S Brian Smith 🪜

I free founders from ops, sales, & management | Founder @ Strategy Ladders | Coached 1000s of B2B and Agency owners | Stop struggling, start enjoying business ownership 🏖️

Most founders of 7-figure B2B service companies reach a point where growth plateaus—and freedom remains a mirage.

They’re still in sales calls. Still solving client fires. Still holding the business together.

That’s where we come in.

At Strategy Ladders, we help founder-led B2B service businesses—agencies, development shops, consulting firms, and more—scale from $2M to $30M+ in annual revenue while removing the founder from daily operations.

We don’t do theory. We do results.

Every advisor on our team has built and scaled 8-figure businesses. We’ve been in your seat, broken through the same ceilings, and led teams to the next level.

What We Deliver:
Strategic clarity with a customized roadmap to scale

Execution firepower through world-class experts and operators

Freedom for founders through strong systems, teams, and leadership

We don’t stop at advice. We help you implement.

Whether it’s building out your sales infrastructure, overhauling project management, optimizing financials, or replacing yourself as CEO—our team has done it before and does it with you.

Services We Integrate Into Our Work:
LATAM recruiting (our secret weapon)

Full-stack B2B marketing through our in-house agency, B2B Labs

Project management systems & leadership

Financial management—without a bloated CFO title

HubSpot CRM buildouts & automation

And more—all tailored for service businesses

We’ve helped clients:
✅ Scale from $150k to $4M ARR in under a year
✅ Slash founder hours by over 40%
✅ Grow recurring revenue from 2% to 50%
✅ Land Fortune 100 clients
✅ Build 65-person teams in two years
✅ Exit profitably and on their terms

We're not a coaching business.

We're not your podcast hero.

We're the serious team for founders ready to win.

If you’re running a 7-figure business and ready to scale to 8+—without grinding yourself into the ground—we should talk.


🪜 www.strategyladders.com

Founder & Head of Strategy

The Strategy Ladder Program delivers MASSIVE results to agencies, consultancies, and service businesses.

If your business is 25-85 employees, partially or fully remote, and you're stuck trying to "level-up," I will transform it with you.

The Strategy Ladder System will get you UNSTUCK. You'll develop a bullet-proof strategy that grows with your business, streamlines operations, scales your revenue, and sets your business up to continue to grow without you.

The Strategy Ladder System doesn't just change your business. It will transform YOU. You'll undergo a mental reset that frees you from the anxiety and beliefs that tie you to the day-to-day in your business. You're the leader of your business - if you don't change, your business never will.

The Strategy Ladder System has worked for over 400 entrepreneurs, delivering & implementing strategies that have:

💥 Scaled an agency from $150k to $4mil ARR in 10 months

💥 Increased a digital marketing agency’s productivity levels by over 450%, dramatically increasing profitability

💥 Streamlined a SaaS product’s roadmap, reducing development costs by 45% while increasing execution speed by over 25%.

💥 Developed and executing a repositioning strategy that landed a web development agency a long-term contract with a Fortune 100 company

💥 Repositioned of an app development agency that grew recurring revenue from 2% to over 50% of total revenue within three month

💥 Built a sales organization of 65 sales people in two years

💥 Orchestrated & executed a legal & and business strategy that lead to a sale of key assets of a SaaS platform for a significant premium over the market value of the company

Most founders hit the same wall. (and how to break through it in 90 days  🚀)

Revenue’s up. Team’s bigger.
And somehow… you’re working more.

Every decision runs through you.
Your calendar is a hostage situation.
And that “vacation”? You spent half of it on Slack.

Here’s what I’ve learned after helping 400+ B2B service founders break the cycle:

The problem isn’t your team. It’s your operating system AND decision delegation.

One client had 80+ employees… and the founder was still spending 6–10 hours/week reviewing dashboards, reports, and funneling decisions through himself.

Not leading. Not strategizing.
Just… reviewing.

We rebuilt their operating rhythm & assigned decision ownership.

90 days later: the team runs the reviews.
The founder gets a 15-minute summary every day. That’s it.

