The Crisis That Showed Me Who Really Belonged

When we had to downsize from 150 to 45 employees, I thought I knew who my A-players were.

The people who showed up on time. Completed their tasks. Didn't cause obvious problems.

Then we ran every single person through an objective evaluation.

The results shocked me: Only about 30% were actually A-players.

The rest? "Good enough" employees who were quietly holding back growth. People I'd convinced myself were ok performers because they weren't actively failing.

That crisis forced me to ask the question most founders avoid: Who actually belongs here?

What GWC Actually Means (And Why Most Founders Get It Wrong)

GWC is a simple framework from the book Traction by Gino Wickman:

Gets It. Wants It. Can Do It.

But most founders misunderstand what each part actually means. They use it as a checklist instead of a filter.

Here's what GWC really measures:

G - Gets It (They Understand Before You Explain)

Most founders think this means: They understand their job description.

What it actually means: They understand the role, the company vision, AND how their work impacts the bigger picture.

• They see problems before you do
• They understand the "why" behind decisions, not just the "what"
• They connect their daily tasks to company goals without you drawing the lines

Red Flag: You constantly have to explain context or re-explain decisions. If you're repeating yourself, they don't "get it."

W - Wants It (They're Energized, Not Just Employed)

Most founders think this means: They need the paycheck.

What it actually means: They actually want to do THIS specific job at THIS specific company.

• They're energized by the work, not just collecting a salary
• They take initiative without being asked
• They look for ways to improve things instead of waiting for assignments

Red Flag: They do exactly what's asked and nothing more. If they're waiting for instructions, they don't "want it."

C - Capacity to Do It (They Can Handle What's Required)

Most founders think this means: They have the right resume or experience.

What it actually means: They have the mental, physical, and emotional capacity to excel in this role.

• They handle stress without falling apart
• They grow and adapt as the company grows
• They maintain performance when demands increase

Red Flag: They're constantly overwhelmed by normal job demands. If standard expectations feel like crises to them, they don't have the capacity.

Why Most Founders Avoid This Assessment

Let me be direct about why you're not already doing this:

You don't want to admit you made bad hires. It's easier to convince yourself everyone is "fine" than face the truth.

You feel guilty about judging people. But you're not judging their worth as humans. You're assessing if they fit this role at this company.

You're afraid of what you'll discover. Better to hope things work out than confirm they won't.

You think "good enough" is actually good enough. It's not. Good enough employees hurt your company.

The Cost of Avoiding This

While you're hoping B-players become A-players:

Your actual A-players get frustrated carrying dead weight. They see who's not pulling their weight. They wonder why you tolerate it.

You spend 80% of your management time on the bottom 20% of performers. Constant hand-holding, re-doing work, and managing problems.

Growth stalls because you're managing problems instead of building solutions. Every hour spent fixing mediocrity is an hour not spent scaling.

Your best people leave for companies that mostly aim to hire A-players. They go somewhere that maintains standards.

The GWC Assessment Process

Step 1: The Individual Evaluation

For each team member, rate them 1-5 on:

• Gets It: Do they understand their role and its impact?
• Wants It: Are they genuinely motivated by this work?
• Capacity: Can they handle and excel at the demands?

Scoring:

• 4-5 on all three = A-Player (keep and invest in)
• 3 on any category = B-Player (coach or move to right seat)
• 1-2 on any category = Wrong fit (transition out)

Step 2: The Team Impact Analysis

Beyond the numbers, ask:

• Do other team members seek their input?
• Do they solve problems or create them?
• Do they raise the energy in meetings or drain it?
• Would the team function better or worse without them?

Step 3: The Growth Trajectory Test

Look forward, not just at current performance:

• Are they growing with the company or holding it back?
• Do they adapt to new challenges or resist change?
• Are they learning new skills or staying stagnant?
  

What I Learned From Keeping Only The Best

After downsizing to only people who scored 4-5 on all three GWC criteria, something unexpected happened:

The 45 people who remained worked smarter and faster than the original 150.

Why? Because A-players don't need constant management. They don't create unnecessary problems. They don't drain energy from meetings.

They make your job easier, not harder.

The Hard Truth About Your Team

If you're honest with yourself, you already know who doesn't fully meet GWC criteria.

You know who constantly needs hand-holding. Who does the minimum. Who's overwhelmed by normal demands.

The question is: What are you going to do about it?

Keep hoping they'll change? Or make the hard decision that protects your A-players and your company's growth?

Ready to stop losing $20K+ on people who "Get It" on paper but fail in reality?

I've taken everything I learned from evaluating 150+ employees under pressure and turned it into the system my private coaching clients pay $3K-$5K to learn.

The Mastering Recruiting & Hiring Course gives you the complete framework - from job postings to final decisions - that stops you from gambling and starts you hiring A-Players with confidence.

What you get:

• Complete hiring framework beyond CVs and interviews
• Real skills and culture testing (not HR theater)
• Founder's playbook from my experience scaling and exiting companies
• Step-by-step guide you can apply immediately
• Lifetime access to repeat and refine as you grow

Why this works: In 90 minutes, you'll learn a system that saves $20K-$50K on every bad hire you avoid. The ROI is immediate.

→ Start the Mastering Recruiting & Hiring Course

Build a team of A-players, not just warm bodies.

- Ignacio

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You Can't Coach Someone Who Doesn't Share Your Values

Jim Collins said it in "Good to Great": Get the right people in the right seats before you even set direction for your company.

But how do you actually know if someone is "the right person"?

Most founders use gut feelings. Vague impressions. Subjective opinions. One manager says someone's great. Another says they're toxic. Nobody has data.

So cultural misfits stay because nobody can prove they don't belong.

I use a simple tool from the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) called the People Analyzer. It's a spreadsheet that makes culture fit objective instead of emotional.

And it's saved me from keeping the wrong people far longer than I should have.

How the People Analyzer Works

It's dead simple. Four steps:

Step 1: Define Your 4-5 Core Values

These need to be specific, not generic corporate speak. For my companies:

• Extreme Ownership On Everything
• Radical Daily Accountability
• Bias for Direct Action
• Customer's Journey Obsession
• Explosive Growth Mindset

Step 2: Score Every Team Member 1-5 on Each Value

• 1 = Rarely demonstrates this value
• 2 = Occasionally demonstrates this value
• 3 = Meets expectations for this value
• 4 = Consistently exceeds expectations
• 5 = Fully embodies this value

Step 3: Calculate Average Scores

Add up their scores across all values and divide by the number of values.

Step 4: Make Decisions Based on Data

• 4.0+ (Strong Fit): These people are your culture carriers. Keep them.
• 3.0-3.9 (Moderate Fit): They need coaching and development on specific values.
• Below 3.0 (Misalignment): They're likely not the right fit for your company.

What "Wrong People" Actually Means

"Wrong people" doesn't mean bad people. It means not aligned to your core values.

You can move someone from the wrong seat to the right seat in your company - horizontally or vertically. That's just role adjustment.

But you can't coach someone who fundamentally doesn't share your values.

You might be able to coach someone from a 3 to a 4 or 5 in one specific value. That's development.

But you can't coach a whole person to be aligned if they're not. You're trying to change who they are, not develop what they have.

When I Had to Use This Under Pressure

When we downsized from 150 to 45 employees, the People Analyzer was one of three tools that guided our decisions.

We scored every single person. The results told me exactly who belonged.

Some high performers scored 2s and 3s on culture alignment. They were getting technical results but damaging the team.

Others with decent performance scored 4s and 5s across all values. They were the cultural backbone.

In a crisis, I kept the people who embodied our values. And they're the ones who helped us rebuild.

How to Actually Use This

For Current Team Members:

Run your entire team through the matrix. Be honest about the scores - use real examples of behavior, not how you feel about people.

Anyone below 3.0 needs a direct conversation about fit. Anyone 3.0-3.9 gets a coaching plan with specific improvements needed.

Use this tool regularly to audit your team and ensure you're scaling with the right people.

For Hiring:

This is where it gets powerful. I test for values during interviews, not after someone joins.

For each core value, I ask situational questions that reveal if someone actually operates that way:

Testing "Extreme Ownership": "Tell me about a project that failed. What was your role in that failure?"

Testing "Bias for Direct Action": "Describe a time when you saw a problem but didn't have permission to solve it. What did you do?"

I score their answers 1-5 in real-time. If they average below 3.0 during interviews, they don't move forward.

This prevents cultural misfits from ever joining your team.

The Hard Truth About Culture

Your business success depends on team alignment with your core values and culture.

Every person who doesn't embody your values lowers the bar for everyone else. Every person who does raises it.

The People Analyzer removes guesswork and forces objective decisions about who belongs.

Stop hoping people will adapt. Start measuring if they actually fit.

Ready to stop losing $20K+ on cultural misfits disguised as "hard workers"?

I've taken everything I learned from 700+ interviews and turned it into the system my private coaching clients pay $3K-$5K to learn.

The Mastering Recruiting & Hiring Course gives you the complete framework - from job postings to final decisions - that stops you from gambling and starts you hiring A-Players with confidence.

What you get:

• Complete hiring framework beyond CVs and interviews
• Real skills and culture testing (not HR theater)
• Founder's playbook from my experience scaling and exiting companies
• Step-by-step guide you can apply immediately
• Lifetime access to repeat and refine as you grow

Why this works: In 90 minutes, you'll learn a system that saves $20K-$50K on every bad hire you avoid. The ROI is immediate.

→ Start the Mastering Recruiting & Hiring Course

Build a team that embodies your values, not just fills seats.

- Ignacio

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The 2 Hiring Mistakes That Cost Me Everything

I've interviewed over +700 people in my career as a founder.

And I've made every hiring mistake you can imagine.

But two mistakes stand out as the most expensive, frustrating, and completely avoidable errors that nearly broke my companies.

Here's what happened, and how you can avoid making the same mistakes.

Mistake #1: Showing Up Exhausted and Asking Surface-Level Questions

Here's the brutal truth: I would show up to interviews already exhausted.

Running a company is draining. By the time I got to hiring, I had zero energy left for the deep work of actually evaluating people.

So I'd ask surface-level questions. If the answers sounded "good enough," I'd convince myself they were right for the role.

I was dead wrong.

They'd start the job and completely suck at it. Why? Because I never actually tested their skills or challenged them during the interview.

I was hiring based on how well people could talk about work, not how well they could actually do work.

The cost? Months of managing underperformers, redoing their work, and eventually firing them anyway.

Mistake #2: Letting Desperation Drive My Decisions

The second mistake was even worse: hiring out of desperation.

When I urgently needed to fill a role, I'd see red flags and ignore them. I'd tell myself "I need someone ASAP" and justify away obvious problems.

Those same red flags would then blow up in the company.

Other employees would see the problems first. They'd come to me and ask why the hell I hired that person.

And I wouldn't even be surprised! Because I saw the problems and chose to ignore them.

Now I had to find someone to fill that role AGAIN. Double the work, double the money, double the energy.

The Hidden Cost of Bad Hiring Decisions

Here's what no one tells you about hiring mistakes:

The financial cost is just the beginning.

Yes, each bad hire costs between $20,000 and $50,000 in lost wages, productivity, and team morale.

But the real cost is momentum. While you're managing problems, competitors are moving faster. While you're having difficult conversations, opportunities disappear.

Your A-players watch you tolerate mediocrity and start questioning your standards.

What I Learned: Test Real Tasks, Trust Your Gut

After years of expensive mistakes, I developed two non-negotiable rules:

Rule #1: Test Real Tasks in Your Interviews

Stop asking "Tell me about yourself" and start giving them actual problems to solve.

If they'll be writing code, have them write code. If they'll be managing people, give them a management scenario. If they'll be solving customer problems, present them with real customer issues.

Watch how they think, not how they talk.

Rule #2: Trust Your Gut When Something Feels Off

I don't know who needs to hear this, but TRUST YOUR GUT.

When you can't pinpoint exactly why someone doesn't feel right for your company, trust that feeling.

It doesn't matter if their resume is brilliant. It doesn't matter if you can't identify clear red flags.

That something that feels off to you now? It will show up again once they're inside your company.

Mark my words. And when it does, you'll be kicking yourself for ignoring what you already knew.

The System That Fixed Everything

After making these expensive mistakes over and over, I built a system:

Energy Management: I only interview when I'm sharp. If I'm exhausted, I reschedule. The cost of a bad hire is always higher than the cost of waiting one more day.

Skills Testing: Every interview includes real work. No exceptions. I want to see them solve actual problems they'd face in the role.

Red Flag Documentation: I write down concerns as they happen. I don't rationalize them away or hope they'll disappear.

Gut Check Protocol: If something feels wrong but I can't explain why, that's a no. My pattern recognition has processed thousands of signals my conscious mind missed.

Desperation Discipline: When I'm desperate to fill a role, that's exactly when I need to be most careful about my standards, not least careful.

The Two Questions That Change Everything

Want to separate good candidates from great ones? Ask these:

"Walk me through solving this real problem we're facing." (Give them an actual challenge from your business)

Ask for two previous boss references during the interview, then use this technique:

"Give me the names of your two most recent bosses. I'm going to call them for reference checks, so let's save time and see if we can design a plan to make this hire work."

"When I call [Boss #1], what are the three strengths they're going to tell me about you? And what are the three growth opportunities or areas for improvement they'll mention?"

"And when I call [Boss #2], what strengths will they highlight? What weaknesses or challenges will they bring up?"

Then ask: "Given that I'll be calling them later, let's just save time now - how do we address those growth areas to make you successful in this role?"

Why this works: Honest candidates give you real insights and show self-awareness. Dishonest ones panic or give vague answers because they know their references won't match their story.

Plus, you get a preview of exactly what the references will tell you before you even call.)

These reveal more about capability and character than hours of traditional interview questions.

Why Most Founders Keep Making These Mistakes

Because hiring well is hard work, and when you're already running a company, it's easier to take shortcuts.

But those shortcuts are killing your business.

Every hiring mistake cascades through your organization. Bad hires don't just underperform - they lower the bar for everyone else.

Meanwhile, great hires do the opposite. They raise standards, attract other A-players, and accelerate your growth.

The choice is yours: Keep gambling with hope, or start hiring with systems.

Final Reality Check

I turned my hiring disasters into a repeatable system that works.

The energy I wasted managing bad hires could have been spent growing the business. The money I lost on hiring mistakes could have funded real growth initiatives.

Don't make my mistakes. Learn from them instead.

Stop hiring based on exhaustion and desperation. Start testing real skills and trusting your instincts.

Your future self will thank you for the extra effort you put in today.

Ready to stop losing $20K+ on every bad hire?

I've taken everything I learned from 700+ interviews and turned it into the system my private coaching clients pay $3K-$5K to learn.

The Mastering Recruiting & Hiring course gives you the complete framework - from job postings to final decisions - that stops you from gambling and starts you hiring A-Players with confidence.

What you get:

• Complete hiring framework beyond CVs and interviews
• Real skills and culture testing (not HR theater)
• Founder's playbook from my experience scaling and exiting companies
• Step-by-step guide you can apply immediately
• Lifetime access to repeat and refine as you grow

Why this works: In 90 minutes, you'll learn a system that saves $20K-$50K on every bad hire you avoid. The ROI is immediate.

→ Get Instant Access - Start With Lesson 1 FREE

Learn the system that turns hiring mistakes into hiring wins.

- Ignacio

‍

You Know Exactly Who I'm Talking About.

There's someone on your team right now who's dragging everyone else down.

They complain about decisions. They resist changes. They spread negativity in meetings. They make excuses instead of finding solutions.

And you've been avoiding the obvious decision for months.

You tell yourself they're "going through a tough time" or "they'll come around" or "they're not that bad."

But here's what's actually happening while you wait:

Your top performers are getting frustrated. Team morale is dropping. Energy is shifting from solutions to complaints. The negativity is spreading.

You're not being kind by keeping them. You're being destructive.

The Rotten Apple Ruins the Whole Barrel

You know what happens when you find a rotten apple in your kitchen?

You throw it out immediately. You don't try to fix it. You don't give it "one more chance." You don't keep it around hoping it will get better.

Because you know the rot spreads.

Those spores don't stay contained. They contaminate the healthy fruit around them. Leave it too long, and you'll lose the entire batch.

Your team works the same way.

One person's bad attitude, resistance to change, or negative energy doesn't stay isolated. It spreads through conversations, meetings, and day-to-day interactions.

Before you know it, your whole culture has shifted from "how do we solve this?" to "why is everything so hard?"

The Bus Analogy Every Leader Needs to Understand

Your company is a bus going from Point A to Point B.

As the leader, you've set the destination. You've communicated the route. Everyone who got on the bus knew where it was headed.

But some people change their mind mid-journey.

They start complaining about the destination. They question the route. They try to convince other passengers that you should turn around or take a different path.

What do you do?

You let them off the bus.

Not because they're bad people. Not because you don't care about them. But because they're no longer aligned with where the bus is going.

And their complaints are making the other passengers doubt the journey.

You're Not Firing Them. You're Freeing Them.

Here's the reframe that changes everything:

Keeping someone in the wrong role isn't kindness. It's cruelty.

When someone isn't thriving in your environment, you're both suffering. They feel unsuccessful, frustrated, and disconnected. You feel disappointed and stressed.

By letting them go, you're giving them the opportunity to find a place where they can actually thrive.

Maybe they're a perfect fit for a different company culture. Maybe they need a role with different responsibilities. Maybe they need a slower pace or different values.

You're not destroying their career. You're redirecting it toward a better fit.

