Exponential Scale

Microteam Alliance
  • 5.0 (3)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Exponential Scale with Ron Schmelzer Helping Microteams Megascale. The Exponential Scale podcast explores how the smallest teams are scaling big. Hosted by Ron Schmelzer, Forbes writer, 3x exited founder, AI thought leader, and founder of Scalebrate, each episode explores the playbooks, systems, and mindset behind today’s fastest-scaling Microteams who are looking to Megascale. You’ll hear from visionary “Scalebrity” founders, thought leaders, and AI-powered builders who are proving that you don’t need a megateam to make a mega impact. Learn how they automate, systemize, and scale smarter, not bigger. If you’re a solopreneur, startup of a few people, or small team with big ambitions, this is your unfair advantage to grow with clarity, leverage, and celebration. Because the future isn’t big teams: it’s small teams that scale exponentially.

  1. 10,000+ Customers With 15 People: Interview with Raphael Bochner, Sweepbright

    1D AGO

    10,000+ Customers With 15 People: Interview with Raphael Bochner, Sweepbright

    How A Company With Just 15 People Serves over 10,000 Customers Building feels obvious when you have a problem. Wrong. Most founders build for themselves—not the market. In this episode, Sweepbright’s founder and CIO Raphael Bochner reveals how microteams scale without hiring: 🔥 Validate before building. Ask 20 strangers: “Do you have this problem?” If 20% say yes, pivot. (90% of startups fail here.) 🔥 Automate before engineering. Typeform + Zapier → 100k+ daily actions. No code, no chaos. 🔥 Fix sales → support handoffs. Context lost = angry customers. Automate it before $1M revenue. Why it works: → Reclaim 15+ hours/week (no new hires) → Turn tiny teams into unstoppable machines → Scale output without scaling meetings or burnout If you’ve ever thought: “I’m drowning but can’t hire…” “Why does adding people create more chaos?” This is your playbook. Subscribe to Exponential Scale for more microteam tactics. Scale smarter. Stay lean. Don’t build your problem into a product. 🌐

    47 min
  2. Hiring without Hiring

    JAN 8

    Hiring without Hiring

    Hiring Without Hiring: How to Scale Without Adding Payroll or Burning Out Hiring feels like the obvious next step when your business starts growing. More work? Add people. Problem solved. Right? Not for Microteams. In this episode of Exponential Scale, we break down why hiring is often the slowest, most expensive way to scale, and what to do instead. If you’ve ever thought: “We’re growing, but I’m drowning”“I can’t afford another hire… yet”“Why does adding people create more chaos, not less?”This episode is for you. You’ll learn: Why most founders aren’t bottlenecked on talent, but on coordinationHow to reclaim 10–20 hours per week by eliminating, automating, and systemizing workThe Hiring Without Hiring framework Microteams use to increase capacity without increasing headcountWhen to use automation, async workflows, and AI instead of another salaryHow small teams scale output without scaling meetings, payroll, or burnoutThis isn’t about working harder. It’s about designing leverage. If you’re building big with a tiny team, make sure to subscribe or follow so you don’t miss future episodes. And for deeper playbooks, frameworks, and Microteam strategies, subscribe to the Exponential Scale newsletter as well! Scale smarter. Stay lean. And don’t hire your way into a mess.

    21 min
  3. Want to Scale? ICP: Do You Know Me?

    JAN 1

    Want to Scale? ICP: Do You Know Me?

