ Wait for the right moment 
→ Hope for better conditions 
→ Pray someone notices their struggle

And nothing changes.

Because change doesn't come from hope. It comes from hitting your limit.

That moment when you look at your life and think: "I'm done living like this."

Not tomorrow. Not next month. Not when things settle down. Right now.

That's the version of yourself that saves you.

The one who's tired of:

→ The same excuses 
→ The same patterns 
→ The same results

And decides to do something different.

I was in a similar position 10 years ago. Here’s exactly how I flipped my life around:

1. Audit your daily patterns

Write down everything you do for 3 days.

Then ask: "Is this moving me forward or keeping me stuck?"

Most people are shocked by how much time they waste waiting for change instead of creating it.

2. Identify your non-negotiables

Pick 3 things you'll do every day, no matter what.

→ One for your body 
→ One for your skill 
→ One for your goals 

Make them so small you can't fail. Then do them until they're automatic.

3. Eliminate one drain

Find the biggest energy drain in your life right now.

The toxic relationship. 
The time-wasting habit. 
The commitment that serves nothing.

Cut it. Not gradually. Not "when the time is right." This week.

4. Create proof

Do one thing today that proves you're serious.

Send the email you've been avoiding. 
Post the content you're scared to share. 
Make the call that terrifies you.

Most of the successful people I know have figured this out:

You need to stop looking around for someone to save you.

The hero you're waiting for is the version of you that's done making excuses.

Wake them up.

Found this valuable? Please reshare with your network! ♻️

And follow Noemi Kis✨ for daily growth tips!

Every idea has three audiences.

And only one of them ends up successful.

When you start building something, you'll notice three groups form around you.

1. The critics show up first.

They'll point out every flaw, every risk, every reason it won't work.

"That's been done before."
"The timing isn't right."
"You should really think this through."

They sound experienced. They sound smart.
But they're not building anything themselves.

2. Then come the talkers.

They love your idea. They're genuinely excited about it.

"This is great, we should collaborate."
"I've been thinking about something similar."
"Let me know how it goes."

And they mean it in the moment. But weeks pass. Months pass. And nothing actually happens.

3. The doers are different.

They're the smallest group, but they're the ones who matter. They don't just cheer you on from the sidelines. They actually move.

→ They test what you're building
→ They give you honest feedback
→ They share it without being asked

And here's what I've learned:

You can't convert critics into doers.
You can't turn talkers into builders.

The energy you spend trying to convince skeptics or waiting for "interested" people to follow through is energy wasted.

The only strategy that works is finding the doers early and building with them.

Because critics will always find something to criticize. Talkers will always have another conversation.

But doers help you win.

They become your first customers, your biggest advocates, your real supporters.

So if you're building something right now, pay attention to who's actually doing something with what you're creating.

Not who's watching.
Not who's talking about watching.
Who's doing.

That's your real audience.

And honestly, that's the only audience that matters.

Found this valuable? Please reshare with your network!♻️ 

And follow Noemi Kis✨ for daily growth tips!

You've spent 3 months planning.

Successful people spent 20 minutes building.

Action creates clarity. Planning creates comfort.

They research. They plan. They wait for the "right time."

→ The book that's been "planned" for 3 years
→ The perfect website no customer has seen
→ The post waiting to feel "ready enough"

It feels like progress. But it's just procrastination.

And there’s something I’ve learnt after 15 yrs in business:

Thinking about doing something for 20 hours teaches you nothing.

Doing it for 20 minutes teaches you everything.

Because action creates clarity.

→ You learn what actually works
→ You see what people really want
→ You discover the problems you can’t see

The overthinking phase feels safe. No one can criticize what doesn't exist yet.

But safety isn't the goal. Progress is. And progress only happens when you move.

Here's what 20 minutes with Gamma can actually do:

→ Turn that business idea into a pitch deck
→ Transform that blog post into a visual story
→ Create that client proposal you've been "getting to" for 2 weeks

Because the people who win aren't the ones with the best plans.

They're the ones that started before they felt ready.

So if you've been stuck in the planning phase...

What would happen if you gave yourself 20 minutes?

Just 20 minutes to start the thing you've been overthinking.

Not to finish it. Not to perfect it. Just to begin.

Because the gap between thinking and doing?

That's where dreams go to die.

Close the gap.

Try Gamma. Give yourself 20 minutes.

Watch how it’s done: https://lnkd.in/gSWbh-vx

See what you can build when you stop planning and start doing.