The Signs You've Been Ignoring

Stop lying to yourself. You know who needs to go. They're the person who:

• Consistently resists new initiatives or changes
• Spreads negativity about company decisions
• Makes excuses instead of finding solutions
• Brings down the energy in meetings
• Causes your top performers to complain privately
• Requires constant management and motivation
• Isn't growing or adapting to new challenges

You've probably had multiple conversations with them already. Nothing has changed.

Because the problem isn't their skills. It's their fit.

The Cost of Waiting

Every day you delay this decision costs you:

Team morale: Your best people lose respect for your leadership when you tolerate poor performance

Cultural damage: Negativity spreads faster than positivity

Productivity loss: Everyone spends energy dealing with the dysfunction instead of focusing on results

Opportunity cost: The salary you're paying them could hire someone who actually contributes

Personal stress: You spend mental energy managing problems instead of building solutions

The math is brutal: Keeping one wrong person often costs you 2-3 good people who get fed up and leave.

How to Make the Cut (The Right Way)

Step 1: Document the Pattern: Write down specific examples of behavior that isn't working. Not personality traits. Behaviors.

Step 2: Have the Direct Conversation: "Your approach isn't aligned with what we need. Here's what needs to change by [specific date]."

Step 3: Set Clear Expectations: Give them one final chance with measurable outcomes and a definite timeline. They have three strikes before they're out.

Step 4: Follow Through: If nothing changes, make the decision. Don't extend the deadline. Don't give "one more chance."

Step 5: Execute with Dignity: Be direct, respectful, and final. "This isn't working out. Today is your last day."

The Relief You Didn't Expect

Here's what happens after you finally make the cut:

Your team energy shifts immediately. Meetings become more productive. Complaints decrease. Solutions increase.

Your top performers respect your leadership. They see you're willing to make hard decisions to protect the culture.

You sleep better. The constant stress of managing dysfunction disappears.

The person you let go often thrives elsewhere. They find a better fit and become successful.

Everyone wins.

Final Reality Check

You're not running a charity. You're running a business.

Your job isn't to employ people who aren't thriving. Your job is to build a company that serves customers, creates value, and provides great careers for people who are the right fit.

Sometimes the kindest thing you can do for someone is recognize they're in the wrong place and help them find the right one.

Stop letting the rotten apple spoil your whole team.

Ready to stop making costly business decisions based on guesswork? Join 9 other founders and get coached by me, hands on.

My Founder Accelerator Group helps you create frameworks for every critical decision. Expert-led coaching (by me) for founders scaling from $250K to $3M.

This isn't another "Mastermind" - its direct, hands on group coaching where we get sh*t done.

What you get:

• One quarterly goal-setting workshop to cut through chaos and focus on what matters
• Two monthly tactical coaching sessions for real problems and execution challenges
• Daily Slack support with me and 9 other committed founders
• Personalized performance dashboards to track real progress
• Expanding library of frameworks and systems that prevent costly mistakes

Limited to 10 founders per cohort. No theory. Just proven systems that turn scattered efforts into strategic execution.

→ Apply for Founder Accelerator Group

Stop avoiding hard decisions. Start building winning teams.

- Ignacio

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Your Team Isn't the Problem. Your Standards Are.

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Here's the brutal truth most founders won't admit:

You're not short on people. You're short on performers.

You have a team full of people who show up, do the basics, and collect paychecks. But when it's time to think critically, move fast, or solve complex problems?

They disappear.

Meanwhile, you're drowning in work that should be off your plate. Redoing their tasks. Making decisions they should make. Solving problems they should solve.

And instead of fixing the root cause, you keep hiring more mediocre people to manage the mediocre people you already have.

That's not scaling. That's just expensive babysitting.

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A-Players Don't Stay Where B- and C-Players Are Rewarded

Want to know why your best people leave?

Because they're tired of carrying dead weight.

A-Players want to work with other A-Players. They want to be challenged, not held back by teammates who need everything explained twice.

When your top performer quits, it's not because they found more money elsewhere.

It's because they got tired of being the only one who gives a sh*t.

I learned this the hard way in 2018.

I had an incredible developer who solved problems before I knew they existed. But I also kept a mediocre hire who did exactly what he was told and nothing more.

For six months, I watched my A-player get increasingly frustrated cleaning up the other guy's mistakes. His energy shifted. He started making comments in standups.

I knew what was happening. But I didn't want to be the 'mean boss.'

So I did nothing.

My A-player gave two weeks notice on a Tuesday. Said he was joining a startup where 'everyone actually cared about the work.'

That mistake cost me $120K in salary, rehiring costs, and three months of delayed launches.

Don't make my mistake.

Here's what drives A-Players away:

Lack of speed: They thrive on momentum. If every decision takes three meetings and two approvals, they're gone.

Micromanagement: They know how to think. If you're telling them exactly how to do every task, you're treating them like a C-Player.

No clear vision: They need to see where the company is headed. If you can't articulate the mission, they'll find someone who can.

Bureaucratic BS: They want to execute, not navigate office politics and red tape.

Action: Run the A-Player Audit

Look at your team. For each person, ask:

• Do they solve problems or create them?
• Do they need detailed instructions or figure things out?
• Do they raise the bar or lower it?

If someone consistently needs you to think for them, they're not an A-Player.

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Stop Hiring Bodies. Start Hiring Brains.

Most founders hire like this:

"We need someone to handle marketing."

So they post a job, interview candidates, and hire whoever seems decent.

That's backwards.

A-Players don't apply to generic job posts. They get recruited by companies that know exactly what they're looking for.

Here's the shift:

Instead of "We need a marketing person," ask:

• What specific marketing problems need solving?
• What results do we need in 90 days?
• What type of person thrives at solving these exact problems?

Then build your search around that profile.

Hint: A-players most likely will be poached. They are already working for a potentially successful company, and they need to be tempted. They don’t lack opportunities, and most times already have a job.

It's pretty unlikely that an A-player is going to be jobless.

Action: Write the A-Player Profile

For your next hire, define:

• The 3 most critical problems they'll solve
• What "exceptional" looks like in this role
• The mindset and background that predicts success

Then test for those specific things. Not generic "culture fit."

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A-Players Interview You as Much as You Interview Them

Here's how you know you're talking to an A-Player:

They ask better questions than you do.

C-Players ask about benefits, vacation time, and "work-life balance."

A-Players ask about:

• What's the biggest challenge facing the company?
• How do you measure success in this role?
• What does the growth trajectory look like?
• Why did the last person in this role leave?

If someone doesn't challenge you during the interview, they won't challenge the status quo when they're hired.

You need to sell the company.

Action: Let Them Interview You

Spend 10% of the interview answering their questions. Smart people have smart questions. If they don't ask any, that's your answer.

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The Real Test: Give Them Something Hard

Want to separate A-Players from pretenders?

Give them a real problem to solve.

Not a case study. Not a hypothetical. An actual challenge your company is facing right now.

• Marketing candidate? Here's our conversion problem. How would you approach it?
• Operations candidate? Here's our bottleneck. What's your 30-day plan?
• Sales candidate? Here's our toughest prospect. How do you close them?

A-Players get excited by hard problems. C-Players make excuses.

Action: Build The Reality Test

Create a real-world challenge for each role you hire for. Make it tough enough that only someone with genuine skill can solve it.

Final Reality Check

You can't build an A-Team with C-Player standards.

If you're not willing to demand excellence, pay for talent, and fire people who drag the team down?

You'll stay stuck with a team that needs constant management instead of one that drives results.

The choice is yours: Keep hiring warm bodies and stay overwhelmed.

Or start building a team that actually makes your life easier.

Stop figuring this out alone. Join founders who are serious about building elite teams.

My Founder Accelerator Group isn't another mastermind full of guessing and peer advice. It's expert-led coaching (by ME) for founders scaling from $250K to $3M who want tactical frameworks that actually work.

What you get:

• Quarterly strategy workshops to cut through hiring confusion
• Bi-weekly tactical calls for real problems (like building A-Player systems)
• Daily Slack access with me and 9 other committed founders
• Frameworks that work - not theory that sounds good

Limited to 10 founders per cohort. No fluff. No cheerleading. Just execution.

Apply for the Founder Accelerator Group →

Stop managing mediocrity. Start leading excellence.

- Ignacio

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You’re Building the Company. But Who’s Building You?

There was a night, 2 AM, Buenos Aires, 2012, I found myself sitting on my apartment floor.

Empty coffee cup. Slack blowing up. A hundred "urgent" fires waiting.

And for the first time in a long time, I admitted it:

I’m f*cking tired.

Not "tired" like "I need a vacation." Tired like "I might not want this life if it keeps feeling this way."

But here’s the crazy part:

From the outside, everything looked amazing. Company scaling. International expansion. Investors were throwing money my way.

I was doing everything "right." Except I was doing it alone.

And it was slowly killing me.

Nobody tells you that loneliness isn't an obstacle you hop over once and move on. It's a slow rot.

The invisible corrosion wears you down so quietly, you don't realize you're sinking until the water is at your neck.

It's not about working fewer hours.
It's not about "self-care."

It's about survival. Real survival. If you don't fix this, nothing you build will matter.

Because you won't be around to enjoy it. And nobody—nobody—gives a sh*t about the guy who grinded himself into a ghost.

1. Loneliness Isn't Just Sad. It's Lethal.

The founder fantasy is "I'll suffer quietly, and someday it'll pay off."

But here’s the TRUTH:

Loneliness warps your judgment.

You start mistaking movement for progress. You start normalizing chaos as "how it has to be." You lose the ability to separate urgent from important. You start listening to your own bullshit because there's no one around brave enough to call you on it.

I wasn't burnt out because I worked hard. I was burnt out because I had no one to filter my chaos.

You end up building a business that’s just a mirror of your own panic. Your anxiety shapes your company culture. Your overwhelm leaks into your team. Your indecision bleeds into your customers. The rot spreads faster than you realize.

You don’t need another productivity hack.

You need a real f*cking mirror.

You need someone who won't buy your excuses. Someone who will remind you of who the hell you actually are, when you can't see it anymore.

You need someone to slap you awake every time you fall into a tunnel.

Because here’s the brutal truth: If you're the only voice in your head, you're already losing.

2. Chaos Isn't a Badge. It's a Broken System.

Founders love to brag about chaos like it’s some twisted status symbol.

"Oh, I’m just juggling 74 fires today, hahaha."

No.

Chaos is just a company system screaming for leadership.

Leadership starts with you getting honest:

• What’s the fire you’re avoiding because it scares you? (I’ll admit, this one kept me back for a LONG time.)
• What’s the hard call you’re punting down the road?
• Where are you still clinging to control because you’re scared to let go?

Chaos is a smokescreen that founders hide behind because it makes them feel important.

Busy. Needed.

But real operators, the ones who scale past $10M, $50M, $100M, they know the truth: Chaos is weakness disguised as "the hustle."

Every unsolved problem compounds.

Every deferred decision hardens into a bottleneck.

Every chaotic sprint today becomes a brick wall tomorrow.

You think you're "handling it." You're not.

You're normalizing dysfunction at scale. And the bigger your company grows, the bigger the monster you're feeding.

Fix it now. While you still can.

3. You’re Not Broken. You’re Just Alone.

If nobody's told you this, let me be the first:

You're not failing because you're weak. You're failing because you're isolated.

Every high-performing founder I know? They're surrounded by people who keep them sharp.

Someone who calls their bluff. Who reminds them they're not gods, and that they don't have to be.

You’re not "too broken" to lead. You’re not "too late" to fix this. You’re just trying to fight a war with no soldiers.

The real flex isn't doing it alone. The real flex is building an empire with a f*cking army.

The founders who win? They don’t just build companies. They build circles of trust, speed, and ruthless accountability.

Because when you have someone who knows where you're trying to go and is willing to drag you there kicking and screaming when you forget, you become unstoppable.

You’re not tired. You’re not "losing it."

You’re just alone.

Fix that, and everything changes.

Final Shot of Reality

You can keep doing what you’re doing. Grinding harder. Suffering quietly. Hoping "one day" it feels easier.

Or you can stop being the bottleneck your company never asked for.

Because here’s the revelation I wish someone had punched into my face five years ago:

You’re not tired because you're working too hard. You're tired because you're carrying this whole freaking dream alone.

Nobody was meant to scale solo. Not even you.

If you’re ready to build smarter, faster, and saner, join the waitlist for my Tailored 1:1 Scaling Blueprint Calls.

JOIN THE WAITLIST

‍Let’s start straightforward: The way you handle your team's mistakes says more about your leadership than the mistake itself.

‍

Let’s say you’ve delegated a key task.

You trained them. You handed it off. You trusted it was covered.

And then—something breaks.

‍

A deadline slips. A client calls frustrated. A process gets ignored.

‍

And your first instinct might be to fire off quick instructions, expecting things to magically get done.

‍

Your team isn’t ChatGPT—don’t treat them like they are.

They need context.

They need clarity.

They need leadership.

If the person in front of you is someone you trust—someone you want to keep—the way you respond matters.

Because most people aren’t doing bad work on purpose.
They’re acting on the information, expectations, and context they were given.

And most of the time? That context wasn’t clear enough.

The instructions weren’t clear enough.

The expectations weren’t clear enough.

Here’s how to handle mistakes like a leader, not a firefighter (again):

‍

1. Ask this before giving feedback

‍

“If you had to give yourself feedback on this, what would you say?”

This flips the conversation. It’s not you judging them, it’s them reflecting.

And you’ll usually get much more honesty than if you go straight into critique.

(Plus, if they don’t see the issue? That’s your cue to dig into expectations.)

‍

2. Check the briefing, not just the execution

‍

There’s a huge difference between:

• “Speak to client X about topics A and B in this tone and set a deadline before next Thursday.”
  vs.
• “Have this client do this asap.”

If you weren’t clear, you can’t expect alignment.
So ask yourself:

Did I actually brief them, or did I just throw it over the fence and hope for the best?

‍

3. Explore their logic

‍

Before correcting, understand their decision-making.

“We had agreed on X, and you went with Y. What made you shift paths?”

There’s almost always a reason, and it’s not because they’re lazy or incapable.

They saw something.

They filled a gap.

They interpreted your instructions in their own way.

And the more you explore that process, the better your coaching becomes.

‍

4. Explain the “why,” not just the “what”

‍

Telling someone what to change isn’t enough.

You need to show them why that change matters.

“Here’s what we were aiming for and here’s what didn’t land.”

That’s how learning happens.

Not through reprimands. Through reasoning.

‍

5. Give them space to own the next move

‍

“Here’s what I’d like to see improved. What’s your game plan to get there?”

They don’t need another lecture.

They need to leave with clarity, direction, and autonomy.

When they create the next step, they own it.

And that’s the difference between short-term correction and long-term growth.

Before that conversation ends, make sure they walk away with:

• A clear idea of what to shift
  
  
• A small, self-proposed action plan
  
  
• A check-in date to review it

‍

6. Don’t start with correction, start with the PNP

‍

There’s a reason the positive–negative–positive feedback method is a classic.

It works.

Start by recognizing what they did right: their intention, their commitment, their risk-taking.

“I really appreciate that you tried to go the extra mile here. That kind of initiative is valuable in this company.”

Then move into the gap or issue.

Not to attack, but to clarify:

“Here’s what didn’t land, and here’s why it matters.”

And finally, end by reinforcing your belief in their potential:

“I know you can improve this, and I’m here to help you get there.”

The PNP framework only works if you’re sincere.

Don’t fake the praise. Look closely and find something real.

This structure helps you keep the conversation constructive, so they walk away clearer, not crushed.

‍

Final reminder: most mistakes are communication problems, not character flaws.

‍

Your job isn’t to micromanage (as I already mentioned in previous issues.)

Your job is to create an environment where people can think, act, and adjust—without fear.

Because if they mess up once and learn?

That’s a win.

If they mess up again in the same way?

That’s when you reevaluate.

But either way, they’re not ChatGPT.

They’re human.

And leading humans starts with clarity, not control.

Mistakes are inevitable.

But how do you respond to them?

Still building your team and trying to get delegation right the first time?

‍

My 1:1 Tailored Scaling Blueprint Calls are still on the waitlist only.

‍

Join the waitlist

‍

Or reply to this email and let me know what team challenge you’re working through—I’ll make sure you get support.

Catch up on previous issues – Access past insights to optimize your growth strategy.

‍

Read Past Issues Online

Talk soon,

Ignacio

‍

In my last newsletter, I told you how taking 48 hours off gave me the clarity to come back with a $100K idea.

I talked about how rest isn’t a luxury—it’s the foundation of high performance.

About how the belief that “things will fall apart if I’m not around” isn’t leadership. It’s fear.
And how founders need time away to access their sharpest thinking.

This week, I want to go one step deeper into that idea.
Because there’s a mindset that makes rest nearly impossible—and it’s one I’ve battled myself:

‍

Micromanagement.

‍

What micromanagement really costs

Micromanagement isn’t just about hovering or correcting every detail.

It’s a symptom of deeper fears: that if we’re not involved, things won’t get done.
That we are the glue—and without us, everything falls apart.

And in the short term, being hyper-present might even get results.
But in the long term? It’s a ceiling.

Micromanagement turns founders into bottlenecks.
It blocks your team from stepping up.
And it keeps you stuck in the weeds instead of leading at the level your company actually needs.

How do I know?

Because I’ve lived it. And I’m still working through it.
I’ve had to learn that the same intensity that helped me build momentum…
could also cast a shadow that stopped others from unfolding their own leadership.

‍

4 signs you might be micromanaging

(Even if you think you’re just “being thorough”)

1. You’re always the final checkpoint

No one ships without your review—and projects pile up on your desk.

2. You struggle to take time off

Because deep down, you believe things will fall apart without you.

3. Your team asks for permission… CONSTANLY

Instead of owning decisions, they wait for your approval.

