Scale Like a CEO

Performance Accelerated Learning
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Join host Justin Reinert as he sits down with founders who’ve navigated the jump from do-it-all entrepreneur to strategic CEO. Each episode uncovers the key milestones, hard-won insights, and practical tactics you need to build a high-performing leadership team, overcome decision fatigue, and scale your business with confidence. Tune in weekly for quick, actionable conversations designed to accelerate your path to CEO mastery.

  1. DEC 16

    From Strategy to Execution: Insights from Render Networks CEO Stephen Rose

    Want a real playbook for scaling without hiding behind a 90-day plan? We sit down with Stephen Rose, CEO of Render Networks, to unpack how he makes faster decisions without sacrificing rigor—grounding every move in customer conversations, employee insight, and hard data. From the brutal economics of fiber and utility builds to the messy reality of changing a go-to-market thesis, Stephen shows what it takes to steer a scale-up through real constraints. We dig into the two levers that matter most in software—innovation and marketing—and why aligning those creates downstream momentum in sales and cost to serve. Stephen explains how he assesses leaders using pipeline health, conversion metrics, and employee engagement as a proxy for followership, then maps leadership skills to the company’s stage. The method is disarmingly practical: get individual feedback on a strategy thesis to reduce bias, bring the team into one room to synchronize context, and run a dynamic RevOps cadence so the org responds to signals in days, not quarters. One standout story: entering the U.S. market with a transformative technology only to discover most buyers weren’t ready. Rather than force adoption, Stephen reoriented the product to meet current workflows, then designed a path to move customers forward. It cost time and money—and built long-term traction. We also explore how to empower the middle layer of management with clear guardrails, tie responsibility to accountability, and promote at 50% readiness to keep learning curves steep. If you’re scaling a product company, leading a transformation, or trying to turn engagement into execution, you’ll walk away with concrete steps you can use this week. If you enjoyed this conversation, follow the show, share it with a colleague who leads teams, and leave a quick review to help others discover it.

    20 min

  2. DEC 15

    Leading Through Crisis: Empathy, Pivots, and The Future of Media

    What does it take to pivot a public company under real pressure and come out cleaner, simpler, and stronger? We sit down with Matt Edelman, CEO of Super League, to unpack the strategy and humanity behind a turnaround that moved the business from live esports events to scalable digital engagement while restoring investor confidence and partner trust. Matt traces the journey from Marvel’s early entertainment studio to a front-row seat in the gaming economy. He explains why Gen Z now spends more time playing games than watching social video and what that means for brand marketers who still treat interactive worlds as side projects. We dig into the executive lag—many current decision makers didn’t grow up inside multiplayer environments—and how the next wave of millennial CEOs and CMOs will likely redirect budgets toward play-first platforms where attention, engagement, and conversion stack together. The conversation gets candid around leadership in crisis. Matt breaks down the headwinds from platform changes on Roblox, the decision to reduce staff, and the discipline required to align bankers, investors, employees, and partners around one consistent narrative. He shares a clear execution chain: restore Nasdaq compliance, eliminate unsustainable debt, simplify the cap table, clean up payables, and then invite strategic capital—proving each step before telling the next chapter. Along the way, he outlines his three rules for compassionate separations and how a profound personal experience reshaped his voice as a leader, making empathy a precise tool rather than a platitude. If you care about the future of marketing, brand safety in gaming, or the nuts and bolts of public-company turnarounds, this conversation delivers practical insight and human depth. Subscribe, share with a colleague who leads teams through change, and leave a review with the one lesson you’ll apply this quarter.

    22 min

  3. DEC 12

    Scale Like a CEO: Transitioning to SaaS & Building Leadership Culture with Dean Curtis

    Most decks drain attention; the best stories drive decisions. We sit down with Dean Curtis, CEO of Ingage, to unpack how a services agency transformed into a focused SaaS company by turning sales content into interactive, data-driven experiences that prospects actually remember. Dean shares the messy middle of building go-to-market while the product was still taking shape, the moment they chose a single vertical in home services, and the downstream effects of that decision on retention, revenue quality, and roadmap discipline. We get tactical about leadership. Dean explains how stepping from CRO/COO into the CEO role forced him to stop being the doer and start building the people who build the business. He walks through hiring for curiosity and ownership over resume length, replacing leaders as growth ceilings changed, and anchoring culture on two simple values: customer first and value focused. The conversation gets real on feedback: how he rebuilt one-on-ones around the employee’s agenda, required unfiltered two-way critique, and learned to ask clarifying questions instead of shutting ideas down. Psychological safety didn’t appear overnight; consistency and grace made it stick. Alignment is a system, not a slogan. Dean outlines the OKR backbone, quarterly onsite planning, monthly business reviews, and a candid weekly update video that surfaces wins and misses across teams. He also breaks down the 1080-10 leadership framework: set the first 10% with a clear definition of done, empower the team to own the middle 80%, then return for the final 10% to raise the standard. It’s a practical playbook for SaaS founders and operators who want product market fit, accountable teams, and a culture that scales. If this conversation gave you a useful tactic or a new lens on leadership, follow the show, share it with a teammate, and leave a quick review so others can find it. Got a PMF story or a feedback ritual that works? Send us a note—we’d love to hear it.