Brand partnership • Microbusiness Ideas / AI enthusiast / TEDx speaker

You're asking for directions from people who are lost themselves.

And wondering why you keep ending up in the same place.

Here's the pattern most people fall into:

→ They want to start a business, so they ask their 9-5 friends

→ They want to scale, so they ask people stuck at $100K

→ They want freedom, so they ask the burned-out "successful" ones

The advice sounds good. It feels safe. But it's coming from someone who's never been where you're trying to go.

They'll tell you to:

→ "Get a steady job first"
→ "Wait until you're more experienced"
→ "Don't take that risk"

Because it's all they know.

I made the same mistake for years and stayed stuck in a job I hated.

That’s when I learned the truth about advice:

– Most people give advice based on their fears, not your potential
– Good intentions don't equal good guidance
– The loudest voices are often from people who never tried


You can't get to $1M by asking someone who's never made it past $100K.

You can't build freedom by listening to people who work 80-hour weeks.

You can't create something new by following people stuck in the old.

So before you take anyone's advice, ask yourself:

Have they actually done what I'm trying to do?

Not talked about it. Not theorized about it. Actually done it.

Because the best directions come from people who've already made the journey.

Everyone else is just guessing.

And you don't build your dreams on someone else's guesses.

Found this valuable? Please reshare with your network! ♻️ 

And follow Noemi Kis✨ for daily growth tips!

I used to have a goal to hit $10M revenue.

Then I deleted it.

For years, that number lived in my business plan, my pitch decks, my annual reviews.

The number that would finally prove:

→ I'd made it
→ I was a real CEO
→ I belonged in the rooms I was in

But here's what nobody tells you about chasing revenue targets:

The goalpost keeps moving.

Hit $1M? Now you need $5M.
Hit $5M? Now you need $10M.
Hit $10M? Now you need to be a unicorn.

It never ends. And to be honest, I was exhausted.

I was making decisions I didn't believe in, all for a number that someone else decided mattered.

In 2021, I sat down and asked myself a different question:

"What do I actually want my life to look like?"

Not my revenue. Not my team size.

My actual life.

The answer was simple:

→ Wake up without anxiety
→ Take weekends completely off
→ Fund new projects without outside money
→ Never miss my family’s important events
→ Build things I'm proud of, not things that scale

And surprisingly, none of that required $10M.

It required less, really good margins, and a business model I loved.

So I deleted the revenue goal.

And I replaced it with this:

– Does this decision give me more freedom or less?
– Does this opportunity energize me or drain me?
– Will I regret saying yes to this in 6 months?

Today, I don’t make $10M but I have:

→ Profit margins that fund my passion projects
→ A small team that I can trust fully
→ Time to think, create, and actually live

So if you're killing yourself for a number that someone else told you matters...

Ask yourself: What am I actually building toward?

Because maybe the goal isn't bigger.
Maybe the goal is better.

Found this valuable? Please reshare with your network! ♻️ 

And follow Noemi Kis✨ for daily growth tips!

Most people spend 3 hours making presentations that no one remembers.

I spend 5 minutes.

Because I automated the boring part.

Here's the thing about getting ahead in your career:

It's not about working harder. It's about creating unfair advantages.

And I found the best one:

You’re drowning in post-meeting work. Every Zoom call meant hours of:

→ Transcribing key points
→ Creating presentation decks
→ Formatting everything perfectly
→ Sending follow-ups that proved I was "on it"

Then I discovered the highest-leverage automation:

I connected two simple tools with Zapier:

Zapier - the automation platform that connects everything
Gamma - creates beautiful presentations instantly
Zoom - where all my important conversations are stored

Here's why this combination is genius:

The best insights already exist.

- Your brilliant strategy discussion.
- Your client's feedback.
- Your team's decisions.

All trapped in meeting recordings.

But when you connect where data lives to where it needs to be, magic happens.

Now after every important call:

→ Zapier automatically detects my Zoom recording
→ Sends it to Gamma
→ Gamma analyzes the entire conversation
→ Creates a professional deck with key insights

5 minutes. Zero manual work.

What this actually means for your career:

- You can present complex things simply
- You follow up after every meeting
- You show up like an executive leader

While everyone else is still formatting slides, you're already thinking three moves ahead.

That's how you create opportunities.

You can find it at https://lnkd.in/g_AgBGhA

#zapierpartner #gammapartner

Most startup advice is for 22-year-olds who can code.