4. You feel exhausted—but proud of it

You confuse burnout with dedication.

‍

4 ways to stop micromanaging

(Without letting go of quality or momentum)

‍

1. Use the GWC framework to assess your team

‍

Before handing over responsibility, make sure the person truly Gets it, Wants it, and has the Capacity to do the job.

Micromanagement often comes from a lack of trust, and sometimes, that distrust is valid.

If someone isn’t ready to lead, you’ll naturally feel the urge to step in.

GWC (from the book Traction) helps you get honest about whether someone is the right fit for ownership so you can delegate with confidence, not fear.

‍

2. Get comfortable with controlled failure

‍

You’re in a leadership role because you’ve made (and survived) your share of mistakes.

Your team doesn’t need to fail as hard or as often as you did, but they do need space to learn.

That means stepping back, even if you’re worried something might go wrong.

You can set up controls, add “airbags,” and review along the way.

But growth happens in the doing, not in the watching.

‍

3. Give real ownership, not just tasks

‍

If you’re the one making all the calls, your team’s not leading. They’re just assisting.

And if someone feels like they’re only there to support your ideas, they’ll never fully step into their potential.

True ownership means they carry the vision, drive it forward, and feel the weight of results.

If you keep jumping in, you’re not just correcting them, you’re blocking their growth.

(Been there. Still catching myself sometimes.)

‍

4. Step back—and let others step up

‍

Micromanagement isn’t just about control, it’s also about energy.

When you’re always the one leading, your team doesn’t have to rise.

But when you make space, people often surprise you.

It happened to me in my own family.

I used to handle everything for my parents until I moved to the U.S., and my sister naturally stepped in.

Same in business: when you create room, others rise to fill it.

Founders often say they want freedom.

But the truth is: most haven’t created a structure that allows for it.

You didn’t become a founder to answer Slack messages 24/7 or fix formatting in a slide deck.
You started this to build something bigger than yourself.

‍

And that only happens when you trust the team you’ve built to carry it forward.

‍

So ask yourself:

If you can’t step away for one week…
is the company actually scaling—or are you just stretching?

‍

If you’re ready to scale your business without sacrificing your health, your time, or your team’s potential, let’s talk.

My 1:1 Tailored Scaling Blueprint Calls are currently sold out—but the waitlist is open.

‍

Join the waitlist

‍

Or just hit reply if you’re stuck in the weeds and need a reset.

I’ll make sure you get the support you need.

Catch up on previous issues – Access past insights to optimize your growth strategy.

‍

Read Past Issues Online

‍

Best,

‍

There’s an important topic that affects women, founders, and society as a whole. Today, I want to contribute to that conversation.

As I mentioned last week, hiring the right people is the foundation of any successful business. But what happens when a hiring decision comes with built-in structural challenges—ones that neither the candidate nor the company can fully control?

Today, I want to address a situation that affects both founders and female candidates in the hiring process.

It’s a reality many avoid discussing openly: the challenges surrounding supporting women in startups —especially those who may want to start a family in the future.

Let’s be clear: women shouldn’t have to justify their personal choices in a job interviews. Actually, they shouldn’t have even been asked in job interviews (since it’s ILLEGAL!).  Yet, in many startup environments, founders ask women candidates uncomfortable personal questions.

Although I wouldn’t burn my hands for any founder, in most cases, they don’t mean bad, but they know their company might not survive if a key player is suddenly gone for a year or more.

A Problem Without Villains—Just Structural Gaps

Big corporations like Unilever or Avon have the resources to offer long parental leaves, on-site childcare, and seamless role transitions. If one person is absent, they have thousands of employees to keep things running smoothly.

But small startups? Usually, they have their seats counted, and losing one key team member—especially in leadership or highly specialized roles—can be as disruptive as losing a top player in the World Cup finals. The team takes a hit, and recovery isn’t always simple.

That’s why this issue is so complex. It’s not about bad intentions. It’s about a system that wasn’t designed to support small businesses and working mothers at the same time.

Main issue→ lack of government assistance

There’s a common misconception when it comes to small businesses: just because a founder brings in $5M (or more) in revenue doesn’t mean they’re taking home $5M in profit.

Many startups are operating at a loss, and in some cases, they need financial assistance to keep going.

While I’m not typically in favor of government intervention in private business (or in general), I do believe it’s essential for startups to receive financial support when it comes to supporting women during maternity leave.

Why? Because maternity leave isn’t just a personal matter—it’s a public health issue, and procreation is a collective good that benefits society as a whole.

Founders and women shouldn’t have to face this challenge on their own. Don’t you think it’s something we all have a stake in?

So, what can founders do?

The first step is acknowledging that this isn’t just a women’s topic—it’s a business matter. And like any business challenge, it requires strategy and innovation.

Here are a few ways startups can make meaningful progress:

Plan for parental leave before you need it Instead of reacting when the moment arrives, design a strategy now.

Flexible work structures Hybrid and remote work options, part-time leadership roles, or phased returns to work can help retain top talent without disrupting business operations.

Expand your talent bench Instead of relying on a single point of failure, build a network of freelancers, consultants, or part-time specialists.

Sure, these tips are helpful, but they’re the same ones any founder would give.

But, I want to go a step further.

As someone who’s founded three companies and, more importantly, as a guy who dreams of being the best dad I can be, here’s where I think we can make a real difference:

First, validate what happens to women in your company. Don’t just offer maternity leave because it’s the right thing to do on paper—actually see the challenges your employees face.

Next, create a safe space where your team, especially women, feels comfortable being open about maternity. I get it—it’s a delicate topic. But, trust me, they need to feel heard and supported.

And finally, recognize that both parties are in a vulnerable position.

As a founder, you have a business to sustain, and the stakes feel high. As a new mother, the pressure is equally intense. It’s easy for survival instincts to kick in and send both sides into defensive modes.

But here’s the key: neither of you means any harm. It’s all about survival, growth, and understanding that you’re in it together.

Hiring the right people means solving the right problems

Over the past 10 years, my company has hired 700 people, and 65% of them have been women. Of those women, 80% held mid-level roles. Along the way, we’ve had tens of pregnancies among our team.

This wasn’t a deliberate strategy; we didn’t set out to hire a specific number of women. As a founder, my focus has always been on finding individuals who align with the values of our company and have the right skills to help us achieve our goals.

Gender was never the driving factor—what mattered was the person and their fit within our culture.

The point is, startups shouldn’t have to worry about how to afford maternity leave. They should be able to focus on what really matters: hiring the right people who will help build the team and drive the vision forward.

And that means building teams that don’t just work today, but are sustainable for years to come. If you’re a founder struggling with hiring challenges, let’s talk.

Book a 1:1 Customized Scaling Gameplan Call, and let’s find a hiring strategy that works for your business.

Book your Free 1:1 Scaling Blueprint CallRead Past Issues Online

Best,

Ignacio

‍

Today I want to talk about something that can truly make a difference in your company: the people in it.

I've always believed that while a company may have many components, at its core, it all comes down to two things: your team and the culture you build together.

This idea seems simple, yet it can be surprisingly difficult to grasp for many. That’s why, in my 1:1 calls, I use the movie “300” as a powerful example.

The movie tells the story of King Leonidas and his 300 Spartan warriors, facing off against the massive Persian army. Outnumbered by thousands, they didn’t rely on sheer size to win—they relied on strategy, discipline, and the unwavering strength of a team that knew exactly what they were doing.

Every warrior was chosen carefully, trained relentlessly, and positioned precisely where they could make the greatest impact. We can say that King Leonidas nailed the hiring process for his team, right?

You can have the best brand, systems, or strategy, but in the end, it's all about who you choose to work with and how well they work together. Success doesn’t come from having the biggest team or the highest headcount.

Success comes from having the right people in the right roles, working together like a well-trained Spartan phalanx.

So, here’s where most founders struggle: hiring smart.

For years, I made the same mistake—conducting interviews that were 90% talk and only 10% actual proof of skill. Candidates told me about their certifications, past experience, and strengths. It all sounded great!

Plot twist: When they started the job, they couldn't actually do what they claimed.

That’s when I realized that hiring should be 90% testing and 10% talking. When I started testing candidates in real-time—giving finance managers an actual P&L to analyze or asking "Excel experts" to create a pivot table on the spot—the results were shocking.

People with impressive resumes couldn't do basic tasks. Others, who might not have seemed perfect on paper, proved their skills immediately.

Want to Hire A-Players? Start Here

Test before the interview

Resumes can be misleading, and interviews take time. A small, well-designed technical task upfront helps filter out weak candidates early. This ensures you're only spending time with those who can actually do the job.

Instead of “Tell me about a time when…” → Give them a real task.

Instead of “What’s your greatest strength?” → Have them solve a problem.

Instead of “Why should we hire you?” → Watch them execute.

Identify the 3 key skills for the role

Many hiring mistakes stem from vague expectations before the interview even begins. Before you start the hiring process, get clear on what truly matters.

Consider:

• What challenges will this person tackle every day?
• What abilities are essential for them to thrive in this role?
• What level of expertise ensures I can rely on them without constant oversight?
• What software, tools, or systems must they be proficient in?

Defining these criteria upfront helps you filter out the wrong candidates early—saving time, energy, and costly miss-hires.

Define your company’s core values (and hire accordingly)

Skills can be taught, but values and mindset are harder to change. That’s why defining your company’s values is crucial. If you haven’t solved this yet, try my Mission to Mars Exercise:

Imagine you’re building the first human colony on Mars but can only take three people from your company—those who truly embody its core values.

Steps:

1. Set the Scene: Explain this scenario to your executive team.
2. Choose the Astronauts: Have each person write down three teammates they’d bring.
3. Extract Values: For each selected teammate, list four defining values (each person ends up with 12).
4. Prioritize: Compile and vote on the most frequently mentioned values.

When hiring, go beyond resumes—test alignment with your culture. Present 2–3 real past scenarios where your core values were challenged, and ask the candidate how they would handle them.

The right hire isn’t just qualified—they belong in your team.

If you’re tired of hiring people who look great on paper but don’t deliver, it’s time to change your approach.

Want to refine your hiring process and build a high-performing team?

Let’s talk. Book your 1:1 Customized Scaling Gameplan Call and we’ll go through your biggest hiring challenges together.

Book your Free 1:1 Scaling Blueprint Call

Best,

Ignacio

‍

What 20+ Years in Business Taught Me About Building Fast

Looking back at my journey - 3 companies founded, 2 exits, $65M in sales - there's one truth that stands out:

Building a successful company comes down to nailing 3 things:

1. A product that solves real problems
2. A team that executes without you
3. Your personal development as a founder

Get all three right, and you compound growth faster than you thought possible.

Miss even one, and you'll spend years stuck in the same revenue range, working harder but not scaling smarter.

Here's what I wish someone had told me at 25.

Why Building Before 40 Is Strategically Easier

Let me be direct: Age doesn't define your worth or capability as a founder.

But constraints are real. And before 40, you face fewer of them.

Before 40, you typically have:

More energy - You can work 70-hour weeks without your body breaking down. You recover faster from stress.

Fewer obligations - No kids' soccer games, aging parents to care for, mortgage payments that can't be missed.

Higher risk tolerance - You can take a salary cut, bootstrap longer, pivot dramatically without affecting a family's stability.

Longer runway - If this business fails, you have time to start another one. And another one after that.

After 40, these constraints multiply. Family needs are non-negotiable. Health becomes a real consideration. Financial obligations are fixed. The willingness to risk everything decreases.

This isn't failure - it's reality. And ignoring it doesn't serve anyone.

The 3 Pillars That Determine Success (And Why One Matters Most)

Pillar 1: Product

You need something people actually want to pay for. Not something you think is cool. Not something that "should" work.

Something the market pulls from you because it solves a painful problem.

But here's the trap: When you don't think your product is good enough, YOU start adding features. You're not your user. That's a user call to make, not yours.

Pillar 2: Team

You can't scale alone. But hiring the wrong people is worse than staying small.

You need A-players who share your values, execute without constant supervision, and raise the bar for everyone else.

But here's where founders break: When you don't think your team is good enough, you start taking back their tasks. That's when you become burned out and tired.

Pillar 3: Personal Development (This Is The Important One)

For years, I had this mindset that everything I created was so hard to achieve that if I wasn't there to control every decision, my company would break.

Turns out that's a lie.

By thinking I was the most essential part of the company, I became an obstacle. I stopped growing myself. I became the bottleneck.

Your company is a reflection of you. You get stuck. It gets stuck.

Personal development is the nature of all founder problems.

As founders, you need to constantly learn how to build a mindset ready for higher stakes. You need to scale yourself to scale your company.

Why All 3 Must Work Together

Here's what I learned the hard way:

You can't fix a broken product with a better team. They'll just execute faster toward the wrong goal.

You can't scale a great product with the wrong people. They'll deliver mediocre results and drive your A-players away.

You can't build either without developing yourself. Your blind spots become organizational dysfunctions.

The compound effect happens when all three align:

• A strong product attracts great team members
• A great team gives you space to work on strategy instead of operations
• Your personal development improves how you lead both product and team
• This creates momentum that accelerates everything
  

The Founders Who Made It vs. Those Still Struggling at 45

I've worked with hundreds of founders. The patterns are clear:

Founders who built successful companies before 40:

• Focused ruthlessly on one thing until it worked
• Built teams early and delegated aggressively
• Invested in their own development (coaching, frameworks, systems)
• Made decisions fast and adjusted based on data

Founders still struggling at 45:

• Chased multiple opportunities without mastering one
• Stayed the bottleneck because they couldn't let go
• Relied on "hustle" instead of building systems
• Made decisions slowly and stuck with them too long
• Thought they needed no outside help

The difference isn't intelligence or luck. It's approach.

If You're Feeling Stuck, It's Time to Find Out Why

Most founders don't know which of the 3 pillars is holding them back.

They work harder on everything, making marginal progress on nothing.

The real question: Are you the bottleneck or the catalyst of your business growth?

Take the Founder Assessment Quiz. It reveals:

• Your Founder Score (how urgently you need to shift how you scale)
• Clarity on your strengths and blind spots
• A personalized next step to build a business that doesn't depend on you for everything

It takes 5 minutes and shows you exactly where to focus.

→ Take the Founder Assessment Quiz

Stop guessing what's holding you back. Start knowing.

- Ignacio

‍

The $10M Gap Isn't About Money. It's About A Mental Operating System.

‍

Quick Note: My execution group is off to a great start. If you're tired of solving problems alone while competitors move faster, join us here.

Two founders. Same industry. Same opportunities. Same 24 hours.

One stays stuck at $250K. The other scales to $10M.

What's the difference?

Not talent. Not luck. Not even resources.

It's how they think about problems, time, and growth.

$250K founders solve problems. $10M founders prevent them.

Here are the 5 mental shifts that separate small thinkers from scale thinkers:

Shift #1: From "I Can't Afford To" to "I Can't Afford NOT To."

$250K Founder: "I can't afford to hire someone for $60K/year."

$10M Founder: "I can't afford NOT to hire someone if it frees up 20 hours of my time per week."

The math: 20 hours × 52 weeks = 1,040 hours of founder time.
Your hourly value at $10M revenue? $500+/hour.
That hire just bought you $520K of founder capacity for $60K.

Small founders see cost. Big founders see leverage.

Shift #2: From "Let Me Google This" to "Let Me Ask Someone Who Knows."

$250K Founder: Spends 3 hours researching email automation tools.

$10M Founder: Texts someone who's scaled email marketing and gets the answer in 5 minutes.

Small founders trade time for information. Big founders trade relationships for speed.

Your network isn't for networking events. It's your competitive advantage.

Shift #3: From "Custom Solutions" to "Proven Playbooks"

$250K Founder: "Our business is unique; we need a custom hiring process."

$10M Founder: "Let's use the competency-based interview framework that works for everyone."

Small founders reinvent wheels. Big founders leverage what's already proven.

Uniqueness is in execution, not in fundamental systems.

Shift #4: From "Waiting for Clarity" to "Creating Clarity Through Action."

$250K Founder: "I need to research this market for 6 more months before we launch."

$10M Founder: "Let's test with 100 customers this month and learn from real data."

Small founders plan their way to paralysis. Big founders act their way to clarity.

The market teaches faster than your mind does.

Shift #5: From "Everything to Everyone" to "Best at One Thing."

$250K Founder: "We should add more features so we can serve more customer types."

$10M Founder: "What's the ONE thing we do better than anyone else? Let's dominate that."

Small founders spread thin. Big founders go deep.

Market leadership comes from obsessive focus, not broad appeal.

Why Smart Founders Get Trapped in Small Thinking

You've been conditioned to be careful with money since childhood. You mistake frugality for smart business. You think "bootstrapped" means "do everything yourself."

Result: You optimize for saving pennies while losing dollars of opportunity.

But “$10M thinking” is being strategic with leverage.

The Compound Effect

Each mindset shift doesn't just solve one problem; it accelerates everything.

• Hire faster → Build faster → Learn faster → Scale faster
• Ask experts → Get better answers → Avoid expensive mistakes
• Use proven systems → Reduce friction → Win markets

Case Study: Founder Z was stuck at $800K for 2 years with "bootstrap mentality."

Then he made 3 shifts:

1. Hired an operations manager for $70K (freed up 15 hours/week)
2. Implemented a proven sales framework instead of "figuring it out."
3. Asked a successful founder for marketing agency intro instead of testing 6 agencies

Result: $800K to $2.3M in 14 months.

His words: "I wasn't thinking too small about my goals. I was thinking too small about my methods."

The Self-Audit

When you hit a problem, what's your first instinct?

• Research it yourself (250K) or Call someone who's solved it (10M)?

When you need something done, what do you think?

