Building Startups with My Husband: 5 Key Lessons

Solo founders have LOWER burnout than team founders. Yes, you read that right. New research shows that solopreneurs had the lowest burnout risk—and it actually increased when founders hired teams. Why? Autonomy matters more than we think. https://lnkd.in/dTEDHSnP #Founders #Burnout #Startups

New software startup founders sell themselves short when they tell me, “I never want more than 10 or 15 employees. I don’t think that would be any fun.” Yet they still want to build a valuable software company that doesn’t rely on the founder for everything. They think more employees are just more headaches. But more employees can make a better business and a better life for founders—when you deliberately design your organization with the right foundations. Brett Gilliland is the founder of Elite Entrepreneurs, which delivers coaching, workshops, and community programs to help hundreds of ambitious entrepreneurs navigate the company leadership journey from $1M to $10M in revenue. Elite Entrepreneurs workshops and coaching show founders how to move from founder-led chaos to aligned leadership teams. Brett has seen that co-creating a clear, practical Purpose, Values, and Mission forms the foundation of scalable organizations. With clear meeting rhythms, disciplined execution, and strong hiring practices, overworked founders can become happy CEOs and build much larger companies that run without constant founder involvement. There is a personal transformation for owners as they go from stressed, busy startup founders to strategic CEOs who enjoy their business more as it grows. As Brett describes it: “All of us get stuck in some way. We know there's a better way. We see other people figuring it out. I should be able to do this, we say, but we just didn't know what to do. “You have to do work on your business in a deliberate way. And those who do the work consistently make progress. We help them lay out the path from $1 to $10 million. Here are the things that you do. It's proven, it's practical. “Whoever has been consistent with it, quarter after quarter, month after month, week after week, doing the things that we're talking about, they start stacking wins. “Then all of a sudden, 18 or 24 months later, they’re at a place where they’ve tripled in revenue, they’ve doubled in team, it's fun, the founder has got some time back in their life. It does take time, but it's totally doable. I've seen it over and over and over again.” On the podcast this week, Brett also shares some key leadership foundations that need to be developed to grow bigger and not get stuck: - Growth Brings Freedom: Founders who learn to let go in the right way often rediscover fun, profit, and time. - Leadership Teams Required: Scaling past $3M–$10M depends on building a capable senior leadership team. - Meeting Rhythms Drive Scale: Annual, quarterly, monthly, and weekly cadences keep teams aligned. - CEO Core Roles: Set the vision, build the team, and secure resources—everything else gets delegated. Check out this enlightening interview with Brett Gilliland on the Practical Founders Podcast.https://https://lnkd.in/gM8W3Fsi #practicalfounders

🚀 Scaling isn’t just growth — it’s complexity. And without discipline, complexity can crush even the most promising startup. When I started building my first company IThorizons , like many founders, I thought scaling simply meant bigger numbers: More users. More markets. More investors. But what I didn’t fully understand back then was the chaos that comes with it. Looking back, here are some of the mistakes I made — and the lessons that came with them 👇 1️⃣ Hiring too fast, firing too slow I hired for “future growth” that hadn’t arrived yet. Payroll came, but revenue didn’t. And when it was clear some roles weren’t working, I delayed tough calls because of emotions. 👉 Lesson: Take time to hire right, but never compromise on fit. And when it’s clear it’s not working, act fast. 2️⃣ Building before validating markets I assumed demand would follow innovation. It didn’t. 👉 Lesson: validate deeply before building — it saves time, cash, and morale. 3️⃣ Letting external voices dictate culture Instead of standing strong in the culture we were building, I let outside noise influence us. 👉 Lesson: culture is an inside job. Guard it fiercely. 4️⃣ Mixing friendship with business Without clear expectations, emotions got in the way of decisions. 👉 Lesson: friendship and business can co-exist — but clarity must come first. 5️⃣ Not getting mentors early enough What took me 5 years to learn, the right mentor could have taught me in 2. 👉 Lesson: mentors collapse your learning curve. Don’t wait to find them. 💡 Scaling isn’t about getting bigger. It’s about getting better. ✅ Better people ✅ Stronger culture ✅ Smarter systems ✅ Wiser voices That’s how you grow without breaking. 🙋🏾♂️ Founders, before you scale, pause and ask: Do you have the right people, culture, systems, and mentors? If not, fix that first. 💬 Your turn: What’s the biggest scaling mistake you’ve seen (or made) — and what did it teach you? Drop it in the comments. Someone reading might need your lesson today. #OED #Scaling #LeadershipLessons #StartupGrowth #BusinessLeadership #FounderJourney #Entrepreneurship #ScalingUp #LeadershipDevelopment #BusinessGrowth #StartupLife #ScalingMistakes #FounderLessons #LeadershipMatters #GrowthMindset #BuildingBetter