I'm 40. I run a 7 fig business serving clients like SpaceX and P&G.  

In a tiny niche for water filtration.

5 hours a week. 3 people. 

Let me show you how a microbusiness works:

Let’s take a traditional business: A pet store

Profitable one-person niches for pets:

→ Travel kits for RV pets ($7K/month)
→ Anxiety gear for rescue dogs ($6K/month)
→ Joint supplements for senior bulldogs ($10K/month)
→ Booking systems for mobile dog groomers ($3K/month)

Each one can be built by non-technical founders using AI tools.

Go so specific that customers think "this was made FOR ME."

Here’s are the options:

→ Freelancer: Income ceiling = hours
→ SaaS & startups: Fast growth, scale, exit.
→ Corporate: Security dependent on the job market.
→ Small business: Employees, overhead, broad market.

This is how I define a microbusiness:

- One person or small team
- $50K-$1M annual revenue
- 10-40 hours/week
- Uses AI + no-code tools
- You specialize

Just a profitable business you own.

This works today but didn’t 5 years ago, because you can:

- Run a business on $100/mo tools
- Build with no code AI and automate
- Find customers in online niche groups

I spent 20 hours documenting 5,000 of these ideas.

Filtered for: profitable, one-person, solvable with AI, serving customers who actually pay.

What’s stopping you isn’t the idea: It’s this:

→ Which niche should I pick?
→ I can't code" (Claude/Cursor/Replit can)
→ I'm already working 50 hours
→ Sounds too good to be true (Fair - that's why I'm showing you my actual business)

You solve a problem so specific that clients gladly pay 10x for someone who finally understands.

That's why I am launching a newsletter:

Every week you’ll get:

→ One ready-to-launch microbusiness (built with Cursor/Zapier)
→ The exact customer niches to target
→ Week 1 execution plan (DM scripts, landing page copy)

Not a course. Not "learn to code."

Just: here's the idea, the AI template setup, here's who to sell: now go.

Want the 5,000 profitable niches right now? It’s free when you join my newsletter.  

Get it here: https://lnkd.in/g4BK_8n9

This is how you build career insurance and freedom.

Share this to your network ♻️

P.S. Comment "niche" below, or repost and I'll DM you a bonus, the entire database inside a custom GPT. (have to be connected)

Last week, it took me 3 hours to screen 231 resumes.

Today it took 30 seconds per resume.

Most founders I know are drowning in resumes.

So I built a Zapier Agent that evaluates resumes instantly from my browser.

I tested it on a pile of resumes yesterday.

The agent caught things I would've missed:
- A developer with the exact stack we use (buried on page 2)
- Red flags in employment gaps I glossed over
- Pattern matching across similar successful hires

But here's my favorite part:

It doesn't just say yes or no.

It explains WHY.

"Strong candidate - has 3 years in our exact tech stack, shows progression in responsibilities, and their side project demonstrates self-learning."

Or:

"Pass - lacks hands-on experience despite certifications, no evidence of building real products."

This is NOT about replacing human judgment.

It's about getting to human judgment faster.

This is how modern founders should hire.

Not by reading 200 generic resumes.

But by building agents that instantly surface the right people.

Curious to try it out? Try Zapier agents here: https://lnkd.in/gQwBEtTy

#ZapierPartner

Mark MacLeod

Limitless.ceo

Limitless is an exclusive community of VC and PE-backed CEOs who want
to scale themselves and their companies without limits.

Founder

I coach startup CEOs to grow themselves and their business all the way to a massive exit

SurePath Capital Partners

SurePath Capital Partners is the premier strategic financial advisor to the global SMB Software market. With offices in Toronto and San Francisco, we aim to be the #1 advisor in this space globally and the one call CEOs and board make when they need to make a deal happen.

FreshBooks

I led finance and corporate development at FreshBooks - the #1 cloud accounting specialist for small business owners. Since 2004, over 5 million people have used FreshBooks to track time, organize expenses and invoice clients online and in the cloud.