    Stop Selling to Everyone. Your ICP Is Killing You (Politely). If your calendar is full, your Slack is noisy, and your bank account is somehow still unimpressed, this episode is for you. In this episode of Exponential Scale, we tackle one of the most expensive mistakes Microteams make: trying to sell to everyone. We break down why vague positioning quietly destroys your margins, burns out your team, and turns your business into a custom-work treadmill. You’ll learn: What an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) actually is (and why it’s not a fluffy persona)The hidden cost of “industry agnostic” and “we customize everything”How serving the wrong clients fragments your focus and kills scaleA simple, no-MBA-required framework to define your ICP in under 30 minutesWhy narrowing your ICP doesn’t shrink your market—it sharpens your edgeThis episode is funny, blunt, and painfully relatable for founders who feel busy but stuck. If you’re running a Microteam and want repeatable revenue, better clients, and less chaos, this is a must-listen. 🎧 Hit play, then hit Subscribe so you don’t miss future episodes on scaling smarter without hiring bigger teams. 📈 Want more playbooks like this? Follow Exponential Scale wherever you listen to podcasts.

    22 min
  4. The 10 Money Skills Every Microteam Should Master

    12/25/2025

    The 10 Money Skills Every Microteam Should Master

    🎙️ The 10 Money Skills Every Microteam Should Master You’re great at what you do. But if the money side of your business feels confusing, stressful, or weirdly fragile, this episode of Exponential Scale is required listening. In this episode, we break down the 10 foundational money skills every Microteam founder must master to scale without panic, burnout, or “revenue rich, cash poor” regret. No MBA required. No finance-bro nonsense. Just the numbers that actually keep small teams alive and growing. 🔑 What you’ll learn: The real difference between revenue, profit, and cash (and why mixing them up kills businesses)What MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) and ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) actually mean, and why predictability beats spikesHow to calculate CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost), LTV (Lifetime Value), and payback period without spreadsheets from hellWhy profit margin matters more than top-line growthWhen to raise prices, how much, and why most Microteams wait too longThe simple metrics that tell you if scaling will help you or hurt youIf you want your business to feel stable, intentional, and scalable, this episode gives you the financial clarity most founders never get. 👉 Subscribe to Exponential Scale for more episodes on Microteams, money, leverage, AI, and scaling smarter without growing headcount. 👉 Then queue up related episodes on Microteam success stories, automation-driven scale, and real-world operator lessons. Your craft built the business. Your money skills decide whether it lasts.

    28 min
  5. What Can You Learn from 22 Microteam Success Stories? (…Plus 1)

    12/18/2025

    What Can You Learn from 22 Microteam Success Stories? (…Plus 1)

    What Can You Learn from 22 Microteam Success Stories? (…Plus 1) Think you need to hire to scale? Cool. These companies didn’t. In this episode, Ron Schmelzer dissects 23 wildly efficient “Microteam Scalemaxxing” success stories. Rebels. Rule-breakers. The “wait, HOW many employees do you have?” crowd. And yes, one cautionary tale that faceplants so you don’t have to. You’ll hear jaw-dropping highlights like: 🔥 OnlyFans generating $37.6M revenue per employee with just 42 people 🧱 Craigslist staying “ugly on purpose” while printing money with ~50 employees 🎮 Basement legends like Doom (4 people), Among Us (3 people), and Minecraft (1 person) reshaping entire industries 📱 WhatsApp serving 900M users with ~50 engineers by saying “no” to feature bloat 🎙️ Creator empires like Joe Rogan and DTC spins like Emma Chamberlain turning attention into durable assets ⚠️ And Clubhouse, the hype rocket that forgot to build a moat This isn’t inspiration. It’s a theft-ready playbook built on the Microteam Manifesto and the 5 Laws of Scalemaxxing. ✅ Subscribe for unfair advantages for tiny teams 📤 Share with one founder about to “hire their way out of problems”