Building a successful startup doesn't have to mean sacrificing your well-being. The journey from founder to CEO is as much about mental resilience as it is about market strategy: from choosing the right co-founder and setting clear legal foundations to scaling sustainably without burning out. True success comes from building smarter, not just working harder. It’s about protecting your time, prioritising your health, and fostering a culture where both you and your team can thrive under pressure. In this guide, we explore actionable strategies to help founders navigate high-stakes decisions, maintain clarity, and lead with purpose, without losing themselves in the process. Read the dull guide here: https://lnkd.in/dqjRMvFY #Startup #FounderMentalHealth #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #StartupCulture #BusinessGrowth

𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐨-𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫? Let’s be clear: Investors 𝐬𝐚𝐲 they “prefer teams” because… they’re risk managers, not founders. From an investor’s lens: → Two founders = redundancy. → A team = more bandwidth. → Division of skills = higher resilience. Makes sense, 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬. But in the real trenches of building, the story flips. Here’s what investors don’t admit: ➤ 70% of early-stage co-founder breakups destroy startups before Series A. ➤ Misaligned ambition, ego clashes, or differing risk appetites kill more companies than product or market mistakes. ➤ A solo founder with conviction and execution speed often outperforms a “balanced team” that moves slow due to alignment debt. ──── So the real question isn’t: “Should I find a co-founder?” It’s: “Do I currently lack something that truly requires one?” Let’s break that down: You probably don’t need a co-founder if… → You already have deep domain expertise. → You can validate, build, or sell MVPs yourself (or with contractors). → You move faster alone than you negotiate decisions with others. → You plan to hire specialists with funding, not co-managers with opinions. But you probably do need a co-founder if… → You’re missing critical skills that delay go-to-market (e.g., you’re a great builder but zero sales instinct). → You need emotional ballast, someone who absorbs chaos when things fall apart. → You struggle with accountability or stamina over the long haul. ──── Founders often seek co-founders to fill emotional gaps, not operational ones. Fear of being alone in the grind masquerades as “strategic team building.” But great startups aren’t democracy projects, they’re execution machines. If a solo founder can validate the market, build fast, and attract early believers, you don’t need a co-founder. You need momentum, clarity, and a great hiring strategy once capital lands. ──── So no, not every business needs a co-founder. What every founder needs is 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭. The first can be solved with hiring. The second needs therapy, not a co-founder agreement. ──── Want brutal clarity on your startup? Skip years of wasted effort and stop making expensive mistakes. Get direct advice on your deck, valuation, fundraising, GTM, or other challenges. Book a no-BS 1:1 call with me here: https://lnkd.in/gWV8DT56 💬 Drop your most burning question in the comments. ♻ Repost to challenge the “every startup needs a co-founder” myth. 🔔 Follow Anshuman Sinha for more Startup insights. #Startups #Entrepreneurship #VentureCapital #Innovation #Management

Most startup CEOs think being a great manager automatically makes them a great leader. It doesn’t. And that’s where many startups fail. Over the years, I’ve realized something most founders don’t see early enough. The strength of a startup almost always mirrors the strength of its CEO, not just in vision or IQ, but in how well they manage and lead. These two skills sound similar, but they’re worlds apart. As founders, being a good manager is the foundation. It’s what keeps the company from falling apart. But leadership is the soul. Without it, your startup will never reach its true potential. ✅→ The Management Side A CEO’s job as a manager follows a simple but powerful cycle: — Define your strategy. — Recruit the right people. — Set measurable goals. — Assist where needed. — Monitor progress. ♻️ → Repeat. Defining strategy sets the vector. Recruiting defines the speed. But here’s the trap: most founders hire for skill and speed instead of DNA. And when you get the DNA wrong early, it spreads like poison through your culture. Management isn’t quarterly work anymore. It’s weekly. Every week, ask yourself: ☑️ Do I have the right strategy? ☑️ Do I have the right people? ☑️ Are my goals still pushing the company in the right direction? If not, adjust fast. ✅→ The Leadership Side Leadership is a different game. It’s less mechanical and far more human. It revolves around people, vision, and culture. And unlike management, you can’t fake leadership. Your team learns more from what you do than what you say. It starts with people. Hire those with the right DNA. Care deeply about them. And truly listen. Spend time with your people. Be present in their struggles. When you’re in the room, let them speak before you do. If you talk first, you kill honesty in the room. Then comes vision. Every startup has a “why,” but too many founders think it’s for investors or customers. It’s not. It’s for your team. Working in a startup is emotionally exhausting. People don’t stay because of perks. They stay because they believe in the why. Find your why. Repeat it often. Verify that everyone knows it. Ask your team what the company’s why is, and you might be shocked at how few can answer clearly. ✅→ The Culture Culture is not a slogan.  It’s what you tolerate and what you celebrate. I will write an article later to expand on these three, especially on culture. As a startup CEO, you must do both, but not at the same time. The strongest startup CEOs I’ve studied (and worked with) know when to switch hats. They’re grounded enough to manage, and daring enough to lead. It’s a hard balance, but it’s what separates a struggling founder from a scaling one. 💡 If you ever find yourself leading people or products, ask: “Am I managing right now… or leading?” The answer will tell you what your company needs next. Credit: Inspired by the Startup Mini-Series: What Makes a Strong Startup CEO on the NFX YouTube channel.