Here’s what a real 90-day shift looks like:

✅ Days 1–30: Clarity

- Map every decision that “requires you”
- Install a simple rule: reversible decisions don’t climb to the founder
- Assign ONE owner per function (Sales, Delivery, Ops, Finance)

✅ Days 31–60: Cadence

- Weekly leadership rhythm (same agenda, every week)
- Scoreboard + priorities (no vibes, no rambling)
- Problems get solved by owners… not escalated to you

✅ Days 61–90: Accountability

- Public commitments
- Misses get fixed, not explained
- You stop rescuing — and become the strategic leader again

One client went from a $1M to $4.5M run rate during this transition.

Not because they worked harder.
Because they built a business that didn’t need them in every room.

The real question isn’t “Can my team handle it?”
It’s: “Have I given them the system to win without me?”

What’s one decision you made this week that your team should’ve owned?

But be careful with one-size-fits-all approaches. Every operating business starts with its own unique set of challenges.

If you’re serious about getting out of the middle, DM me “90 DAYS” and I’ll send you a business audit to see where you need to focus first.

✌️🧡🌮

MarTech Content Writer | Attracting Readers & Driving Conversions Like a Magnet

Hi, I’m Kate, a content strategist for B2B startups and ex content writer for global SaaS brands like Semrush and Backlinko. 

I specialize in content that drives SEO growth, builds brand trust, and supports sales. 

Whether you’re launching a new product or scaling your content engine, I help you turn complex topics into clear, value-packed assets that resonate with your audience.

What I bring to the table:
→ Strategic content with SEO baked in
→ In-depth research and expert interviews that add credibility to each content piece
→ Content that aligns with your funnel — from top-of-funnel education to bottom-of-funnel conversions
→ Real examples, clear structure, and CTAs that move readers to action

I’ve worked with industry-leading MarTech platforms like Semrush, Backlinko, Planable, creating long-form content that not only ranks but converts. My writing is grounded in marketing strategy and user insights.

Now, I also consult startups on building scalable content strategies, using AI tools to support production without sacrificing quality. If you’re a marketing lead, founder, or brand ready to scale content with substance — I’d love to chat.

Let’s connect if you’re looking for:
✅ A trusted content writer with deep MarTech/SaaS experience
✅ A strategist who gets both SEO and storytelling
✅ A consultant to help you streamline your content ops with AI

📩 DM me or email me at kate@kate-starr.com to chat about your goals or potential collaboration.

Kate Starr 🧲

One of the top three things you can do this year to grow with content is to:


Document EVERYTHING.

Don't just post the polished wins or the “big announcements.”

Instead, share what you’re learning in real time.
What surprised you while working on the thing you want to be known for.
What didn’t work the way you expected and what that made you realize.
Share the moments when things finally start to make sense and the moments when you faced the challenges.

Be useful to two types of people:
• the ones actively looking for answers in your industry
• and the version of you from a year or two ago

No matter the industry, this kind of content compounds fast.
It builds trust. It builds context. And over time, it builds demand.

Honestly?
That’s still the most underrated marketing strategy going into 2026.

Happy New Year!

Kate Starr

Helping startups write content that attracts ideal clients | Ex-Semrush | SaaS Content Strategist & B2B Content Creator

Imagine this, you’re halfway through brainstorming something about your business.


You’re talking it through with ChatGPT.

Asking follow-ups, get those lightbulb moments, and ask more questions. So, you’re deep in the flow.

And then, you see a relevant ad inside the chat.

Maybe for a project management tool, or a marketing platform.

So, I can’t decide. Do relevant ads actually help here? Or does any ad, no matter how well targeted, interrupt the flow?

Maybe, if you’re like me, and already paying for the $20 plan, nothing changes, but I’d love to hear what you think.

P.S. I’m working on the next video where I’ll share what placing ads in ChatGPT can mean to your business. So, keep an eye on it.

One of my 2026 goals is to speak more about how to leverage AI in startup marketing, and I could use your help.

I’m currently opening up my calendar for keynotes, workshops, Q&A sessions, and in-house talks on AI in startup marketing.

If you’re organizing an event, or know one that could be a good fit, I’d love an intro or a DM.