    18 min

  4. DEC 11

    From Founder to CEO: Leading with Soul & Scaling a Health Tech Agency w/ Ricardo Velasquez

    What if a software company could scale and still feel deeply human? We sit down with Ricardo Velazquez, founder of Alternova, to unpack how a 90-person team navigated a pandemic pivot, built patient-first products in digital health, and held onto its principles when the market turned. Ricardo explains the journey from services-only growth to a smarter model: partnering with distribution-first operators to co-create products, combining deep compliance expertise with real go-to-market power. We dig into the CEO shift from chief-everything to focused leadership. Ricardo shares how he delegates finance without losing rigor, invests time where it matters most—product and clients—and sets a high bar for leadership: transparent communication, respectful delivery, and a commitment to elevate the entire team. You’ll hear how Alternova hires and promotes quickly, why escalation is a non-negotiable habit, and how knowledge-sharing across backend, frontend, and product turns individual stars into durable teams. The most powerful moments trace culture under pressure. Funding freezes and post-COVID corrections forced painful layoffs, and Ricardo walks through the playbook: radical transparency, tailored support, and severance that respects people’s lives. He also reveals a simple but profound way they rebuilt trust—a series of hand-written letters from leaders and peers that reconnected the company to its mission and set sights on a stronger year ahead. For founders, product leaders, and anyone building in digital health, this conversation offers a practical blueprint for scaling with soul: HIPAA-savvy software, patient-centered design, principled decision-making, and partnerships that compound impact. If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s leading a team, and leave a quick review so more builders can find it.

    24 min

  5. DEC 10

    Scale Like a CEO | Adrian Moise - Founder & CEO of Aequilibrium

    What if scaling faster wasn’t about adding more process but changing how you lead? We sit down with Adrian Moise, founder and CEO of Equilibrium, to unpack a simple operating system—AAA: Alignment, Autonomy, Accountability—that helps teams move quickly without losing the plot. Adrian shows how clarity of outcomes, room to execute, and clear ownership combine to create the conditions where leaders grow and customers feel the difference. We dig into hiring beyond pedigree and why “sponges” who learn fast outperform resumes stamped with big-brand logos. Adrian explains how he identifies flexible, resourceful people, then accelerates them with real autonomy and mentorship—often promoting multiple times in two years. From there, we zoom out to the structural checkpoints that every growing company hits: around 10, 20, and 50 people, you need new layers, sharper interfaces, and an outcome-driven model that balances the needs of customers, team, and shareholders. Generalizing specialists play a key role, dissolving silos without sacrificing depth. Culture doesn’t have to fade in a remote-first world. Adrian shares how periodic in-person hubs, plus VR-based agile ceremonies, rebuild presence and playfulness that flat video calls can’t match. Think standups on the beach, retros on the moon, and team rituals that make alignment feel tangible again. Layered through the conversation is a Formula 1 mindset: constant iteration between races, a package that wins as a whole, and the discipline to change setups as conditions shift. The big takeaway: don’t just scale your business—scale your mindset for each phase of growth. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a founder who’s scaling, and leave a review with your favorite takeaway so we can keep bringing you practical strategies that actually move the needle.

    21 min

  6. DEC 9

    How AI is Saving Hospitals Millions in the Operating Room | Robert Brown

    What if the operating room, the most complex and costly part of the hospital, finally became transparent? We sit down with Robert Brown, co-founder, president, and CTO of Omnimed, to unpack how AI can turn surgical chaos into clarity—without getting in the way of care. Robert explains how unbiased, real-time data reveals where cases slip, where turnover stalls, and where teams can safely move faster, giving surgeons, executives, and risk officers a shared source of truth. We dig into the paradox that hospitals make most of their revenue in the OR while often losing money there. With margins under constant pressure and reimbursements lagging, efficiency is no longer a nice-to-have; it is survival. Robert shows how measuring what truly happens—start times, transitions, delays, equipment readiness—creates a feedback loop that improves outcomes and protects the bottom line. Instead of adding dashboards for the sake of dashboards, Omnimed focuses on actionable metrics that change decisions tomorrow morning. Beyond technology, we explore the leadership playbook required to build healthcare products that stick. Robert shares candid lessons on letting go of old corporate habits, finding product-market fit in AI, and communicating value simply to different stakeholders. He talks about hiring people who think like owners, leading with humility over hype, and solving problems in the gray areas where playbooks run out. Recent recognition as a top AI healthcare company and growing interest from major systems signal real traction, but the core promise remains practical: safer surgeries, faster turnovers, and healthier hospital finances rooted in facts, not anecdotes. If you care about surgical quality, operational excellence, and the future of healthcare AI, this conversation lays out a clear path from data to impact. Listen, share with a colleague who owns OR performance, and subscribe for more candid, actionable stories from builders at the edge of healthcare innovation.