7 Books every Founder should Read to Grow their Company. Scaling up a business is a skill that can be learned. To succeed, you will need to excel at •leadership, •strategy, •culture, • & execution. Read these 7 books to understand the art of scaling an organization: 1. "Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don’t" by Verne Harnish Learn about barriers companies face when scaling up and what practical tools and techniques help to overcome them. 2. "Scaling People" by Claire Hughes Johnson Learn the models that helped to scale Stripe to become a global player. 3. "The Great CEO Within: The Tactical Guide to Company Building" by Matt Mochary Get an essential toolkit to learn to manage the most important tasks you need to do as an CEO. 4. "High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People" by Elad Gil Be guided along the complexities of aggressive scaling, from team building to product development strategies. 5. "The Builder's Guide to the Tech Galaxy" by Martin Schilling & Thomas Klugist Navigate the tricky middle stages of startup growth between launch and IPO. 7. "Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies" by Jim Collins Understand what makes truly exceptional companies different. 8. Reinventing Organizations" by Frederic Laloux Learn how to reinvent your organization beyond existing, traditional organizations. Lets recap, 7 Books every Founder should read to grow their company: 1. "Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don’t" by Verne Harnish 2. "Scaling People" by Claire Hughes Johnson 3. "The Great CEO Within: The Tactical Guide to Company Building" by Matt Morchary 4. "High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People" by Elad Gil 5. "The Builder's Guide to the Tech Galaxy" by Martin Schilling & Thomas Klugist 6. "Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies" by Jim Collin 7. "Reinventing Organizations" by Frederic Laloux Which book am I missing? --- I'm Nikolas Konstantin 🌱 Click my name + follow + 🔔 I help founders to create the most meaningful work of their life 📶

"THE UNSEEN COSTS OF STARTING SOMETHING NEW" 🚀 This post dives into the hidden challenges of entrepreneurship, the power of innovation, and the real stories behind the hustle. ➖➖➖ 1️⃣ INNOVATION ISN’T JUST ABOUT IDEAS—IT’S ABOUT RESILIENCE   I remember reading The 5 AM Club by Robin Sharma, where he talks about how success isn’t just about what you do, but how you show up every day. That stuck with me when I launched my first startup. We had a killer idea, a solid team, and a clear vision. But what I didn’t expect was how much emotional and mental stamina it would take to keep going when the early days felt like walking through mud.  Innovation, at its core, is messy. It’s not just about coming up with something new—it’s about pushing through the noise, the doubt, and the moments when your own confidence wavers. I learned that disruption isn’t born in boardrooms; it’s forged in the quiet hours when no one is watching. And that’s where the real work happens. ➖➖➖ 2️⃣ FOUNDER STORIES AREN’T JUST ABOUT SUCCESS—THEY’RE ABOUT SURVIVAL   Liz Wiseman, in Leadership Invisible, talks about how great leaders are often the ones who don’t get the credit. That really hit home when I reflected on my own journey. There were times I felt like a ghost in my own story—working 80-hour weeks, sacrificing personal time, and facing rejection after rejection.  But here’s the thing: failure isn’t the end of the road. It’s just a detour. One of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned is that the best founder stories aren’t the ones that skip over the hard parts. They’re the ones that acknowledge them. When we talk about startups, we should be honest about the toll it takes—not just financially, but emotionally and mentally. Because the people who stick around aren’t just driven; they’re resilient. ➖➖➖ What’s your story? What did you learn that no one told you before you started? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.  #Entrepreneurship #StartupLife #Leadership #FounderJourney #Innovation #Resilience #BusinessGrowth #StartupChallenges #LeadershipDevelopment #RealTalk Found this valuable? ♻️ Repost to your network 🔔 Follow Michael Ferrara for more insights ☕ Buy Me A Coffee: https://lnkd.in/eimmd4pM 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗔𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿! I recently came across ClickUp, which might be just what you're looking for. You can check them out here: https://lnkd.in/e5Ax6P7e. In a nutshell, ClickUp is a project management platform that helps users organize tasks, collaborate, and track projects. It offers a variety of features, including chat, whiteboards, spreadsheets, and document collaboration. Thank you for your support and for trusting my recommendations—your success is my inspiration!