• "How can I do this cheaper?" (250K) or "How can I do this faster?" (10M)

When you see an opportunity, what stops you?

• "What if it doesn't work?" (250K) or "What if I don't try?" (10M)
  

Your answers reveal which camp you're operating from.

The Reality Check

The gap between $250K and $10M isn't about what you know. It's about how you think.

And mindset transformation beats tactical execution every time.

If you're ready to upgrade your mental operating system, I can help.

My execution group launched August 1st, and it’s off to a great start. But I'm building a waitlist for founders ready to think bigger and move faster.

Apply for the Execution Group Here →

Stop thinking small. Start scaling big.

- Ignacio

P.S. The most expensive business decision isn't the money you spend. It's the opportunities you miss while thinking too small about your methods.

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Most Founder Problems Have Already Been Solved. You Just Don't Know Where to Look.

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Let me hit you with some uncomfortable truth:

That "impossible" hiring challenge you're wrestling with? Solved.

That team alignment nightmare keeping you up at night? Solved.

That foggy value proposition confusing your customers? Solved.

The frameworks exist. The systems work. The solutions are proven.

So why are you still stuck?

Because knowing a solution exists and knowing how to implement it in YOUR business are two completely different games.

You don't need more frameworks. You need someone who can take those frameworks and make them work for your specific chaos, your specific team, your specific market.

Here's what I mean:

1. Hiring: The Framework Exists. Your Implementation Doesn't.

Every founder struggles with hiring. "I can't find good people." "Everyone I hire disappoints." "Great candidates ghost me."

Guess what? The solution has existed for decades.

It's called competency-based interviewing with practical testing. Companies like Google, Apple, and Netflix have been using variations of this for years.

But here's where founders fail:

They read about it. They think they get it. Then they half-ass the implementation.

The framework I teach: Skip the resume worship. Test real skills first. Ask behavioral questions that reveal values alignment. Create a scoring system that removes bias.

But the magic isn't in the framework. It's in the customization:

• What specific competencies matter for YOUR company culture?
• What tests actually predict success in YOUR specific roles?
• How do you adapt this system when you're hiring your 5th employee vs. your 50th?

ACTION: The Hiring Reality Check

Ask yourself:

• Am I using a proven hiring framework, or just "winging it" with interviews?
• Do I test actual job skills, or just rely on conversation?
• Can I explain exactly why my last great hire worked out?

The framework exists. Your implementation probably doesn't.

2. Team Alignment: The Solution Is Called Level 10 Meetings

"My team isn't aligned." "People are working on the wrong things." "I feel like I'm the only one who cares."

Sound familiar?

The solution? Level 10 Meetings.

90-minute weekly sessions with your leadership team. Segmented agenda. Scorecard review. Rock check-ins. Issue identification and solving using the IDS method (Identify, Discuss, Solve).

This isn't my invention. It's from the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), used by thousands of companies.

But here's where founders screw it up:

They think showing up with an agenda is enough. They don't customize the scorecard for their business. They skip the hard conversations. They let the meeting drift into status updates instead of problem-solving.

The magic isn't in running A meeting. It's in running THE RIGHT meeting for your specific team dynamics.

• What metrics actually matter for YOUR business model?
• How do you handle resistance from team members who hate meetings?
• What happens when your "rocks" are constantly shifting because you're in growth mode?

ACTION: The Alignment Audit

Rate your last team meeting 1-10:

• Did we solve actual problems, or just talk about them?
• Did everyone leave with clear priorities?
• Could a stranger listening understand exactly what we're building?

If you scored below 8, you need Level 10 Meetings. Customized for your chaos.

3. Value Proposition: The "Mission to Mars" Exercise Cuts Through the Noise

"Customers don't understand what we do." "Our messaging is confusing." "We sound like everyone else."

The solution? The Mission to Mars exercise.

Imagine you're starting a colony on Mars. You can only bring 3 people from your company. Who do you choose?

Not because of their job titles. Because of who they ARE.

What values do those 3 people represent? What behaviors do they never tolerate? How do they approach problems?

That's your real culture. That's your actual value proposition.

But here's where founders fail:

They do the exercise once, in a conference room, and think they're done. They don't connect it to their actual customer experience. They don't use it to guide product decisions or marketing messages.

The magic isn't in the exercise. It's in translating those insights into everything you do:

• How does your "Mars team" culture translate into customer service?
• What would your ideal customers love about these values?
• How do you communicate this differentiation without sounding like corporate BS?

ACTION: The Value Proposition Reality Check

• Can your customers explain what you do differently in one sentence?
• Do your team's actual behaviors match your stated values?
• Would a competitor struggle to copy what makes you unique?

The framework exists. Your application might not.

4. The Real Problem: Implementation, Not Innovation

Here's what's brutal:

Most founders waste months trying to invent solutions that already exist.

They think their problems are unique. They think their industry is different. They think they need to build everything from scratch.

Wrong.

Your problems aren't special. Your industry isn't that different. The frameworks that work for other businesses will work for yours.

What IS unique is your specific context:

• Your team's skill level
• Your growth stage
• Your market dynamics
• Your resource constraints

That's where you need help. Not in finding new frameworks. In adapting proven frameworks to your specific reality.

ACTION: The Framework Inventory

List your top 3 business challenges right now.

For each one, ask:

• Has someone else solved this before?
• What frameworks exist for this problem?
• How would I need to customize this solution for my business?

Stop reinventing. Start implementing.

5. Why Most Solutions Fail: They're Not Tailored to Your Reality

You've probably tried implementing frameworks before. Maybe you:

• Downloaded a hiring checklist that didn't work
• Started weekly team meetings that became boring status updates
• Tried to define your company values in a brainstorming session

Why did they fail?

Because generic solutions don't work for specific problems.

A Level 10 Meeting framework designed for a 100-person manufacturing company won't work the same way for a 10-person SaaS startup.

A hiring process that works for a tech company in Silicon Valley might crash and burn for a service business in Ohio.

The frameworks are proven. But they need to be customized for:

• Your industry dynamics
• Your growth stage
• Your team's capabilities
• Your specific bottlenecks

That's where the real value is. Not in knowing the framework exists. In knowing how to make it work for YOU.

The Implementation Operating System

Here's how to stop failing at frameworks:

Step 1: Identify the Proven Solution
Stop trying to invent. Find what already works.

Step 2: Understand Your Context
What's unique about your situation that requires customization?

Step 3: Adapt, Don't Adopt
Take the framework and modify it for your specific reality.

Step 4: Test and Refine
Start small. Measure results. Adjust based on what you learn.

Step 5: Scale What Works
Once you've proven it works for you, roll it out fully.

This is how you stop being a framework collector and start being a framework implementer.

Final Truth Bomb

You don't have a knowledge problem. You have an implementation problem.

The solutions to your biggest challenges are sitting in books, courses, and case studies right now.

What you're missing isn't the framework. It's someone who can help you customize it, implement it, and make it stick in YOUR specific business.

Someone who's seen these frameworks work across different industries, growth stages, and team dynamics.

Someone who can look at your specific chaos and say, "Here's exactly how to adapt this solution for your situation."

That's not a consultant. That's a translator.

And that's exactly what I do with founders who are serious about scaling.

I don't invent new frameworks. I take proven frameworks and make them work for your specific business.

If you're tired of half-implemented solutions and generic advice, let's fix that.

Join the Waitlist for Tailored 1:1 Scaling Support

Stop collecting frameworks. Start implementing solutions that actually stick.

The frameworks exist. Your customized implementation doesn't.

Yet.

– Ignacio

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Let me ask you something:
When was the last time you checked in on your energy, not your metrics, not your team—you?

In 2016, we almost went bankrupt.

We had just acquired one of our biggest competitors. It should’ve been a massive win.

And then… we lost $5M in revenue almost overnight because of a technical problem

I was working 14-hour days trying to hold everything together. Leading meetings while lying on the floor. I developed Tinnitus. I was so burned out, I didn’t even realize I was burned out.

Here’s the thing:
Burnout doesn’t always look like a breakdown.
It looks like you, but not quite yourself.

The 4 Types of Burnout (and How to Recognize Them)

1. Overload Burnout

• You’re always “on.” There’s no off switch.

• You crash at the end of the day.

• You wake up already behind.

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Try this: Either lower the number of goals—yes, delay some for later—or increase the resources and support to meet them.
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Think of it this way: Organizing a 100-person dinner tonight sounds impossible… unless you get a professional event team to help.

It’s not always the goal that’s the problem, it’s the resources behind it.
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2. Lack of Control Burnout

• Everything feels out of your hands.

• You get lost in the weeds.

• Your schedule owns you.
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Try this: Reclaim your sense of control by locking in your top three priorities.
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Most founders feel out of control because they’re doing too much and moving too slowly.

Focusing on the few things that actually drive traction helps you feel momentum, and that momentum restores your sense of ownership.
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3. Purpose Misalignment Burnout

• You’re working hard, but can’t remember why.

• You’ve outgrown your original vision.

• You feel like a stranger in your own company.
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Try this: Realign with your original core purpose and values.
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Start by reviewing what you’re trying to build today vs. what you intended to create.

If you’re not sure where to begin, check out the Mission to Mars exercise I shared recently—it’s a powerful way to rediscover your real "why" and reset your company’s compass.
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4. Emotional Burnout

• You’re running on emotional fumes.

•You’re tired of always being the strong one.

• The weight of leadership is too heavy.
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Try this: Don’t do it alone.
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Burnout here is often a lack of emotional support. That’s why I built a personal board of A-players—mentors, coaches, advisors.

You’ll still feel the pain of hard moments (layoffs, pivots, setbacks), but you’ll process it in a healthy way, without it breaking you.

Burnout is quiet. Creeping. Cumulative.
You don’t see it until it’s running the show.

The earlier you recognize the signs, the faster you can course-correct before it costs you, your business, and your health.

Are you burnt out while trying to scale your company?

My 1:1 Tailored Scaling Blueprint Calls are still on the waitlist only.
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Join the waitlist

Or reply to this email and let me know what team challenge you’re working through—I’ll make sure you get support.

Catch up on previous issues – Access past insights to optimize your growth strategy.
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Read Past Issues Online

Talk soon,

Ignacio

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A few weeks ago, I had a meeting with someone who caught my attention.
She was magnetic, deep, expressive, wildly creative, and full of energy. The kind of person who lights up a room the second they walk in.

And within an hour of talking, she told me:

“I’ve finally accepted that it’s okay to say yes to something… and two hours later, feel like a no. I’m ok with changing my decisions constantly based on how my feelings change.”

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It was honest. It was raw. And it was a perfect example of today’s lesson:
Every strength you admire comes with opposite traits that may not be consistent with what you love.

We tend to focus so hard on what makes someone shine, that we forget to ask:

“What’s on the other side of this trait?”

And the more intense the strength, the more intense the cost.

The Bright Side Always Has a Back Side

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Let’s use a classic example: masculine vs. feminine energy (and we’re talking energy here—not gender).

Masculine energy is sharp. Structured. Focused.
It’s all about direction, results, precision, and drive.

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Feminine energy is expansive. Creative. Emotional.
It’s about flow, openness, depth, and expression.

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Both are powerful. Both are needed.
But when you choose someone for their intensity in one, don’t ignore what else comes with it.

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Let’s say you hire a salesperson who’s an absolute beast.
They’re magnetic in meetings, they close huge accounts, they walk into a room like Brad Pitt in Troy. That “different” energy.

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They will land the deal. No matter what.
But will they fill out the CRM?
Will they show up on time to internal meetings?
Will they follow structure?

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Most likely not.

On the flip side, you bring in someone extremely organized.
They document everything, show up early, crush admin work.
But do they have that same fire to hunt down million-dollar deals?

That’s the tradeoff.

3 Things to Remember Before You Hire (or Partner)

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1. Every strength has a cost

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We love strengths that shine—confidence, creativity, vision, drive.
But we forget: those traits are never isolated. They live on a spectrum. And on the other end of that spectrum? There’s always something harder to manage.
A visionary might be terrible at execution.
A high-performer might struggle with teamwork.
A bold communicator might bulldoze others without meaning to.

The question isn’t if there’s a downside. The question is:

Can you accept it, manage it, and still move forward?

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Quick tip:
When you're impressed by someone’s top trait, ask: “What would this look like on a bad day?”
If that version makes you pause, dig deeper before moving forward.

2. The more intense the trait, the more intense the shadow.

Intensity amplifies everything.
The more magnetic someone is, the more destabilizing they can become when things go sideways.
That salesman who can close the biggest deals? He might ghost meetings, miss deadlines, or crash the team dynamic with erratic behavior.
That emotionally open teammate who brings soul to the room? May also struggle to stay grounded under pressure.

Intensity is power—but it always cuts both ways.

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Quick tip:
Match intensity with role.
Someone with wild creative energy might crush it in ideation, but crash in operations. Don’t try to “fix” them. Just place them where their intensity helps instead of hurts.

3. The differentiator is self-awareness

Here’s the curveball: a strong trait with no self-awareness behind it becomes dangerous.
But that same trait—owned, understood, and managed? It’s gold.

I’ve seen passionate founders who know their energy can overwhelm others… so they pause, create space, and elevate the room. (I’m working personally on this).
That’s integration. That’s power with presence.

So the real question isn’t what traits do they have?
It’s: do they know how to hold them responsibly?

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Quick tip:
Ask them about a time their strength became a liability—and what they did about it.
If they can’t name one? They probably haven’t done the work.

Next time you’re wowed by someone’s energy, talent, or presence… take a step back.
Look at the whole person. Ask what might be hiding behind the thing that dazzles you.

Because strengths aren’t free—they always come with something else.

And if you want to build a team that can scale with you, not surprise you—this is where it starts.

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My 1:1 Tailored Scaling Blueprint Calls are still on waitlist only.
If you're building a team and want help choosing the right people—not just the shiny ones, get a personalized roadmap.

‍

Join the waitlist

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Or reply to this email. If you’re stuck navigating team dynamics or a tough hire, I’ll make sure you get the guidance you need.

Catch up on previous issues – Access past insights to optimize your growth strategy.

‍

Read Past Issues Online

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Talk soon,

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I want to start this newsletter by being honest.

When you received last week’s issue, I wasn’t at my desk.
I wasn’t reviewing metrics or planning a launch.
I was at the beach, barefoot in the sand, and laughing with friends.

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And I’ll be real with you—many colleagues wouldn’t even think of it.

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I have worked with many founders who thought success meant being on all the time.
That the more they showed up, the more their business would grow.
That they had to be available for everything and everyone.
If they weren’t “present,” things would fall apart.

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But here’s what I’ve learned: that belief was doing more harm than good.

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It didn’t make me a better founder—it made me exhausted.
And it definitely didn’t build the kind of life I was actually working so hard for.

Here’s the truth most founders don’t want to hear:

If you haven’t made the decision to take time off, you won’t have it.

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Time won’t magically appear. Free time is a lie.
You have to create it. You have to protect it.

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And not just for rest. For clarity. For energy. For your life outside the spreadsheet.

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This isn’t just theory.
After years of coaching founders, and from my own experience, I’ve seen this over and over.

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I was the guy always asking for extra days off.
Why? Because we were working 50 out of the 52 weeks every year.

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So when I managed to get just 4 extra days, it felt massive.
That’s 40% more time if you’re only taking 10 days off a year.
And those extra days? They changed everything.

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They gave me space to think, space to breathe, and—most importantly—space to come back sharper.

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And that’s why I call it what it truly is:
A productivity hack.

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Over the years, I’ve worked with founders scaling into 8- and 9-figure territory.
The ones who grow faster? They’re not grinding nonstop.
They’ve shifted their mindset.

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They’ve stopped living to work and started building a great life around their business.

And if you think it’s just about time management or fancy leadership frameworks… you’re missing the point.

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Most founders don’t take time off because they haven’t even considered it possible.
They’ve accepted the story that being a founder means being always on.

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But here’s the irony—
As founders, we create companies out of thin air.
We turn vision into reality.
So why not create a life that works for you, too?

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Let me give you an extreme example.

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A few years ago, I did a Vipassana retreat in Jakarta, Indonesia—10 full days of silence, meditating for 11 hours a day (they call it meditation prison)... No talking, no eye contact, no technology. And in my case, no food either. I decided to do a water fast alongside it—just 4 liters of water a day, nothing else.

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It was intense. 110 hours of meditation. No external stimulation. No distraction. Just deep internal work.
And here’s the wild part: not eating for 10 days? Totally possible. Most people carry enough body fat to survive 30, even 60 days without food. (Not that I’m recommending it without preparation or medical advice.)

But here’s something even more intense—go seven days without sleep, and you die. Literally.

That’s how vital rest is to your body and brain. That’s how non-negotiable sleep is.

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And yet, so many founders will skip sleep, skip breaks, skip life, thinking it's making them more productive.

But what they're really doing is running on fumes, tanking their decision-making, creativity, and long-term capacity.

Just like fasting unlocked a healing state in my body, rest unlocks a healing and regenerative state in your business mind.

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Sleep and time off aren't luxuries. They’re the base of the performance pyramid. First comes rest, then comes nutrition, then comes hustle.

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So next time you’re tempted to work through the weekend or skip your vacation, ask yourself:
Would you tell a teammate to work 100 hours without sleeping?
Then why would you do it to yourself?

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Taking time off isn’t a risk to your growth.
It’s the smartest growth strategy you’re not using enough.

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You didn’t become a founder to build a cage.

You became a founder to build freedom.

But freedom doesn’t happen by default—it happens by design.

If you keep filling your calendar with things that matter to everyone else, you’ll never have space to think, create, or lead at the level you’re capable of.

You don’t need more grind.

You need a better system. One that protects your energy as aggressively as it protects your revenue.