    1h 11m
  6. Interview with Wade Foster, CEO of Zapier

    12/11/2025

    Interview with Wade Foster, CEO of Zapier

    The Next Wave of AI-Powered Scaling: Interview with Wade Foster, Co-Founder and CEO of Zapier. In this episode, Wade breaks down how automation and AI are rewriting the rules of work, why Microteams are suddenly outpacing megacorps, and what Zapier’s next era means for anyone trying to build a high-output business without hiring an army. 🔥 In this episode, Wade reveals: 🤖 How automation quietly became the workforce behind modern businesses⚡ Why Microteams win through leverage, not headcount🧠 Zapier’s AI transformation roadmap and what’s coming next🛠️ The automation stack tiny teams use to punch far above their weight🚀 How founders can scale output 10x without scaling stress🔄 The real difference between automation and AI (and when to use each)If you want your business to run faster, smoother, and sometimes while you sleep, this episode is your permission slip. 👉 Follow and subscribe to The Exponential Scale Podcast for more conversations with the builders shaping the future of high-output, tiny-team success. Your team can stay small. Your impact won’t.

    52 min
  7. Interview with Fabian Veit, CEO of Make

    12/04/2025

    Interview with Fabian Veit, CEO of Make

    What happens when you combine the world’s most ambitious tiny teams with the CEO of one of the most powerful automation platforms on the planet? You get an episode that might actually replace half your to-do list. In this conversation, Ron Schmelzer sits down with Fabian Veit, CEO of Make, the no-code automation platform redefining how microteams work, move, and scale. Fabian led global expansion at Celonis and now steers Make toward a future where any team of one to five people can operate like a company twenty times their size. We dig into: How automation and AI merge into a “synthetic workforce” that multiplies your outputWhy Microteams can out-execute larger orgs if they master systems earlyThe real reason founders stay overwhelmed and how automation flips that scriptWhat Fabian learned scaling teams across continentsHow to think about automation as the foundation of ScalemaxxingThe workflows every Microteam should build yesterdayIf you’re a founder, creator, consultant, or small-team operator who wants more leverage, less chaos, and smarter scale, this episode is a must-listen. 🎧 Listen now and subscribe at: scalebrate.com/podcast Because your team may be tiny… but your ambition doesn’t have to be.

    46 min
  8. 10 Things Microteam Founders Must Do NOW to Scale Big in the Next 6 Months

    11/27/2025

    10 Things Microteam Founders Must Do NOW to Scale Big in the Next 6 Months

    If you’re a Microteam founder trying to scale without losing your sanity, this episode is your new survival manual. Today we break down 10 brutally practical, slightly unhinged, and highly effective moves you can implement immediately to grow faster, work smarter, and multiply your output without adding bodies to payroll. We’re talking: ⚡ Automations that save hours ⚡ Playbooks that keep future-you from screaming ⚡ Credibility assets that close deals ⚡ Weekly rituals that make you unstoppable ⚡ Community energy that multiplies your momentum This is the episode that turns “I’m drowning” into “Oh damn… I’m actually scaling.” If you want to operate like a giant while staying tiny, this is your blueprint. 👊 If you loved the episode, hit follow, drop a rating, and share it with another Microteam founder. Your growth is someone else’s turning point — share the leverage. 🚀 Subscribe to the Exponential Scale newsletter for weekly playbooks, tools, and behind-the-scenes tactics: exponential-scale.com Let’s help every Microteam megascale. One smart move at a time.

    17 min
See All (15)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Exponential Scale with Ron Schmelzer Helping Microteams Megascale. The Exponential Scale podcast explores how the smallest teams are scaling big. Hosted by Ron Schmelzer, Forbes writer, 3x exited founder, AI thought leader, and founder of Scalebrate, each episode explores the playbooks, systems, and mindset behind today’s fastest-scaling Microteams who are looking to Megascale. You’ll hear from visionary “Scalebrity” founders, thought leaders, and AI-powered builders who are proving that you don’t need a megateam to make a mega impact. Learn how they automate, systemize, and scale smarter, not bigger. If you’re a solopreneur, startup of a few people, or small team with big ambitions, this is your unfair advantage to grow with clarity, leverage, and celebration. Because the future isn’t big teams: it’s small teams that scale exponentially.

Information

  • Creator
    Microteam Alliance
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    15
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Microteam Alliance
  • Show Website
    Exponential Scale