Not everyone is meant to be an entrepreneur. People glamorize it, but most would be better off as elite operators inside a great company than struggling to run one they're not built for. Here's the thing: Social media sells the dream, the overnight success story. Quit your job. Build an empire. Disrupt everything. But most founders face stress, financial uncertainty, and isolation. Most startups fail, or the founders burn out... Elite operators are underrated. Every great company has exceptional CTOs, growth leads, client managers, and team architects. They build things, drive impact, and thrive on focus. These roles offer ownership without total risk: You master a craft. Grow teams. Solve meaningful problems. Often with more stability and compounding rewards than founders see. Many who'd struggle running a company make 10x the impact, but how do you know if you're one of them? The signs are clear: You love building and optimizing systems, but don't obsess over vision or market risk. You thrive on collaboration, not solo decisions or constant uncertainty. And there's one more critical sign: You value steady growth and mentorship. You want career compounding more than the all-or-nothing gamble of entrepreneurship. If these resonate, the operator path is your best bet. I've seen both sides. I've hired would-be founders who became world-class leaders. And founders at heart who succeeded best on their own. The best cultures celebrate operators, not just CEOs. Test yourself in tough, dynamic teams. Learn through execution. Don't force a founder narrative if you thrive solving hard problems as a #2, #3, or team leader. Both paths require clarity about what you're built for. Entrepreneurship isn't the only way to win. If you're building, leading, or optimizing inside a great company, you're building a legacy. Just without the sleepless nights, fundraising headaches, and existential chaos of running the whole show. Every great founder needs operators who can build while they steer. Operators turn vision into velocity. Both paths create wealth and impact. Pick the one that fits you. This isn't just theory. At NextLinkLabs.com, I've built a team where elite operators thrive and make outsized impact. They're the backbone of everything we scale. After years of building secure, scalable tech for mid-market companies, I've learned that execution beats strategy every time and the best operators know this. Follow me for direct insights on scaling tech teams and infrastructure profitably.

At some point in your entrepreneurial journey, you realize something unsettling: ➡️ The business you dreamed of building now feels like it’s resting entirely on your shoulders. You’ve made it past startup. You’re generating real revenue. You’ve hired good people. On paper, things look great. But behind the scenes, you’re exhausted. 😮💨 – Every decision still flows through you. – Your team is growing, but alignment is slipping. – Accountability feels fragile. – Most days feel like firefighting instead of forward progress. Here’s the truth: this isn’t a failure. It’s a stage of growth. Entrepreneurial companies eventually hit a ceiling when the systems that got them here can’t carry them any further. Hustle, intuition, and quick decisions worked in the beginning, but they now create friction. What used to feel fast and freeing is now heavy and unsustainable. 🔎 So what actually causes this “hidden weight”? 1. Complexity scales faster than clarity. As your team grows, communication lines multiply and misalignment creeps in. 2. Visionaries get stuck in the weeds. The very leader meant to drive the future becomes bogged down in daily details. 3. Accountability gaps widen. Without structure, people default to you as the decision-maker—reinforcing the bottleneck. 4. Old systems don’t evolve. Processes designed for a 5-person team break when stretched across 25, 50, or 100 people. The good news is that the ceiling isn’t the problem; it’s just the signpost. It tells you that what got you here won’t get you there. That means you don’t have to work harder; you just need to lead differently by: ✅ Creating clear structure for accountability. ✅ Building rhythms that keep your vision alive. ✅ Empowering your team to carry more of the load. ✅ Shifting from reacting to truly scaling. Also, the even better news is that you don’t have to do all of that by yourself. With a second-in-command, you can have the support you need to be able to break through the ceiling and grow your business faster, without the burnout. I created my Breaking the Ceiling Guide to help Visionaries and business owners recognize this stage, understand why it happens, and see a path forward. 📘 If your success feels heavier than it should, this guide was made for you. 👉 Download it here: https://lnkd.in/e2dtzasx #BreakingTheCeiling #VisionaryLeadership #BusinessGrowth #ScalingUp #EntrepreneurLife #FractionalIntegrator #LeadershipDevelopment #SmallBusinessGrowth #BusinessOwner