The core idea I speak about is this:
AI has made content creation faster, cheaper, and more accessible.
But it’s also made a lot of startup marketing look and sound the same.

So the real challenge for founders is standing out when everyone has access to the same tools.

In my talks and workshops, I help founders and marketing teams:
- Understand how people search for, consume, and trust content now that AI is part of the process
- Build a content marketing strategy that resonates with their ideal client persona and cuts through the noise of AI-generated content
- Create genuinely helpful, high-quality content that earns trust and still shows up in AI-driven search
- Decide what AI should streamline vs. what must stay human and how to balance the two
- Use AI to move faster without losing voice, trust, or differentiation

These sessions work well for conferences, smaller community events, Q&A sessions, or internal workshops for startup and marketing teams.

If this sounds relevant, I’d really appreciate a DM, an intro, a tag in the comments, or a repost 🙏

You know how this goes when you work for yourself:


you have a ton of tasks saved, but since nobody’s pushing you, most of them feel not urgent or optional.

I was on my way to Stockholm for some business stuff and opened my laptop thinking I’d do a couple of quick tasks.

But this time, I got so locked in that I actually accomplished way more than I imagined.

Bonus: the person sitting next to me was equally focused. So shoutout to my accidental work buddy for the silent accountability 😄

And this is not the first time something like this happened. I keep noticing this as a solopreneur:
movement + a change of environment = boost in productivity.

At home it’s easy to push things to “later.” Or get distracted with all the daily tasks you have around the house.

So, if you work for yourself and feel stuck, try this:
don’t push harder; change the scene.

New places often flow new energies.

Where do you get your best work done — home, coworking space, cafe, train?

Them: How do you use AI in your workflow?


Me: As a business coach, therapist, and a professional thought-organizer 👀

Btw, this is what my ChatGPT had to say after I finally finished my 30-minute monologue, sharing everything that happened this week with little to no structure.

I talked about my behind-the-scenes process, new tool finds, a special announcement, and other bits I was thinking of sharing in today’s newsletter.

If you ever feel like you have too many ideas and no clear angle, this is exactly how I use AI.

So yes, this week’s newsletter is packed.
It’s going live today at 7 PM CET.
If you're not in yet, you can join here: https://lnkd.in/gh7JSXVC

I’m grateful to be included in Buffer’s social media predictions for 2026. 

It’s a must-read resource for anyone making content on social media.

I'm gonna leave the link in the comments ⬇️

senior content creator @ buffer | linkedin creator

I shared our version of "predictions" for the year on the Buffer blog today (really, I looked at the common forces that keep showing up in the creator economy and used predictions to figure out how they might compound. It's all very interesting stuff).

The article and accompanying social posts are live, so you'll soon see eeeeverythinG if you follow Buffer (and hopefully you will even if you don't).

But I'd like to take a moment to appreciate everyone who helped this article come to life:

My team, Kirsti and Hailley for the several rounds of edits, notes, revisions and encouragement, and Sabreen for always being down to gut check my social posts 🫶🏾

Our contributors: Sarahi Castro, Tara Knight 🧩, Louise Glover, Akshita Jaiswal, Amanda N., Olabinjo Adeniran, Chad Woolard, Hailley and Sabreen again, Juan Colmenares, Kate Starr, Alexa Phillips, and everyone else who took the time to share, even if their quotes didn't make it into the final piece.

You can read the article at the link in comments 🔗 – and take a peek at the "forces" below.

Now let's see how the year actually plays out!

I might’ve crossed a line with today’s newsletter 😬

I shared:
– 2 custom GPTs I built for my own content workflow 
– 100+ ChatGPT prompts to boost efficiency across different use cases

Shoutout to Jay Campbell for pushing me down the custom GPT rabbit hole. I hope to create (and share) more of them soon.

If you want these prompts, comment “Prompt” and I’ll send you the link.

taplio

The Battle

S Brian Smith 🪜

Kate Starr 🧲

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreS Brian Smith 🪜's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreKate Starr 🧲's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

S Brian Smith 🪜

Kate Starr 🧲

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);}S Brian Smith 🪜's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreKate Starr 🧲's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreS Brian Smith 🪜's LinkedIn Performance