    17 min

  7. DEC 8

    How MedTech CEO Justin Ramsaran Scales Teams & Culture | Scale Like a CEO

    What if the skill that built your product is the very thing holding your company back from scaling? We sit down with medtech founder and CEO Justin Ramsaran to unpack the real transition from hands-on builder to culture shaper, and why learning to let go—without losing touch—is the leadership unlock most of us avoid. Justin traces his path from biomedical engineering and FAA software to global product leadership and founding RGP and Health Mosaic. He shares how he delegated the parts he loved most—product and early sales—by installing clear SOPs, codifying tribal knowledge, and setting rhythms that keep him close to the signal while empowering specialists to execute. We dig into selecting and developing leaders by stress-testing for EQ and resilience: who cools the room when everything is on fire, who manages up when the founder is the spark, and how adversity quotient separates future VPs from strong ICs. Culture sits at the center. Justin explains how to keep teams flat and fast as headcount grows, using cross-functional squads and decisive ownership to avoid “meeting for a meeting.” When stakes are high, he flies the team together for focused, in-person sprints that compress alignment and decisions into days, not weeks. We also explore decision paralysis with big customers and how perspective shifts—mentors, outside conversations, and even solo sports like tennis—create the mental space to make clean calls.  Looking ahead, Justin is building an entrepreneurial culture from the inside out: open office hours, hackathon-style experiments, and platforms like an internal podcast to turn curiosity into validated bets. The goal is a learning organization where ideas move quickly from hunch to test to shipment, and where leadership means an open door, clear standards, and real relationships that outlast any single project. If you’re a founder or operator wrestling with delegation, culture, and speed, this conversation will sharpen your playbook. Listen, subscribe, and leave a review with the one practice you’ll adopt this week—what’s your next step toward a flatter, faster team?

    16 min

  8. DEC 5

    How to Scale & Pivot Your Business: The 5 Ps Framework with Dr. Georgette Zinaty

    Growth doesn’t stall because ideas run out. It stalls when leaders can’t pivot fast enough. We sat down with Dr. Georgette Zinaty—Chief of Staff for Myant and founder of Women Helping Empower Women—to map a clearer path from promising idea to durable scale. She breaks down the Five Ps framework—People, Purpose, Profit, Planet, and the often-missed Pivot—and shows how “stragility,” the strategic ability to be agile, turns shocks into momentum. Across candid stories from transportation and medical sectors, we explore how to prebuild runway before you need it: small test pilots in new segments, fractional talent to unlock the next milestone, and lightweight experiments that validate channel and pricing without burning cash. Georgette explains why most companies falter on pivot, not purpose, and how to spot inflection points early enough to act with confidence. We connect this mindset to practical mechanics—option sets, success thresholds, and iterative resource shifts that keep teams focused on outcomes, not inertia. People remain the engine. We dig into hiring for potential over pedigree, screening for growth mindset with real behavioral questions, and avoiding the costly revolving door of mis-hires. Georgette shares her go-to prompts to reveal ownership, creativity, and resilience, along with a frank take on “hire slow, fire fast” in unionized and startup contexts. Then we zoom out to leadership scaling: using a coach to get unstuck, building a personal advisory board for honest feedback and high-value connections, and “networking up” to accelerate capital access and opportunity—especially for women and BIPOC founders whose growth moves the broader economy. If you want a playbook that blends principle with practice, this conversation delivers: test before you bet, build options ahead of time, and staff for curiosity and grit. Subscribe, share with a founder who needs a pivot, and leave a review with the one P you’ll act on this week.

    20 min
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About

Join host Justin Reinert as he sits down with founders who’ve navigated the jump from do-it-all entrepreneur to strategic CEO. Each episode uncovers the key milestones, hard-won insights, and practical tactics you need to build a high-performing leadership team, overcome decision fatigue, and scale your business with confidence. Tune in weekly for quick, actionable conversations designed to accelerate your path to CEO mastery.

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  • Creator
    Performance Accelerated Learning
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    63
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Scale Like a CEO
  • Show Website
    Scale Like a CEO