Because if you burn out, nothing scales.

And if you don’t change it, no one will change it for you.

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Remember: Your calendar is not going to create free time for you. You have to claim it.

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And if you don’t do it proactively, it will get filled—by emails, meetings, fire drills, and noise.

I’ve coached founders to block out visionary time months in advance.
Because once the month starts, your agenda is already hijacked.
Plan first—and let the rest revolve around your time, not the other way around.

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If you're building a great company but also want a great life, let’s talk.

‍

My 1:1 Tailored Scaling Blueprint Calls are currently sold out—but the waitlist is open.
Secure your spot and get a roadmap to scale in a way that actually works for you, not against you.

Join the waitlist

‍

Or just hit reply if you’re stuck and need a reset. I’ll make sure you get the support you need.

Catch up on previous issues – Access past insights to optimize your growth strategy.

‍

Read Past Issues Online

Best,

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Have you ever stopped to think about how ironic it is?

We start companies in pursuit of freedom—financial and professional—yet we hand over our "time-wallet" to whoever demands it. Meetings pile up, Slack pings steal our focus, and before we know it, the day is gone.

I hear this in most of my 1:1 calls, and I even remember a moment early in my journey when I caught myself working 14-hour days, convincing myself that "this is just a phase."

But it never was. The work never ended—until I made it end.

The truth? 90% of founders are overwhelmed, yet we pretend we’re not. We act like we have it all together, but deep down, we know something has to change.

Let’s stop pretending and start solving. Here’s how:

1. Build a High-Performing Agenda

If it’s not on your agenda, it won’t happen. And guess what? Scaling is never an “urgent” task—it’s important but never pressing. And yet, it’s the one thing only YOU can do.

I used to tell myself I’d “find time” for strategy work, but somehow, the day always filled up with emails, meetings, and last-minute fires. Sound familiar?

That’s when I created the 4x4 system—four mornings a week, four-hour deep work sessions.

The first time I implemented it, my schedule was packed with scattered tasks, making it hard to focus on long-term strategy. But after a few weeks of sticking to the 4x4 system, I noticed a shift—I had more clarity on priorities, made faster decisions, and mapped out concrete steps for growth.

This is when you do your Visionary Magic. This is when you actually grow the company.

2. Know Your Limits

Your brain has moments of deep focus and moments of passive resolution. If 9–11 AM is when you do your best thinking, treat it like a meeting with your most important client—your future self.

• Let your team know you’re unavailable.
• Turn off notifications—yes, all of them.
• Define the exact outcome you want before you start.

3. Define What Priorities Look Like to Your Team

If your team keeps coming to you for every little decision, it’s probably because of one of these two reasons:

1. You’ve (unknowingly) trained them to rely on you.

Fix it: Instead of being the answer key, be the guide. Define what truly needs your input and where they have full decision-making power. For those “gray area” moments, create a simple playbook to help them navigate without you.

2. You don’t fully trust them to make the right call.

Fix it: Start small. Delegate something low-risk and let them own it completely. The more they prove themselves, the easier it gets to let go.

4. Surround Yourself with a Personal Board of Advisors

As I already mentioned in a previous issue, even the best athletes have coaches, trainers, and teammates pushing them forward.

So, why do founders try to do it all alone?

The highest-performing founders operate the same way:

• A business coach to cut through the noise and sharpen decision-making.
• A financial advisor to ensure cash flow isn’t a constant headache.
• A network of peers who get it—because the higher you climb, the lonelier it gets.

The right support system isn’t a luxury—it’s how you stay in the game.

The #1 Time Bottleneck: Micromanaging

When we talk about reclaiming time, there’s one habit that quietly eats away at a founder’s schedule more than anything else: Micromanaging.

At first, it seems harmless—just a quick check-in here, an extra approval there. But soon, it becomes a cycle: your team hesitates to act without your input, and you feel trapped in the weeds of daily operations.

I used to think I was being a “good leader” by staying involved in everything. But then I realized something: my highest-performing team members didn’t actually need me hovering over them.

• They knew what they were doing.
• Their work spoke for itself.
• They delivered results—without my constant oversight.

So why was I checking in? To feel in control. And that’s when I knew something had to change.

Micromanaging is a company killer.

It drains:

1. Trust – Making people feel their work always needs supervision.
2. Freedom – If the update could be an email, don’t schedule a meeting.
3. Focus – Check-ins are interruptions. They shift their minds from creating to reporting.

Only 1% of founders can say, “I own my time and energy to focus on growth.”

Don’t be the micromanager leader.

Support your team. Let them fail (that’s how YOU learned also!).

Celebrate their wins. Inspire their growth.

That’s the foundation of a truly successful company.

If this resonates, let’s talk. I help founders build systems that let them scale—without burnout.

Book your Free 1:1 Scaling Blueprint Call

Get a customized roadmap to reclaim your time and accelerate growth.

Read Past Issues Online

Access past insights and strategies to help you scale smarter.

Best,

Ignacio

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The entrepreneurial journey demands a lot: vision, drive, and relentless effort.

But sometimes, the very habits that feel like dedication are actually keeping you stuck, draining your time and energy without real progress.

In my previous newsletter, we covered common time-wasters that usually come up in my 1:1 calls like treating everything as important, sacrificing sleep, saying yes to every opportunity, and falling into the hustle-culture trap.

Today, I want to share 3 more hidden habits that could be slowing you down.

Over-Reliance on Yourself

If you want something done right, do it yourself… right? Not quite.

Micromanaging every detail and refusing to delegate may feel like protecting quality, but in reality, it’s keeping you stuck in the weeds.

When you try to control everything, you don’t just limit your team—you limit yourself.

Your time is your most valuable resource, and spending it on tasks that someone else could handle takes you away from the high-impact work only you can do.

The key to sustainable growth is trust—trusting your team, your processes, and your ability to step back when needed.

What if you had to cut 50% of your time, with no option?

How would you manage your day, and what would you delegate because you have no choice?

This is what we realize with my 4x4 methodology: we make sure you get 4 mornings per week, for 4 hours straight, absolutely devoted to growth.

Now it’s easier to see what you need to delegate because you’re simply not time-rich anymore.

You’ll realize that you were present in many meetings, emails, and calls just because of inertia, or because you hadn’t challenged yourself enough to do things differently, just because you thought you had time.

The Emotional Bottleneck

Suppressing stress, ignoring emotions, and pushing through exhaustion may seem like resilience, but it’s actually a fast track to burnout.

Unaddressed emotions don’t just disappear, they resurface as physical exhaustion as tinnitus (real story), decreased focus, and wasted time trying to power through mental fog.

Instead of bottling everything up, acknowledge stress early.

Are you tracking your sleep with an Oura Ring or Apple Watch/Fitbit/Garmin?

Do you really know if you’re sleeping and recovering, with the right quantity and the right quality? I hear most founders saying “Yes, I sleep relatively well”.

But that’s like not knowing your company's P&L metrics and saying “Yes, I think we’re doing fine”. WTF

Sleep is the cornerstone for your health, recovery, and performance.
Sleep comes first as the fundamental pillar, then nutrition and last exercise.

Nail perfect recovery, and see how your whole resilience shifts.

The Busyaholic Syndrome

We all love the feeling of checking things off our to-do lists. But are those tasks actually moving the needle?

Filling your day with tasks that feel productive but don’t contribute to meaningful growth is a dangerous habit. Answering every email, sitting in back-to-back meetings, tweaking minor details—these things create busyness, not progress.

Take a step back and audit your daily routine. Ask yourself:

• Is this task truly necessary?
• Will this action bring me closer to my core goals?
• Could this be automated, delegated, or eliminated altogether?

Working smart means focusing on the activities that generate the most impact—the biggest NEEDLE MOVERS. Not just staying busy for the sake of “productivity”.

Breaking free from these habits isn’t just about productivity—it’s about building a business that doesn’t consume your life.

You don’t have to sacrifice your time, energy, and well-being to succeed.

I’ve been there. I’ve made these mistakes. And I’ve helped others escape them, too.

If you’re ready to take control of your schedule and build a business that works for you, not against you, let’s talk.

Book your free call now and start making these shifts today.

Book your Free 1:1 Scaling Blueprint Call

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Entrepreneurs are wired to chase big ideas, solve tough problems, and build something meaningful. But in the process, it’s easy to fall into habits that slowly drain your time, energy, and passion—without even realizing it.

Today, I want to help you spot those hidden traps before they take their toll.

The entrepreneurial journey starts off with a rush of excitement—you’re motivated by the thrill of building something impactful, solving complex problems, and chasing the dream of freedom and control over your life.

But there’s a hidden trap that many entrepreneurs overlook: the habits that slowly drain your time, energy, and passion, eventually leading to burnout.

These habits don’t just impact your business—they seep into your personal life, too.

If you're already feeling the weight of burnout, let’s talk. I offer 1:1 calls where we can address it together and make a plan to turn things around.

If you're not yet at that point, it's still critical to recognize these habits before they take their toll.

By identifying and avoiding them now, you can preserve your energy, reclaim your time, and ensure your well-being while scaling your business.

Let’s break them down and see how avoiding these common traps can help you work smarter, not harder.

1. Treating everything as important

It feels productive at the moment. But it's actually one of the biggest productivity killers.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of responding to every email, attending every meeting, or fixing every problem that arises, but this approach pulls your focus away from the strategic goals that actually drive your business forward.

By prioritizing what truly matters—tasks that will MOVE YOUR BUSINESS NEEDLE (yes tattoo that on your forehead)—you can eliminate the noise and free up your time for what will truly move the needle.

This means taking a step back and evaluating which activities will have the most significant impact on your business’s growth.

Which ones are meta-blockers? (the master block that if you solve, it will free up your business)

What is the greatest needle-mover that I can tackle right now?

Focusing on the big picture requires discipline and the ability to say no to constant distractions, but doing so will ultimately save you time and energy in the long run, allowing you to make more progress with less effort.

2. The "I'll sleep when I'm dead" mentality

Pushing through sleepless nights and working around the clock may feel like a badge of honor in the hustle culture, but in reality, it’s a silent productivity killer.

You are your business brain and heart. And you need them both healthy to stay alive (personally and professionally).

I spent 10 days without eating in 2018 while doing a Vipassana. Only drank 4 liters of water per day. Depending on your fat %, you can usually spend 30-45 days without eating (don’t try this at home without proper supervision).

But when talking about sleeping, you’d literally die after 5 to 10 days with 0 sleep.
That’s how important and crucial, sleep is.

Sleep isn’t just a break for your body—it’s when your mind recharges, strengthens memories, and processes information.

Without adequate rest, your cognitive functions deteriorate, leaving you more prone to errors, slower decision-making, and an overall decrease in productivity.

Treat sleep, exercise, and nutrition not as afterthoughts or luxuries, but as non-negotiable elements of your daily routine.

Sleep is the fundamental base, then comes nutrition, and then exercise.

Prioritize them, and you'll find yourself with more energy, clearer focus, and the ability to operate at your highest potential.

3. Saying Yes to every "opportunity"

We've made companies out of thin air, of course, we see opportunities EVERYWHERE.

As founders, we constantly see business opps and things we could improve inside our companies.

However, just because something sounds intriguing doesn’t mean it’s the right move at this moment. In fact, pursuing too many opportunities at once can quickly become a recipe for overwhelm and inefficiency.

This is one of the 12 viruses that I describe in my Scaling Framework: Lack of Laser Focus.

When you say “yes” to everything, you risk spreading your focus and resources too thin, diluting the impact of your efforts.

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of new ventures, but over-diversifying can leave you stretched too thin to make meaningful progress in any one area.

The more you take on, the less you’re able to dedicate to the things that truly matter.

Learning to say “no” or, at the very least, delegate certain opportunities, is one of the most powerful skills you can develop as a founder. By taking a more strategic approach to opportunities, you create space to focus on the initiatives that are truly aligned with your long-term vision.

What are your fearing, that you have to do so many things at the same time, instead of MASTERING the most important value proposition?

This not only conserves your time and energy, but it also ensures that you’re building something sustainable, rather than chasing fleeting opportunities that might distract you from your core goals.

Protect your focus and resources, and make decisions based on what will move you closer to your overarching business goals.

4. The hustle-culture trap

Always being “on” and glued to your phone may feel like dedication, but in reality, it’s a direct path to mental exhaustion and wasted time.

The constant barrage of emails, notifications, and last-minute requests keeps you in a reactive state—jumping from one thing to the next without ever making meaningful progress.

The truth is, you can’t be effective if your mind is constantly overstimulated.

When every moment is spent responding to external demands, you lose the ability to think strategically, make high-impact decisions, and truly move the needle in your business.

The hardest part? Letting go of the belief that being constantly busy means being productive. True productivity comes from working with intention, not exhaustion. The more you learn to step back and manage your energy wisely, the more impact you’ll have—not just in business, but in life.

The cost isn’t just wasted hours—it’s missed opportunities, stalled growth, and, ultimately, burnout.

Through years of trial, error, and working with countless founders, I’ve learned how to break free from these traps—and I’ve helped others do the same. By making a few intentional shifts, you won’t just reclaim your time; you’ll build a business that scales without sacrificing your well-being.

If you're ready to eliminate these time-wasting habits and take control of your schedule, book your free 1:1 Customized Scaling Gameplan Call now.

Let’s make your time work for you—not against you.

And stay tuned—next time, I'll be diving into even more hidden habits that drain your time and slow down your success.

Today, it seems like everyone’s a coach and most people have one.

But, is it enough to break the 10M barrier?

Well, it depends on two main factors.

1. The expertise of the coach

While many coaches claim expertise, it's essential to find someone who has both the practical experience and the insights to help you navigate the challenges you're facing.

• Most coaches have studied leadership, but haven’t actually led big and challenging teams.
• Many take cheap online courses that don’t require much real-world experience.
• They offer solutions without ever having built a company themselves.

As a result, most founders walk away feeling frustrated or stuck because the coach they chose didn’t truly understand their needs.

Maybe they relied on cookie-cutter advice, lacked hands-on experience, or focused on theories over actionable strategies.

It takes real experience, actionable insights, and the right kind of support.

The second factor?

2. The type of guidance founders choose

How do you identify the right guide?

Look for someone who has walked the path you’re on, brings a mix of strategy and empathy, and knows when to challenge you and when to support you.

Coach vs Mentor

Coaching isn’t about telling you what to do.

It’s about guiding you, helping you find your own answers and path forward.

Let’s be real—sometimes, you need more than just guidance.

Building a business is hard. Coaching through it? Even harder.

You need someone who truly understands the weight of every decision you make, those sleepless nights, and the risks you’re taking on.

That’s where a mentor comes in.

A mentor takes things a step further.

They share their own experiences—successes and failures—and offer tailored advice that comes from real-world experience.

They don’t just listen, they give you direction, provide insights, and sometimes, they even tell you exactly what you need to hear, even if it’s not what you want to hear.

Mentorship is about more than advice—it’s about being in the trenches with you.

And when things get tough, you need that kind of hands-on support.

Let’s go a step further

Here’s the deal: you don’t just need another coach or mentor, you need the right partner for your journey.

Someone who can focus entirely on your success, without any competing interests.

The right guide won’t sell you the latest trending strategy or push a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, they’ll help you create a tailored plan designed specifically for your challenges, strengths, and goals.

Your success shouldn’t depend on giving away equity or following a formula that worked for someone else.

It’s about finding the right tools and resources to fit your needs, and most importantly, helping you discover the solutions within yourself.

In a world full of generic advice, you deserve an approach that’s built for you.

Let’s be clear: there’s no one-size-fits-all process that will magically solve everything in your life.

But there is one person who can solve your problems: YOU.

Life is like a movie—and you’re the director.

You get to decide how the story unfolds.

Sure, we all have limitations and resources to work with, but that doesn’t mean you’re trapped. With the right support, you can rewrite the script, pivot, and take your company to the next level.

I’ve seen firsthand how powerful founders can be when they realize their own strength.

With the right mindset, tools, and support, almost nothing is off-limits.

Stop wasting time (and money) on inexperienced coaches and take a minute to identify the kind of guide who will truly boost your business.

As a founder, I’m OBSESSED about getting RESULTS with SPEED, that’s the ONLY thing that matters.

Ready to make your move?

Let’s talk about how I can help you break through that 10M barrier.

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Book a 1:1 free Tailored Scaling Blueprint Call!

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This is my "humble" confession: I'm a great party planner.

I’m efficient, resourceful, and even know how to reduce costs while keeping everything top-notch.

During my time at clickOn, I planned the massive end-of-year event:

• A marathon 24-to-30-hour experience packed with activities.
• Coordinated travel arrangements for 150 attendees from 10 provinces.
• Organized a full-day conference in December, featuring keynote sessions and workshops.
• Included yearly planning sessions, networking opportunities, and engaging workshops.
• Delivered a seamless evening of dinner, a vibrant carnival, party buses and bottle service at the main club VIP.

It was freaking fun, but highly time consuming.

In the first two years, I handled everything from A to Z.

While the events were a huge success, I began to notice hidden costs; not just financial, but in time and energy.

• Vendors changed prices
• Catering menus required adjustments for dietary needs
• A party bus broke down mid-event, forcing me to scramble for last-minute solutions.

It was then that I realized that by being the sole owner of every task, I was also the owner of every subtask, problem, and last-minute fire.

I would leave my tasks in the middle of the execution to answer calls from the catering team.

I would spend hours in details when I should have been checking reports.

I would be arranging a time with the DJ when I should have been answering important emails.

I would be engaged in a low impact activity while looking away from the actual REVENUE.

That’s when I decided this needed to stop.

Instead of micromanaging, I created a clear plan and coached our HR manager to take over.