Accomplishments:
- Closed $30M institutional funding round + other unpublished transactions
- Led the process to find a partner to backstop a new product line
- Sourced and closed other key revenue-generating partnerships

CFO + Chief Corporate Development Officer

Real Ventures

Venture Partner

Parter at Real Ventures where I focus on SaaS, freemium, e-commerce and digital media seed investments

Director, Fabric Technologies
Director, Context.io (sold to Return Path)
Director, Frank and Oak
Observer, Rewardli Inc.
Investor, Thinknear.com (sold to Telenav)
Investor, Localmind.com (sold to Airbnb)
Investor, Massive Damage Inc.
Director, Sweet IQ (sold to Reachlocal)
Observer, Unbounce.com
Investor, Engagio (sold to Influitive)
Investor, Origin.al Internet Company

General Partner

Tungle Corporation

CFO for Tungle - a great solution for meeting coordination.

Raised a $5M "A" round. Served as CFO through the successful sale of the company to RIM.

SaaS, E-commerce, Marketplace companies

Interim CFO, Shopify
Advisor, Well.ca
Advisor, Cakemail 
Advisor, Dok Dok Inc 
Advisor, Raymark
Advisor, Sitezoogle 
Interim CFO, Status.net Inc.

Advisor & CFO

Mobivox

Led finance, operations, legal, HR, strategic planning functions for this mobile communications startup. Raised an $10M B round led by Flybridge. Raised an additional $1M in China. Made major improvements to execution, ops, key metrics, etc.

Terrascale Technologies Inc.

Led finance, operations, customer support, IT and manufacturing for this venture-backed networked storage vendor. Negotiated the sale of Terrascale to Rackable Systems (NASDAQ: RACK) in a deal returning 10x on invested capital.

VP, Finance

Hexago

Prepared this 15 person IP networking startup for commercialization & ‘B’ round funding. Responsibilities included financing, all back office operations, investor + board relations and negotiation of all  agreements. Towards the end of my term, I was given increasing responsibility for OEM sales and strategic relationships.

I help startup CEOs go from $5M in revenue to a massive exit

Since 1999, I have sat at the right-hand side of the leaders of high growth technology companies as either a CFO, VC or deal maker. I served as CFO for software companies including Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) and Freshbooks. 

I was a General Partner in Real Ventures, one of Canada's largest and most active seed stage funds. My investments there include the fund's largest cash on cash and highest IRR returns to date. 

Most recently, I founded SurePath Capital Partners the leading investment bank for SMB SaaS companies where we did hundreds of millions in financing and exit transactions.

The thing I loved most about these roles was the one on one coaching and advisory conversations I had with CEOs. 

Since 2020 I have been coaching, investing in and advising CEOs + helping them execute game-changing deals.

I am a semi-active angel investor with a portfolio of 22 investments, 2 highly positive exits and counting.

In my spare time, I am a passionate CrossFit athlete and electronic music producer/ DJ. I also run Deep Down Music, a record label.

I coach, advise and invest in the CEOs of high growth technology companies & help them execute game-changing deals.

The Tokyo Test.

Before I hire anyone or partner with a VC, I ask myself one question:

Would I be excited to sit beside this person on a 14-hour flight to Tokyo?

If the answer is no, I pass.

Life is too short to work with people you don't actually like.

Skills matter. Chemistry matters more.

Use the Tokyo Test.

Helping VC-backed CEOs scale themselves and their companies without limits. | Host of The Startup CEO Show podcast

The most senior person in the room uses the fewest words.

Junior: 10 slides to explain the problem
Mid-level: 5 slides with bullet points
Senior: "We have a cash flow issue. Here are three options."

Brevity isn't about being short. It's about being clear.

It means you've done the hard work of:
- Cutting through the noise
- Identifying what actually matters
- Removing your own confusion first

If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it yet.

Watch how the best CEOs communicate:
- They get to the point
- They don't hedge with qualifiers
- They don't need jargon to sound smart

The CEO who says "Revenue is down, we need to cut 15% of headcount by Friday" is more senior than the one who sends a 2000-word memo about "organizational optimization initiatives."

You earn seniority when you stop needing extra words to feel credible.

Complexity is easy. Clarity is hard.

If you want to level up, start cutting.

Subscribe to my newsletter and get a 22 page presentation on the secrets of Limitless CEOs https://lnkd.in/gWqQBd-n

Bryn Jones grew PartnerStack for 4 straight years at 100% growth.

Most founders dream of that problem.

He told me it nearly broke him.

His insight: "Growth solves everything. Except it solves everything by letting you ignore problems.

You can only pave over so many cracks before the whole thing collapses.

The wildest part? Fixing those problems after Tech Winter hit was the most fulfilling work of his career. More than the hypergrowth years.