In the first year, it took time to train him, but by the second and third years, the process was nearly seamless. Now, the events run smoothly without my constant involvement.

The same lesson applies to business

Planning an event is like running a business: every task has countless subtasks, and if you’re the only one responsible, you’ll become a slave to the process.

Take hiring people, for example:

• Set the profile of the ideal candidate.
• Define the tasks and responsibilities for the role.
• Publish the job offer on the right platforms.
• Review and filter CVs to identify promising candidates.
• Conduct interviews to assess skills, experience, and cultural fit.
• Negotiate the salary and finalize the offer.

And if, after all this effort, none of the candidates meet your expectations—or your offer doesn’t meet theirs—you’re back at square one, starting the entire process again.

It’s a meticulous and repetitive cycle, much like event planning, where persistence and attention to detail are key.

It might feel faster to do everything yourself, but the hidden costs of maintaining, troubleshooting, and improving the task will quickly overwhelm you.

Instead of putting out fires, build a team of firefighters.

Train them, delegate effectively, and trust the system you create.

Yes, it’ll take time upfront, but the payoff is exponential. You’ll free yourself to focus on growth, innovation, and leadership.

Take care of your time like you take care of your money

Every task you take on has a ripple effect of subtasks, maintenance, and coordination.

Just like with money, it’s essential to invest your time wisely.

That’s your REAL wallet. The time/energy wallet.

The wallet you use, to generate the money wallet.

Build structures and systems that support you and your goals rather than pulling you into endless cycles of reactive work.

If you’re ready to stop being the bottleneck in your business and start building a system that scales, let’s talk.

Schedule Your Free 1:1 Tailored Scaling Blueprint Call and start using your time wisely!

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RESERVE YOUR SPOT NOW

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Imagine hitting $10 in revenue, you are feeling on top of the world. Suddenly, one quiet Wednesday morning, a high-pitched ringing in your ears refuses to go away.
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And then a doctor tells you, 'This is likely permanent.' What would you do?

This isn’t just a story, it’s MY story.

2015: I was living the founder’s dream or so I thought. We had just acquired 2 of our largest competitors.

Revenue was strong, but the cost of maintaining that trajectory was hitting everyone hard.

My co-founder developed tinnitus, an incessant ringing in his ears, and I watched his struggle, feeling empathy but not urgency.

After all, I had my own issues: severe back pain from years of stress and neglect.

2016: It was a turning point.

Our team went from 150 employees to just 45—a decision that kept me up at night for 9 months.

It felt like we were staring down bankruptcy.

For 6 months, we canceled every team event, froze resources, and focused solely on survival.

The reality was undeniable:

The culture was sh*t.

Yet, we stayed aligned, pushed forward, and hit $10M. But the relentless grind left its mark on us, on our team, and on what we wanted to build for the future.

It was a hard lesson, but one we’ve carried forward: success can’t come at the cost of sustainability.

2018: I was burnt out and handed over day-to-day operations to focus on branching into a new business.

One morning, while trying to have a slower workday, the ringing started in my ears.

At first, I thought it was temporary.

But after a series of tests, the doctor confirmed it: tinnitus.

PERMANENT.

It was the most terrifying wake-up call of my life.

I realized the life I was leading—constant hustle, zero support, and neglecting my health—was unsustainable.

Worse, it was damaging my body in irreversible ways.

The Turning Point:

That day, I made a decision. I refused to let stress control me any longer.

Instead, I built what I call my "personal board of A-players":

• Coaches who helped me rethink my priorities and strategy.
• Consultants who guided my business operations so I could step back and focus on recovery.
• Therapists who helped me unpack the mental toll of constant pressure.

With their help, I took deliberate steps:

• I overhauled my schedule to prioritize rest and strategic focus over back-to-back meetings.
• I rebuilt my diet, reduced alcohol, and even experimented with fasting.
• I invested in my sleep, mastering techniques to maximize recovery.
• I traveled for eight months, focusing on creative projects and giving my body and mind the chance to heal.

Through it all, I learned a vital lesson: You can handle stress, or stress will handle YOU.

Let’s be honest, this process takes years and neither do I or you expect it to happen right away.

But years of hard work take one day of action to actually begin.

Let’s start with the first step.

1. Build your support system: Stop doing everything yourself. No successful founder takes care of every step of the business and his/her life. NONE.
2. Help won’t come on its own. Look for the experts who can guide you in key areas of your life and company.
3. Redefine productivity: Don’t equate busyness with success. Ask yourself what you want to achieve and then decide what you need to do to get it.
4. For example, if you want to launch a new product spend your time doing your market research and investigating at a detective level the exact need you aim to solve, instead of being part of a design meeting.
5. Prioritize recovery (but actually do it): I know this sounds obvious and cliché, and there is a high chance you know about this concept but haven’t taken real action.
6. Are you ready to lose organs along the way? Burnouts are sometimes severe and leave permanent marks. This is no joke.
7. Learn to listen to your body (I know what I’m talking about.)
8. Fix your sleep, eat healthier(but really), and integrate downtime into your routine before it’s too late. I like to think of sprint and recovery cycles like a high-performing athlete.
9. Recognize the warning signs: Burnout doesn’t announce itself loudly, it creeps in. Are you constantly tired? Does your body ache all the time? Sleepless nights? High anxiety? Heartburn? Low libido?
10. Urge to abuse alcohol, recreational drugs or fast food? Do you have a mental fog?
11. THOSE are the signs. (If you said YES to at least one question, it’s a great moment to schedule a doctor’s appointment.)

You know it, I know it: Founders are incredible problem-solvers.

Paradoxically; we tend to neglect the most critical problem: ourselves.

The truth is, you can’t fix permanent damage, you can only prevent it.

Don’t let stress rob you of your health, relationships, and future.

If I could turn back time, I’d act sooner, before the damage became permanent.

You don’t have to wait for a wake-up call like mine.

Book a 1:1 session with me now, and let’s create a personalized framework that empowers your business growth while safeguarding your health and happiness.

RESERVE YOUR SPOT NOW

Spaces are very limited, so don't miss out!

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The Vacation That Proved He Was the Problem

Last year, I worked with a founder who did something that terrified him: He took a 3-week vacation. Completely offline.

No Slack. No email. No "quick check-ins."

When he came back, he expected chaos. Maybe some fires to put out. Definitely some catching up to do.

Instead, revenue was up 12%.

His team had made decisions faster without waiting for him. They solved problems without asking permission. They executed without needing his approval on every detail.

The uncomfortable truth: His company didn't need him to grow. It needed him to get out of the way.

The Confession Every Founder Needs to Hear

For years, I worked 80-hour weeks while my team worked 40.

I told myself it was because I cared more. Because I was more committed. Because nobody could do it like I could.

The real reason? Every decision ran through me.

Hiring? Had to approve it. Marketing spend? Had to review it. Customer issue? Had to weigh in. Product change? Had to sign off.

Growth stalled at my personal bandwidth.

I wasn't scaling the business. I was limiting it to what one person could process in a week.

You're Not Indispensable Because You're Brilliant

Most founders think being irreplaceable is a sign of success.

It's actually a sign of failure.

You're not indispensable because you're brilliant. You're indispensable because you've made yourself the bottleneck.

Every decision that requires your approval is a decision that can't happen when you're:

• In meetings
• On vacation
• Sick
• Sleeping
• Focused on something more important

Your company's speed is limited by your availability.

The 4-Level Decision System That Fixed Everything

I built a simple framework that changed how my entire company operates.

It categorizes every decision by impact level and determines who makes it:

Level 1: Team Decides, No Notification (Daily Operations)

These are routine decisions that happen multiple times per day. The team makes them and moves on.

Examples:

• Customer support responses
• Standard vendor orders
• Meeting scheduling
• Day-to-day prioritization

Level 2: Team Decides, Tells You After (Weekly Tactical)

These are decisions with moderate impact. The team makes them and updates you in weekly check-ins.

Examples:

• Hiring under $60K salary
• Marketing spend under $5K
• Process improvements
• Tool subscriptions under $500/month

Level 3: Team Recommends, You Approve (Monthly Strategic)

These are decisions with significant impact. The team researches, recommends, and you make the final call.

Examples:

• Budget reallocation over $10K
• New product features
• Strategic partnerships
• Hiring above $60K

Level 4: You Decide (Quarterly Only)

These are decisions that fundamentally change the business. You own them completely.

Examples:

• Company vision and strategy
• Major pivots or expansions
• Equity and ownership decisions
• Acquisitions or exits
  

How to Actually Implement This

Step 1: Document Your Top 10 Daily Decisions

For one week, track every decision you make. Write them down.

You'll be shocked at how many are Level 1 decisions you shouldn't be making.

Step 2: Categorize Each by Impact Level

Go through your list and assign each decision to Level 1, 2, 3, or 4.

Be honest. Most of what you're deciding is Level 1 or 2.

Step 3: Hand Off Level 1 Decisions Completely

These should happen without you. Train your team, set clear guidelines, then let go.

No "just run it by me first." No "keep me in the loop." They decide and execute.

Step 4: Train Team on Level 2 with Supervision

For 30 days, have them make Level 2 decisions and report them in weekly updates.

Don't override unless something is seriously wrong. Let them learn.

Step 5: Test With a 1-Week Vacation Offline

The real test: disappear for a week. Completely offline.

If the business runs smoothly, you've succeeded. If it falls apart, you know where the gaps are.

What Happens When You Let Go

Your team starts thinking like owners. When they can make decisions, they take ownership of outcomes.

Decisions happen faster. No waiting for your approval means no bottlenecks.

You focus on what actually matters. Level 4 decisions are where you create the most value.

Your best people stay. A-players don't want to be micromanaged. They want autonomy.

The business scales past your personal capacity. Growth is no longer limited by your working hours.

The Reality Check Question

If you disappeared for 30 days, would your business grow or collapse?

If that question scares you, you have work to do.

Your goal isn't to be essential. It's to be valuable at the highest level while your team handles everything else.

Why Most Founders Can't Let Go

The real reason you're making every decision? You don't trust your team.

Maybe they've made mistakes before. Maybe you've been burned. Maybe you think nobody can do it like you can.

But here's the truth: They'll never learn to make good decisions if you don't let them make any decisions.

You have to train them. Give them guidelines. Let them fail small. Coach them through it.

Or keep being the bottleneck and watch your company stay stuck at your personal bandwidth.

Ready to build a team that thrives without you?

In a free 45-minute Strategy Call, we'll identify:

• The exact bottlenecks preventing your breakthrough
• Which frameworks will accelerate your growth without burnout
• How to build the accountability systems that ensure execution

You'll walk away with a clear action plan, regardless of whether we work together.

If there's a strong fit, you may be invited to join a small cohort where I personally coach founders scaling from $250K to $3M. Direct access to the systems I used to scale 3 companies and generate $65M in online sales.

What you get:

• Personal coaching from someone who's actually built and exited companies
• Proven frameworks from real scaling experience
• Small group of 10 committed founders for focused attention
• Monthly strategy sessions and ongoing support to ensure execution

All for 1/3 the cost of traditional executive coaching.

→ Book Your Strategy Call

Stop being the bottleneck. Start being the catalyst.

- Ignacio

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The Balloon That Broke Every Founder I Know

Picture this: You're standing in a room, tapping a balloon to keep it floating in the air. Your first product. Your core business.

At first, it's easy. One balloon. You tap it up when it starts to fall. It's fun, even. There's something satisfying about the rhythm, the control, the simple focus.

Then you add a second balloon. New feature. New product line. Now you're tapping two balloons, keeping both in the air.

Still manageable, but you're moving faster. The fun starts to fade as you realize you need to pay attention to both.

Then a third balloon. Another feature. Another market. Another initiative.

Now you're running around the room, desperately tapping balloons before they hit the ground. The fun is completely gone. You're stressed, reactive, always one step behind.

But here's the problem: You can't be everywhere at once.

Inevitably, while you're saving one balloon, another one hits the floor. While you're fixing that crisis, two more start falling.

Soon, you're in full panic mode, watching everything you built crash to the ground.

Why Founders Choose Chaos Over Mastery

Here's the hard truth most founders won't admit:

You keep adding new balloons because you're afraid your first one isn't good enough.

And because you recognize that creating something good enough is extremely difficult and you need to navigate many death valleys.

And you're probably right. It's not that good.

But it could be.

The problem is that perfecting something is less difficult than starting something new. There's no dopamine hit from optimizing conversion rates. No excitement from improving customer workflows.

So most founders abandon the balloon that could fly high and grab new ones instead.

The Overdiversification Death Spiral

I see this balloon pattern everywhere, and it follows the same psychological trap:

Stage 1: It's secure. It's comfortable. Your first balloon is working. You know how to keep it floating. So when growth slows, your brain says: "I can make this again and have two average balloons. That'll give me more money."

Stage 2: "Good enough" becomes the enemy. Now you're managing two balloons, but since you're already busy, you don't have time or resources to perfect either one. Perfecting is something you haven't done before - it's scary and unknown. So you go back to doing what you already know: adding another balloon.

Stage 3: The revenue trap kicks in. You have people to keep. Salaries to pay. Revenue you want to maintain. Your 3 balloons start having better and worse periods. There are performance gaps you can't solve because you don't have time to dig deep.

Stage 4: You fill gaps with more balloons. Instead of fixing the root problems, you add balloon #4 to cover the revenue gap when balloon #2 is down. Then balloon #5 to handle the market that balloon #3 can't serve properly.

Stage 5: Complete system breakdown. Now you're sprinting around the room. Every balloon needs constant attention just to survive. You spend all your time preventing disasters instead of creating excellence.

The tragedy? That first balloon could have been flying at the ceiling by now - generating more revenue than all five combined - if you'd just perfected your technique.

Before You Add Another Balloon

Ask yourself:

Have you actually validated the need for it?

Here's the quick check I use:

Talk to 20 customers: What's the biggest problem you still face with our product? Would you pay more for that specific improvement?

The Self-Check: Do I really need to invest money, time, and energy in this? Or should I perfect the balloon I already have?

The Opportunity Cost: What if I spent that same effort making my core product 10x better instead?

Most founders skip the self-check. That's why their balloons keep hitting the ground.

Look at the Winners

The biggest brands understood something most founders don't:

Apple: Started developing a tablet in the early 2000s, but when Steve Jobs saw the potential for a phone, he put the tablet on hold and focused everything on perfecting the iPhone first. Only after the iPhone's massive success did they return to the tablet concept, launching the iPad three years later.

Amazon: Mastered online bookstore before becoming "everything store."

Tesla: Perfected one car model before expanding the lineup.

One perfectly executed balloon beats five falling ones.

The Balloon Test

Before you grab another balloon, ask:

1. Perfection Check: Is your current product so good that customers become evangelists? Do they refer friends without being asked?

2. System Check: Can your current business run without you for a month? Do you have documented processes and trained team members?

3. Profitability Check: Is your core business genuinely profitable, or are you just hitting revenue targets?

If any answer is "no," you're not ready for balloon number two.

The Hard Choice Every Founder Must Make

You can either:

Option A: Keep juggling balloons until they all pop. Stay burned out, overwhelmed, and frustrated.

Option B: Put down the extra balloons. Perfect the ONE in your hand until it's SO good customers can't imagine life without it.

Option B requires more patience and less ego. But it actually works.

How to Stop the Balloon Madness

Step 1: Audit Your Current Balloons. List every product, service, and initiative you're currently managing.

Step 2: Rank by Impact. Which one drives 80% of your results? That's your core balloon.

Step 3: Make the Hard Cuts. Put everything else on hold. Not "we'll get to it later." Actually stop.

Step 4: Perfect the Core. Spend 6 months making your core product undeniably better. Obsess over customer satisfaction, conversion rates, and retention.

Step 5: Then, Validate Before Adding. Only after your core balloon is flying high should you even consider grabbing another one.

Final Reality Check

Most founders are afraid of being boring. They want to be seen as visionary, innovative, always building something new.

But customers don't care about your innovation. They care about their problems being solved.

One perfectly executed solution that customers love will always beat multiple half-finished products that customers tolerate.

Stop trying to be everything to everyone. Start being exceptional at one thing.

Ready to stop making costly business decisions based on guesswork?

If you're generating $1M+ annually and tired of juggling multiple balloons, I'll personally help you identify which one deserves your focus.

Book a free 1:1 Tailored Scaling Blueprint session with me. We'll analyze your current balloons, identify your core winner, and create a strategic plan to perfect it.

This isn't a sales call. It's a $1,495 value strategy session where we'll:

• Audit your current products/initiatives and rank them by real impact
• Identify the hidden costs of your overdiversification
• Design a 90-day focus plan to perfect your core balloon
• Create systems to resist future balloon-adding temptations

Limited availability. For elite founders generating minimum $1M+ annually only.

→ Book Your Free Scaling Blueprint Session

Stop juggling balloons. Start perfecting one.

- Ignacio

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One of the Most Traumatic Business Experiences of My Life

2016. I'm staring at a spreadsheet with 150 names on it.

My company was bleeding money. Revenue had collapsed. The math was brutal and undeniable.

We had to cut from 150 employees to 45.

105 people would lose their jobs. 105 families affected. 105 of the hardest conversations I'd ever have to have.

This was one of the most traumatic business experiences of my life.

But what I learned from that hell changed everything about how I think about teams, performance, and what really matters in a company.

The system I built to make those decisions became the foundation for building the best team I've ever had.

So we built a system. A ruthless, objective framework that separated emotion from data.

By the end, I knew exactly who belonged on the bus and who didn't.

The Framework That Saved Our Company

When you're forced to keep only the essential people, you discover what "essential" actually means.

It's not about tenure. It's not about titles. It's not even about being likeable.

It's about three things: Performance, Capability, and Alignment.

I used three tools from the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) that turned this nightmare decision into a clear, defendable process:

1. Technical Performance Scorecard 2. GWC Assessment 3. People Analyzer Matrix

Each person got evaluated on all three. The data told me who stayed.

Tool 1: Technical Performance Scorecard

This is the easiest part. How are they actually performing at their job?

Sales guy: How many deals are they closing?
Finance person: How accurate and timely are their reports?
Customer service rep: What's their resolution rate and customer satisfaction?

Every role has measurable outcomes. No exceptions.

I scored everyone 1-5 on their core job responsibilities. If someone was consistently scoring 1-2, they weren't essential.

This eliminated about 30% of the decisions immediately.

Tool 2: GWC Assessment (Gets It, Wants It, Can Do It)

This is where most founders f*ck up layoffs. They only look at current performance, not future potential.

GWC evaluates three critical factors:

Gets It: Do they understand the role, the company, and what's expected?
Wants It: Do they actually want to do this job, or are they just collecting a paycheck?
Can Do It: Do they have the mental, physical, and emotional capacity to excel?

All three must be "yes" or they don't belong.

I found people who were good at their current role but didn't "get" where the company was headed. I found others who "got it" and could "do it" but clearly didn't "want it" anymore.

If any of the three was missing, they were gone.

Tool 3: People Analyzer Matrix (The Culture Filter)

This was the most revealing tool. And the one most founders skip.

I created a matrix: Our 4 core values across the top, all employees down the side.

Our core values:

• Extreme Passion
• Absolute Respect
• Fast and Efficient Resolution
• Customer Devotion

Then I scored every single person 1-5 on how well they embodied each value.

The results were shocking.

Some of our highest technical performers scored 2s and 3s on culture alignment. They were getting results, but they were toxic to the team.

Others who were decent performers scored 4s and 5s across all values. They were the cultural backbone of the company.

Culture beats skill when you're building for the long term.

The Right People in the Right Seats

This comes from Jim Collins' "Good to Great." You want the right people in the right seats.

Right Seat = GWC + Technical Performance
Are they in the correct role with the right seniority, doing work they can excel at?

Right People = Culture Alignment
Do they belong on this bus, going to this destination, with these values?

Both must be true, or they don't stay.

What I Discovered About "Essential" Employees

After running 150 people through this framework, patterns emerged:

The Obvious Keeps:

• High technical performance + High culture alignment + Strong GWC
• These were easy decisions. Rock stars who belonged.

The Obvious Cuts:

• Low technical performance + Low culture alignment + Weak GWC
• Also easy. They shouldn't have been there anyway.

The Tough Decisions:

• High technical performance + Low culture alignment
• Low technical performance + High culture alignment

Here's what I learned: In a crisis, culture alignment beats technical skills.

Why? Because you can train skills. You can't train values.

The people with strong culture alignment worked harder to fill gaps. They stepped up. They covered for missing roles. They kept morale up during the hardest time in company history.

The high performers with poor culture alignment? They became bigger problems when stress increased.

The Selection Process That Removed All Emotion

Here's exactly how I made the decisions:

Step 1: Score everyone 1-5 on technical performance
Step 2: Evaluate everyone on GWC (Yes/No for each)
Step 3: Score everyone 1-5 on each core value
Step 4: Calculate total scores and rank order
Step 5: Draw the line at 45 people

Anyone below the line was gone. No exceptions.

This removed politics, favoritism, and gut feelings. The data decided.

The people who stayed weren't necessarily the ones I liked most. They were the ones the company needed most.

The Aftermath: Why This Framework Works

Six months later, I knew I'd made the right decisions.

The 45 people who remained:

• Worked harder and smarter than the original 150
• Had zero culture problems or toxic behavior
• Stepped up to fill multiple roles without complaining
• Helped us rebuild faster and stronger

The company didn't just survive. It thrived.

Revenue per employee nearly doubled. Decision-making got faster. Meetings became more productive. The energy completely shifted.

We didn't just cut fat. We kept muscle.

How to Build Your Own Selection Framework

Step 1: Define Your Core Values: What 3-4 values are non-negotiable for your company?

Step 2: Create Performance Scorecards: What are the 3-5 key metrics for each role?

Step 3: Build Your People Analyzer Matrix: Score every team member 1-5 on each core value.

Step 4: Run GWC Assessments: Honestly evaluate: Do they get it, want it, and can do it?

Step 5: Rank Order Your Team: Combine all scores. See who rises to the top.

Do this before you need it. Don't wait for a crisis to figure out who's essential.

Final Reality Check

Downsizing taught me something most founders learn too late:

Half your team probably shouldn't be there anyway.

They're not bad people. They're just not the right people for your specific bus, going to your specific destination.

The framework doesn't just work for layoffs. It works for every hiring and firing decision.

Use it to evaluate new candidates. Use it to assess current team members. Use it to identify who needs development and who needs to go.

Stop making people decisions based on feelings. Start making them based on data.

Ready to stop making costly business decisions based on guesswork? Join 9 other founders and get coached by me, hands-on.

My Founder Accelerator Group helps you create frameworks for every critical decision. Expert-led coaching (by me) for founders scaling from $250K to $3M.

This isn't another "Mastermind" - it's direct, hands-on group coaching where we get sh*t done.

What you get:

• One quarterly goal-setting workshop to cut through chaos and focus on what matters
• Two monthly tactical coaching sessions for real problems and execution challenges
• Daily Slack support with me and 9 other committed founders
• Personalized performance dashboards to track real progress
• Expanding library of frameworks and systems that prevent costly mistakes

Limited to 10 founders per cohort. No theory. Just proven systems that turn scattered efforts into strategic execution.

→ Apply for Founder Accelerator Group

Stop guessing who belongs on your team. Start knowing.

- Ignacio

‍

Your Hiring Process Is Broken. Here's How to Fix It in 15 Minutes.

2019. I'm sitting across from “Sarah”, interviewing her for a marketing role.

Perfect resume. Great energy. Nailed every traditional interview question.

"Tell me about yourself." Smooth answer.
"What's your biggest weakness?" Textbook response.
"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" She crushed it.

I hired her on the spot.

Three months later, I had to let her go.

She couldn't write copy that converted. Didn't understand our target market. Had zero intuition for what content would resonate.

All the stuff that actually mattered for the job? She couldn't do it.

But I never tested for it. I just asked generic questions and hoped for the best.

That failure cost me $15,000 in salary, $8,000 in training, and three months of zero progress on marketing.

All because I hired based on interview theater instead of actual skills.

Most Founders Hire Like They're Casting a Movie

Here's how most hiring goes:

Post a generic job description. Review resumes. Ask the same tired questions everyone asks. Make a gut decision based on "culture fit."

Then wonder why half your hires don't work out.

The best predictor of job performance isn't how someone interviews. It's how they actually do the work.

But most founders never test that. They just cross their fingers and hope the person can figure it out after they're hired.

That's not hiring. That's gambling.

The 15-Minute Exercise That Changed Everything

After the Sarah disaster, I built a simple system. Takes 15 minutes to create. Saves hundreds of hours of bad hires.

Here's the exact process:

Step 1: Define the Role Reality

Write down exactly what this person will do day-to-day. Not the fluffy job description. The actual tasks you want off your plate.

Step 2: Identify the 3-5 Critical Skills

What must they be great at to succeed? Be specific.

For a social media manager:

• Trend hunting
• Copywriting
• Design criteria
• Platform understanding

Step 3: Create One Technical Test Per Skill

Design a test / case study that forces them to demonstrate the skill, not just talk about it.

Initial questions, but you should elaborate a deeper test on each subject:

Trend hunting: "What recent trend do you think I could use in my account to gain visibility?"

Copywriting: "How would you improve this post's copy? What would you change and why?"

Design criteria: "What would you criticize about this post's design? What changes would you suggest to make it perform better?"

Platform understanding: "Why do you think this reel we made did not perform well? How does it connect to how the platform works? How would you reframe it?"

Step 4: Define the 3-5 Values You Need

What character traits are non-negotiable? For us:

• Extreme Passion
• Absolute Accountability
• Execution Speed

Step 5: Create One Case Study Per Value

Use past scenarios where your company faced challenges and you weren't satisfied with how they were solved. Ask candidates what they would do instead.

Extreme Passion: "Last quarter, we had a project that hit major roadblocks. The team member assigned said 'it's not possible' and stopped trying after two failed attempts. We ended up missing a key deadline that cost us a $50K deal. How would you have approached this differently?"

Absolute Accountability: "We had a product launch that failed to hit targets. When I asked what went wrong, the team lead blamed the marketing team, budget constraints, and market timing. But never took ownership of their part. What would you have done in that situation?"

Execution Speed: "We had a competitor launch a similar feature to what we'd been planning for months. Instead of accelerating our timeline, the team wanted to stick to the original schedule and 'do it right.' We lost first-mover advantage and market share. How would you have handled this crisis?"

Stop Asking Stupid Questions. Start Testing Real Skills.

Ditch these useless questions:

• "Tell me about yourself"
• "What's your biggest weakness?"
• "Why do you want to work here?"

They predict nothing about job performance.

Instead, give them real scenarios. Show them your worst-performing content and ask how they'd fix it. Give them a customer complaint and see how they'd respond.

The best hires happen when candidates forget they're being interviewed because they're too busy solving problems.

The Scoring System That Eliminates Guesswork

Here's how to turn subjective impressions into objective decisions:

Rate each answer 1-5:

• 1 = Missing the point completely
• 2 = Basic understanding, poor execution
• 3 = Decent answer, some insight
• 4 = Strong answer, clear expertise
• 5 = Exceptional insight, obvious expert

Add up the scores. Highest total wins.

No more "they seemed nice." Just clear data on who can actually do the work.

ACTION: Build Your Hiring Scorecard This Week

Pick the next role you need to hire. Spend 15 minutes creating:

• 3-5 critical skills with one question each
• 3-5 essential values with one question each
• Scoring criteria for each answer

Test it in your next interview. I guarantee the scorecard will be more accurate than your gut.

Why This Works When Everything Else Fails

Traditional interviews: Test how well someone talks about work
This system: Tests how well someone does the work

Traditional hiring: Rewards smooth talkers
This system: Rewards problem solvers

Traditional results: 50% of hires fail
This system: 80%+ success rate

Stop hiring resumes. Start hiring results.

Final Reality Check

Every bad hire costs you 3-6 months of progress and x7 the salary in real costs.

Every great hire saves you 100+ hours and accelerates your growth by months.

The difference between the two? A 15-minute exercise that tests what actually matters.

Stop interviewing. Start testing.

Ready to stop making costly business decisions based on guesswork? Join 9 other founders and get coached by me, hands on.

My Founder Accelerator Group helps you create frameworks for every critical decision. Expert-led coaching (by ME) for founders scaling from $250K to $3M.

This isn’t another “Mastermind” - its direct, hands on group coaching where we get sh*it done.

What you get:

• One quarterly goal-setting workshop to cut through chaos and focus on what matters
• Two monthly tactical coaching sessions for real problems and execution challenges
• Daily Slack support with me and 9 other committed founders
• Personalized performance dashboards to track real progress
• Expanding library of frameworks and systems that prevent costly mistakes

Limited to 10 founders per cohort. No theory. Just proven systems that turn scattered efforts into strategic execution.

→ Apply for Founder Accelerator Group

Stop guessing. Start executing.

-  Ignacio

‍

Your Visionary Brain Is Sabotaging Your Business.

You see a founder on LinkedIn talking about their new AI feature. You think: "F*ck, we need that."

You go to a networking event. Some guy tells you how they 3x'd conversions by switching platforms. You think: "We should do that too."

You read about the latest marketing trend. Your brain goes: "Let's try this."

That's your visionary brain. And it can't shut up.

You want to innovate everything, right now. But every time you chase the next shiny thing, you're pulling resources from what's already working.

Your team is scrambling to learn new tools while your core product sits half-broken. You're spending money you don't have on experiments. Meanwhile, competitors are perfecting one thing while you're trying ten.

You need someone who will look you in the eye and say: "This is stupid right now."

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The Hidden Cost of Constant Innovation

Here's what happens when visionaries run unchecked:

Quarter 1: Launch new feature because competitor did
Quarter 2: Pivot marketing strategy after conference inspiration
Quarter 3: Rebuild onboarding because you read a case study
Quarter 4: Add new product line because "opportunity"

Result: Your company is always changing, never optimizing.

You think you're being innovative. You're actually being destructive.

Innovation without integration becomes expensive chaos.

Your team never gets time to master anything. Your customers are confused by constant changes. Your resources are spread across 12 half-finished projects.

The math is brutal: Every new initiative steals focus from existing ones. If you're 50% done with Project A and start Project B, you're not 150% productive. You're 25% effective at both.

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What You Actually Need: An Integrator

Visionaries see opportunities. Integrators see reality.

When you say "Let's try this new thing," an integrator asks:

• Do we have the bandwidth?
• Can we afford the distraction?
• What are we NOT doing if we do this?
• What's the opportunity cost?

They're saving your company by protecting your resources.

Example: You want to add AI features because everyone's doing it.

Visionary thinking: "This could be huge! Let's build it now!"

Integrator thinking: "We have Q3 goals, allocated resources, and a roadmap. If this is critical, let's plan it for Q1 next year when we have proper bandwidth."

The integrator forces your company into a learning cycle: Launch → Optimize → Master → Then innovate.

Without this cycle, you're always launching, never mastering.

‍

How to Find Your Integrator

Look for someone with:

• Operations or engineering background (they think in systems)
• Finance experience (they understand resource allocation)
• Process-oriented mindset (they like structure over chaos)

Avoid: Sales leaders (they're optimizers, not organizers) or other visionaries (more chaos, not less).

The test: Propose something exciting and impractical. Do they get excited or do they ask practical questions about timing, resources, and priorities?

If they ask questions, they might be your integrator.

‍

What Each of You Should Do

Visionary (You):

• Generate ideas and spot opportunities
• Set long-term vision and direction
• Handle external relationships and growth strategy
• Solve big and complex problems
• But: Run major changes through your integrator first

Integrator:

• Manage day-to-day operations and execution
• Allocate resources and manage timelines
• Ensure goals are realistic and achievable
• Harmonize interaction between areas
• Say no to good ideas that come at the wrong time

Together: You create the push-and-pull that keeps companies growing without breaking.

You push for innovation. They pull for stability. The tension creates sustainable growth.

‍

The Self-Check

Answer honestly:

• How many "exciting new directions" have you started this year?
• How many did you fully complete and optimize?
• Is your team constantly learning new tools instead of mastering current ones?

If you started more than you finished, you need an integrator.

‍

The Reality

Most visionary founders think they need more ideas. You need fewer ideas executed better.

Most think they need more opportunities. You need better filters for the right opportunities.

You have an integration problem that needs solving.

The solution: Find someone who can integrate your vision into reality.

If you're ready to stop chasing every shiny object and start building something sustainable, I can help.

My Founder Accelerator Group is designed for founders scaling from $250K to $3M who are tired of figuring everything out alone.

This isn't some casual mastermind or Slack chat with surface-level insights. It's a focused, high-accountability environment led by someone who's actually scaled companies, with real skin in the game.

Here's what you get:

• Expert-led coaching from me (not peer discussions where everyone's guessing together)
• Quarterly goal-setting workshops where I help you cut through the noise and focus on what actually matters
• Bi-monthly tactical sessions for real progress—focused support from someone who's been there
• Daily Slack support with 9 other committed founders who are serious about growth
• Simple tracking system to stay accountable and maintain momentum without spinning your wheels

I limit each cohort to just 10 founders so you get personalized attention, and not generic advice that fits nobody.

Apply for the Founder Accelerator Group →

Stop innovating. Start integrating.

- Ignacio

P.S. The most successful companies aren't the ones with the most ideas. They're the ones who execute fewer ideas exceptionally well. Your integrator helps you choose which ideas deserve your finite resources.

You're Not Broken. You're Just Building Alone.

‍

TL;DR: First mastermind I've ever built. 10 founders ($250K-$3M revenue). 12-month structured program. 3 spots already taken. 7 left. Founding member rate ends July 25th. Applications close when full. Might never do this again. Click here to claim your spot!

Every week, I talk to founders doing $250K–$3M a year.

Most are stuck, not because they don’t know what to do, but because they’re building in a vacuum.

No tactical feedback.
No accountability.
No real momentum.

They jump from idea to idea, tool to tool, podcast to podcast, hoping clarity will magically appear.

It won’t.

That’s why I launched the Founder Accelerator Mastermind

A high-performance 3-month coaching cohort for serious founders ready to scale above $3M with zero bullsh*t.

You’ll get:

• Quarterly Planning Kickoff (90 min): One main goal, three outcomes, real clarity.
  
• 2 Tactical Sessions Per Month (60 min each): Execution support, live with me and your cohort.
  
• Slack Access: Ongoing async feedback, help, and momentum.
  
• Dashboard Tracking: Your own workspace to stay focused and hit targets.
  

Only 10 seats.
August start.
$999/month (paid in full) or $1,250/month (monthly). 3-month commitment.

No dreamboards. No theory. Just action, accountability, and compounding results.

→ SECURE YOUR SPOT NOW - ONLY 10 SEATS

I'm doing this because too many great founders are building alone. That ends here.
If you're ready to move, I’ll meet you inside.

– Ignacio

‍

You're Not Stuck Because You Don't Know What to Do. You're Stuck Because You're Deciding Alone.

‍

Quick Note: First time I'm building a mastermind. 10 founders ($250K-$3M). LIMITED spots left. If you're tired of building alone, this might be exactly what you need.