If you missed my podcast with Bryn, here is the interview. We cover:
Also in this conversation:
✅  How being on Canada's national swim team prepared him for 10 years as a CEO
✅  Why most partnerships fail despite their potential
✅  The one question that determines if a partnership will work
✅  Why he ignored his instinct and what happened next

Read it here:

Open article: PartnerStack's CEO Bryn Jones on 10 Years of Building B2B Partnership Networks and Why Growth Nearly Broke Him - Mark MacLeod by markmacleod.me

PartnerStack's CEO Bryn Jones on 10 Years of Building B2B Partnership Networks and Why Growth Nearly Broke Him - Mark MacLeod

Work hard. Play hard. Sleep hard.

This is my mantra.

Work hard: Anything worth doing is never easy. You need to push.

Play hard: Play makes life worth living. Most CEOs think this is a post-exit luxury. I disagree. For me, "play" is music and yoga. Non-negotiables.

Sleep hard: Another thing many CEOs skip. To show up as your best self and crush without burning out, you need to sleep like it's your job.

You are a mental athlete. Athletes sleep like it's their job.

Nobody is thinking about you.

Seriously.

Your competitor? Too busy with their own problems.

Your team? Thinking about their own issues.

Your board? Looking at the numbers, not judging you as a person.

The brutal truth: You're not the main character in anyone's story but your own.

So why are you making decisions based on what "they" might think?

❌ Holding back on that bold strategy
❌ Overthinking that honest conversation
❌  Not sharing your real challenges

Your anxiety about perception is burning energy that you need for  building.

The CEOs who scale fastest realize that only results matter. Not optics. Not opinions. 

Make the call. Say the thing. Take the risk.

They're all too busy worrying about what YOU think of them.

If your direct reports drain you, you have the wrong people.

Or you're doing their job for them.

I see this constantly with the CEOs.

❌  They finish a day of back-to-back 1-on-1s and they're exhausted.

❌  They spend more time fixing their team's work than doing their own.

❌  They dread certain meetings because they know it'll be them solving problems again. Or a certain team member just saps them of energy.

Here's what should happen instead:

✅  Your direct reports should energize you.

✅  You should leave your 1-on-1s thinking "damn, I'm glad they're on this team."

✅  You should feel excited about what they're building, not anxious about cleaning up their mess.

✅ You should get ideas from them, not just give them.

If that's not happening, there are only two reasons:

1. You hired wrong
2. You're not letting go

Hiring wrong is fixable. Make the change.

Not letting go is also fixable, but it requires you to change.

Stop jumping in to save the day. Stop being the one with all the answers.

Build systems. Train properly. Then trust.

Sometimes you need to watch things break to learn where the system needs fixing.

You can't scale a company where everything runs through you.

And you definitely can't sustain it.

Your team should multiply your energy, not divide it.

If they're not doing that, something needs to change. 

P.S.
This was my all star team at SurePath Capital. Each and every team member gave me enery and leverage.

This is the story of how a tax law professor built a $30M ARR company while still teaching classes.
 
Benjamin Alarie is the CEO of Blue J Legal AND a professor at U of Toronto law school.
 
He saw AI coming for the legal profession in 2011. Had a choice: watch it happen or build the future himself.
 
The kicker? He's not a software engineer. His co-founder moved from Australia because of a childhood friendship.
 
They started in 2015. Spent 7 years building with supervised machine learning. Then LLMs hit. They pivoted hard in 2023.
 
Now: 300%+ YoY growth. 10 new logos daily. Approaching $30M ARR.
 
The lesson isn't about AI or tax law.
 
It's about recognizing when your deep domain expertise intersects with massive technological shifts.
 
Ben knew tax research was painful because he'd lived it for thousands of hours. He could see exactly what needed to exist.
 
Most professors would write another paper. He built a company.
 
We talked about:
✅ Managing investors while maintaining an academic career
✅ Enterprise sales when your TAM is basically the Big 4
✅ Why LLMs changed everything
✅ The $500B tax compliance market nobody thinks about
 
Link in comments.

The new CEO flex: Your sleep score.

Remember when pulling all-nighters was a badge of honour?

That doesn't scale. It just makes it harder for you to build your company.

Elite performers know: sleep is performance.

8 hours. 90% sleep score. REM cycles optimized.

That's the real flex.

You're a mental athlete running a company worth millions.

Sleep like your business depends on it.

Because it does.

No small plans.

It takes the same effort to hit "achievable" targets as it does for "crazy" targets.

Same meetings. Same strategic planning. Same team-building.

The only difference? Your ambition.

Most CEOs set targets they know they can hit. Safe. Predictable. Boring. They do this so they can tell their investors they are "on plan".

As you get ready for 2026, consider setting seemingly impossible targets.

Google was famous for this with it's moonshot thinking.

Hitting 60% of a moonshot target may be much better than hitting 100% of an achievable target.

Early stage VC: "We make 30 bets a year. Let's take a shot."

Growth stage VC: "We make 3 bets a year. Prove everything."

This is the shift founders don't see coming.

Seed investors are building a portfolio. If 1 in 10 works, they win. They can afford leaps of faith.

Growth investors are making concentrated bets. If 1 in 3 fails, their fund is cooked. They can't afford to be wrong.

So they need:
✅  Three years of consistent revenue growth
✅  Proof of unit economics
✅  Evidence of repeatability
✅  Clear path to exit

They're not being difficult. They're being rational.

Your Series A took 20 conversations.
Your Series C will take 200.

The math is simple:
- Early stage: high volume, high failure tolerance
- Late stage: low volume, low failure tolerance

Build your pipeline accordingly.

If you're raising growth stage capital with a seed stage pipeline strategy, you're going to run out of runway before you find your lead. Growth investors want to track you for a long time before they invest. No FOMO decisions.

Don't get bitter. Get realistic. 

Subscribe to my newsletter and get a 22 page presentation on the secrets of Limitless CEOs https://lnkd.in/gWqQBd-n

P.S.
here's a random photo of me at the Calgary Stampede back when I was a VC. Cowboy hats are underrated

You can't see the system when you're inside it.

Your best thinking happens when you step out of the environment that created your current thinking.

Today I am joining Adrian Salamunovic to kick off the first Limitless Unconference in Tulum.

A group of ambitious humans are arriving. All builders. All on the go.

The goal is to reset. Take a breath. Take stock of what’s working and not. In our companies and our lives.

To engage in healing breath work and movement. To gain clarity and set our commitments and dreams for 2026.

I use retreats as a way to recharge, reset and recommit every year. My goal is to have one big retreat per year and 3 small ones.

This gives me perspective and direction. I slow down to speed up.

CEOs who build for the long term don't just work hard. They build in time to step back. Quarterly. Monthly. However often you need it.

Because perspective isn't found in the grind.

It's found when you finally stop grinding.

When you lose your health, you realize nothing else matters.

So many CEOs that come to me for coaching are killing themselves and can't keep up.

In this video Robbie Bent co-founder and CEO of Othership gets real about his journey. See comments for the full conversation.

P.S.
If you want to build a market-leading company without sacrificing your health, come join us at Limitless (see my featured post for the link)

Open video: ✂️ The CEO role will kill you on youtube.com

Want to 10x your company? Start by 10x'ing your capacity.

You can't scale what you haven't built in yourself first.

I see CEOs obsessing over growth hacks, fundraising strategies, and hiring plans.

But they ignore the most important variable: themselves.

Your energy. Your focus. Your ability to handle stress. Your decision-making under pressure.

Most founders hit a ceiling not because their market is too small or their product is wrong.

They hit a ceiling because they've maxed out their personal operating system.

The tree grows tall because its roots go deep.

Your company will only rise as high as your foundation is solid.

This means: sleep, exercise, mental health, relationships, nervous system regulation.

The boring stuff that everyone skips.

The biggest outcomes are founder-led. Always have been.

Zuck. Bezos. Jobs. Musk.

They didn't just build companies. They built themselves into people capable of leading those companies.

Stay grounded while you build.

Invest in your foundation as aggressively as you invest in your business.

That's how you become limitless.

Here's why meditation feels scary (at first)

The moment you sit down, the noise starts. Not around you—inside you.

You suddenly notice how busy your mind is. Thoughts. Loops. Worries. Stories.
It’s a lot.

But here’s the truth: that chaos was already there. You’ve just been working so hard to think clearly through it. This is why you're so exhausted. Why you can't think clearly.

Imagine how much energy you’d reclaim if your mind was actually clear.

Meditation shows you the mess then helps you clean it up.

Yes, it’s uncomfortable at first.

But on the other side? Clarity. Presence. Power.

Sit anyway.

The peace you’re seeking is already within you.
✨

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The Battle

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