Let me guess what your last 30 days looked like:

You woke up on Monday with 47 "priorities." Spent Tuesday in back-to-back meetings that solved nothing. Wednesday you pivoted the entire marketing strategy. Thursday you questioned everything. Friday you felt like you accomplished nothing meaningful.

Sound familiar?

Here's the brutal truth: You're not stuck because you lack knowledge. You're stuck because you lack a decision-making system.

Every successful founder I know has one thing in common. It's not genius. It's not luck. It's not unlimited resources.

They have someone to think with.

And you? You're trying to run a $500K+ business with the decision-making process of a solopreneur.

That's why you're stuck.

Let me show you exactly how this plays out, and what you can do about it:

1. The $500K Decision Trap (And Why Smart Founders Get Caught)

Here's what happens when you hit $500K:

The decisions multiply. But your brain capacity doesn't.

At $50K, you had 5 big decisions per month. Product, pricing, one hire, maybe some marketing.

At $500K? You have 5 big decisions before lunch.

• Should we expand to enterprise or double down on SMB?
• Do we hire a VP of Sales or keep doing it ourselves?
• Is this customer churn normal or are we hemorrhaging?
• Should we launch that new feature or fix the existing bugs?
• Are we scaling too fast or too slow?

And you're making all of these decisions in isolation.

No co-founder to debate with. No board to challenge you. No peer group that actually gets it.

Just you, your anxiety, and 47 browser tabs of "research" that contradicts itself.

ACTION: The Decision Audit

Count how many significant business decisions you made alone last week.

Now ask:

• How many of those kept you up at night?
• How many did you second-guess afterward?
• How many could have been better with a second opinion?

If the answer is "most of them," you've found your bottleneck.

2. Why Your Current "Advisory" System Is Broken

"But I have advisors!" you say.

Really? Let's check:

Your spouse/partner: Loves you, but doesn't understand the business complexity.

Your friends: Well-meaning, but they've never scaled past $100K. Or most are just not founders.

Your team: Smart people, but they depend on you for their paycheck. They won't tell you the hard truths.

Random networking events: Surface-level connections sharing generic advice.

Online communities: 10,000 members, 10 meaningful conversations.

Here's what's missing: Someone who's been where you're going, has no agenda except your success, and will tell you when you're being an idiot.

ACTION: The Advisory Reality Check

List everyone you currently go to for business advice.

For each person, ask:

• Have they scaled a business past where I am now?
• Will they tell me hard truths, even if it hurts?
• Do they understand my specific industry/model?
• Are they invested in my actual success?

If you can't find 2-3 people who pass all four tests, you're flying blind.

3. The Isolation Tax: What Building Alone Actually Costs You

Think isolation is just lonely? Think again.

Here's what building alone actually costs:

Slower decisions: You research for weeks what a peer group could solve in 20 minutes.

Worse decisions: Without perspectives to challenge you, you optimize for comfort, not growth.

Repeated mistakes: You learn everything the hard way instead of learning from others' failures.

Burnout acceleration: When every decision is on your shoulders, every failure feels personal.

Opportunity cost: While you're debating internally, competitors are moving fast.

I learned this the hard way. At my first company, I spent 6 months "researching" whether to hire a VP of Sales. Six months of analysis paralysis.

A founder friend finally said: "Dude, just hire someone. If they suck, fire them. You've lost more money in delay than you'd lose on a bad hire."

He was right. That decision, made in isolation, cost me half a year of growth.

ACTION: Calculate Your Isolation Tax

Think of your last big decision that took months to make.

Ask:

• How much revenue did the delay cost?
• What opportunities did competitors capture while I was deciding?
• How much mental energy did the uncertainty consume?

That's your isolation tax. And you're paying it on every major decision.

4. Why Most "Solutions" Don't Actually Solve This

You've probably tried to fix this before:

Masterclasses: Give you frameworks, but no one to apply them with.

Courses: Teach you what to do, but not how to decide when to do it.

Coaches: Help 1:1, but you're still the only voice in the room.

Large communities: Too big to get real advice, too generic to understand your specific situation.

Conferences: Great energy, surface relationships, no ongoing accountability.

What you actually need is embarrassingly simple:

A small group of founders at your stage, meeting regularly, with someone who's been where you're going to guide the conversations.

That's it. No complex frameworks. No elaborate systems.

Just consistent exposure to people who understand your problems and can help you think through solutions.

ACTION: The Solution Reality Check

What have you tried to solve the "building alone" problem?

For each attempt, ask:

• Did it give me ongoing access to peer perspectives?
• Was it specific to my revenue stage and challenges?
• Did it create accountability for actual decisions?

If not, you tried to solve an isolation problem with more isolation.

5. The $3M+ Founders Secret: They Don't Build Alone

Every founder I know who's scaled past $1M has some version of this:

A small group of founders they trust. Meeting regularly. Solving problems together.

It's not fancy. It's not a secret framework.

It's just the basic human reality that big decisions are better when you're not making them alone.

The founders who figure this out early scale faster. Make better decisions. Sleep better at night.

The founders who don't? They stay stuck in the $500K decision trap, burning out while trying to be the hero of every story.

ACTION: The Scale Check

Ask 3 founders you know who've scaled past $1M:

• Who do you go to when you're stuck on a big decision?
• How often do you meet with other founders?
• What's the most valuable business conversation you had this month?

I guarantee none of them will say "I figured it all out alone."

The Reality About Building to $3M+

Here's what no one tells you about scaling past $500K:

The technical stuff? That's the easy part.

Marketing funnels, sales processes, hiring frameworks: all of that can be learned.

The hard part? The decision-making.

When to pivot vs. when to persist. When to hire vs. when to outsource. When to expand vs. when to optimize.

These aren't Google-able questions. They're contextual, nuanced, and specific to your business.

They require judgment. And judgment gets better with perspective.

The founders who scale fastest aren't the smartest. They're the ones who've built systems to make better decisions, faster.

And the best decision-making system? Other founders who've been where you're going.

Final Truth Bomb

You can keep trying to build alone.

Keep researching every decision to death. Keep carrying every choice on your shoulders. Keep wondering if you're missing something obvious.

Or you can do what every founder who's scaled past $3M has done:

Find a small group of people who understand what you're building and commit to thinking through the hard stuff together.

It's not complicated. But it is necessary.

And if you want to stop building alone, I've got something that might help.

For the first time ever, I'm building a mastermind.

• 10 founders. $250K-$3M revenue. One year commitment.

• Quarterly goal-planning. Bi-monthly tactical sessions. Real-time community access.
• Personalised dashboard to keep track of progress.
• Not courses. Not lectures. Just structured problem-solving with founders who get it.

Only 10 total spots. Applications close July 25th.

→ SECURE YOUR SPOT AMONG THE FIRST 10!

Stop collecting frameworks. Start implementing solutions that actually stick.

The frameworks exist. Your customized implementation doesn't.

Yet.

– Ignacio

‍

The Hidden Cost of Product Overdiversification

‍

Let me guess:

Your product was growing. Sales were decent. Customers seemed satisfied.

Then you hit a wall.

Suddenly, scaling felt impossible. And instead of obsessing over mastering your core offer, you started adding features, products, or even entirely new business lines.

It felt smart. Diversified. Safer.

But here’s what no one tells you:

Every new product you add when your core isn't exceptional isn't diversification.

It’s a distraction.

Here's how to break the cycle, re-focus, and become unstoppable.

1. The Real Reason Founders Overdiversify

Let me be blunt:

You’re not adding products because it’s strategic. You’re adding products because things got tough.

Here’s the harsh reality:

• Your core product hit resistance.
• You didn’t know how to break through.
• So you chased something new, hoping it would be less difficult.

Imagine you’re playing a video game. Level 3 is easy. Level 4 gets hard. You try a few times, fail, get frustrated, and then you quit and switch games.

No pro gamer does that. They obsess until they master the level. They find resources. They compete, practice, fail, and eventually win.

You have to stop jumping to new games every time it gets tough. Your business isn’t struggling because your product got too hard—it’s struggling because you stopped pushing through the hard.

ACTION: Double-Down Challenge

Pick the most important and tough problem with your current product, which will help you deliver an amazing value proposition to your client:

• Obsess over it for 90 days.
• Solve it ruthlessly.
• Improve until customers love you again.

2. The Fruit Salad Trap (And How It’s Costing You Millions)

Most companies don’t have passionate fans. They have “good enough” customers. Their products? Mediocre. Their solutions? Average.

Why?

Because instead of becoming the best damn mango in the market, they settle for being a fruit salad:

• They mix features
• They chase markets
• They dilute their uniqueness

I fell into this trap myself. At clickOn, we launched a travel agency, a software aggregator, and countless other distractions. They looked good on paper but robbed us of time, focus, and millions in growth.

You don’t scale by diversifying average products. You scale by dominating with ONE incredible product.

ACTION: The "Obsession Test"

Ask your customers:

• What’s the #1 reason you’d recommend us?
• What do you wish we did better?
• What’s one feature you’d actually pay MORE for?

Then obsess over becoming exceptional at that.

3. Olympic Athletes Don't Win by Diversifying. Neither Will You.

Top athletes focus obsessively on ONE discipline. Imagine an Olympic jumper who tries swimming when jumping gets hard. They’ll never win gold.

The athlete who wins is obsessed with incremental improvements. They wake up thinking, “How can I jump 10 cm higher?”

Your business must become the same:

• How can your product improve incrementally every day?
• How can your core feature become undeniably better?

The market rewards the obsessed. Customers become evangelists for extraordinary products.  

ACTION: The 10% Rule

Every month, commit to a 10% improvement in your core offer. Track relentlessly. Stay focused.

4. Why "Good Enough" Is a Dangerous Mindset

The biggest enemy of greatness isn’t failure. It’s comfort.

When your business hits a plateau, it's easy to think, "We're doing fine." But "fine" doesn't create passionate customers or sustainable competitive advantages. "Fine" just makes you vulnerable.

You need to constantly ask yourself:

• Is our product good enough to make customers rave?
• Are we solving our customers' problems better than anyone else?
• If we stopped existing tomorrow, would our customers really miss us?

If the answer isn’t a clear, resounding "YES," you're settling. Settling creates vulnerability. Obsession creates security.

ACTION: The Customer Obsession Audit

Schedule quarterly deep dives into customer feedback:

• Look for patterns.
• Prioritize relentless improvement.
• Make "exceptional" the only acceptable standard.

5. Strategic Simplicity Wins Every Time

Look at Apple. Their product line fits on a small table, yet they dominate the market. How?

Simplicity.

Complexity doesn’t scale well.

Tattoo this on your forehead: SIMPLE SCALES; COMPLEX FAILS.

More products mean more distractions, more resource allocation, more operational chaos, and ultimately slower growth.

You don’t win by spreading thin. You win by being laser-focused on the one thing you do better than anyone else.

ACTION: One-Page Product Focus Plan

Create a one-page document answering:

• What’s our one core product?
• What makes it better than competitors?
• How will we relentlessly improve it?

Make this your north star.

Final Reality Check

Your competition isn’t sleeping. Someone out there is obsessing over becoming the absolute best. If it's not you, you're at risk.

Stop diversifying. Stop distracting. Start dominating your niche.

Ready to focus, scale, and become the market leader?

Join the Waitlist for a Tailored 1:1 Scaling Blueprint Call

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Let’s build one incredible product. Not a portfolio of distractions.

– Ignacio

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Hey there,

Yes, you read it right, today I’ll teach you how to use scams in your favor.

I've been in business long enough to know that, at some point, most founders are likely to encounter a scam. Most times, a big one.

And when it happens, it shakes you to your core.

The first thing that comes to mind is, “How did I not see this coming? I’ve been running companies for years. I trusted this person. What does this say about my judgment?”

And I get it. When someone you trust—be it a co-founder, a key employee, or a longtime business partner—steals from you, it’s not just about the money…

It’s a hit to your confidence. It makes you question everything.

But here’s the twist: this is one of the most valuable lessons you’ll ever get.

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The Hardest Lessons Create the Sharpest Instincts

I work with founders running multi-million-dollar companies, and I see the same pattern over and over. The ones who navigate challenges with the most precision aren’t the ones who are just smart. They’re the ones with the most battle scars.

One of my closest friends—a decorated Navy SEAL—once told me that medals are usually awarded when things go wrong.

When a mission doesn’t go as planned, people die, and a soldier has to do something heroic to salvage the situation. From the outside, those medals look like achievements. But inside the SEAL community, they mean, “You’ve been through hell.”

In business, it is a bit similar. You don’t develop strong instincts just by reading books or analyzing reports. You develop them by going through hell and coming out the other side.

They don’t give medals in entrepreneurship for surviving.

Bad experience just becomes “experience”, and every scar prepares you to face your next battle.

When you get scammed, your sensors upgrade.

You start detecting red flags you never noticed before.

You read between the lines.

You catch subtle shifts in behavior that scream, “Something isn’t right.”

This is how experience works. Not by avoiding failure, but by learning from it.

‍

How to Turn Being Scammed Into an Asset

If you’ve been burned in business, it doesn’t mean that it won’t happen to you again. It just means that you’ll have more resources to identify similar situations. Here are some learnings from my own experience.

1. Understand that this does not happen ONLY to you!

Some of the smartest, most experienced founders I work with—people running eight- and nine-figure companies—have been scammed, stolen from, or betrayed.

You are not alone, and it’s not a reflection of your intelligence. The bigger the company, the more complex the problems—and the more sophisticated the scams.

2. Upgrade your filters

Think of it like a call-center scam.
The first time a fake caller claims to have kidnapped a loved one, panic might take over. But once you’ve seen that trick, you know better. The next scammer will have to work much harder to fool you.

In business, the same applies. Experience sharpens your instincts, but even the best filters aren’t foolproof. If something feels off, trust your gut—then verify. A quick check can confirm that everything is fine or help you catch a problem before it escalates. Either way, you stay in control.

3. Reframe the experience

After a betrayal, it’s natural to feel like you can’t trust anyone anymore. That feeling is valid—but it doesn’t have to be the final takeaway.

With time, you’ll see that what you’ve really gained is a sharper radar. Every difficult experience gives you more tools to filter relationships and spot misalignment before it turns into a crisis.

Would you rather learn this lesson over $10,000 now or $1,000,000 later? The earlier you refine your instincts, the better.

4. Find help from an outsider

When you’re too close to a situation, it’s hard to see clearly. That’s why one of the smartest moves you can make after being burned is to bring in a trusted outsider.

Someone with no emotional ties to your business can spot patterns, ask the right questions, and give you the kind of insights or coaching that are nearly impossible to uncover from the inside.

Fresh eyes bring fresh perspective—and that can be the key to real change.

‍

5. Apply the lesson before it’s needed

The worst thing you can do is learn the lesson too late. Start implementing stronger financial oversight, better hiring filters, and clearer accountability structures now, before the stakes get higher.

‍

Bad Experiences mean Experience

At the end of the day, experience isn’t just about intelligence, it’s about surviving enough battles to upgrade your sensors and see what’s coming next. Every great founder I know has their share of scars.

But those scars? They’re what makes them unshakable.

If you’re ready to build a company that scales without repeating costly mistakes, let's talk.

Over the past few weeks, I envisioned this moment, and now it’s real: 1:1 Tailored Scaling Blueprint Call is currently sold out. I’m incredibly grateful to be in this exciting scaling stage.

Want in? Join the waitlist for a 1:1 Tailored Scaling Blueprint Call to secure your spot and get a personalized roadmap to scale smarter.

‍

Join the waitlist

‍

If you feel like something’s off in your business, or you suspect you’re being scammed and need urgent help, don’t wait.

Reply to this email, and I’ll personally make sure you get the support you need.

Catch up on previous issues – Access past insights to optimize your growth strategy.

‍

Read Past Issues Online

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Best,

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If you are here, you are a founder, and if you are a founder, you may be thinking about closing Q1.

We all know the importance of setting quarterly goals. We read the books, listen to the podcasts, and nod along at conferences.

But here’s the question that really matters:

Are you actually tracking the right things?

Most founders I work with don’t have a real scorecard—a clear, structured way to measure progress every week. Instead, they rely on vague gut feelings, scattered reports, and a never-ending to-do list that only gets longer.

I get it. You’re busy. You have a million things on your plate. But if you’re not tracking the right data, how do you know if you’re winning or losing?

Let’s fix that before the quarter ends.

1. The 10–20 KPI Rule

A real scorecard isn’t just about sales numbers and bank balance. Yes, those matter, but they don’t give you the full picture.

Your scorecard should have 10 to 20 key performance indicators (KPIs)—the essential levers that determine whether your business is thriving or struggling. Not just revenue or cash in the bank, but the deeper metrics that reveal the full picture.

Financial KPIs (The Big-Picture Indicators)

1. Revenue (Absolute & YOY Growth %) – The clearest sign of business expansion and market demand. But raw revenue alone doesn’t tell the whole story.
2. Net Profit (% & Absolute) – The real bottom line: how much revenue actually turns into profit after expenses.
3. EBITDA (% & Absolute) – Wall Street’s favorite metric: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization—a clean view of operational profitability.

Operational KPIs (How Efficiently You Run the Business)

4. Operating Cash Flow – Measures the actual cash generated from daily business operations.
5. Cash Conversion Cycle – How long it takes to turn investments (inventory, resources) into cash from sales. A slow cycle can kill momentum.
6. Accounts Receivable Turnover – How quickly you collect cash from customers. Faster = healthier cash flow.

Customer KPIs (How Well You Keep and Delight Customers)

7. Customer Retention Rate – The percentage of customers who stick around. Growth isn’t just about acquiring customers—it’s about keeping them.
8. Net Promoter Score (NPS) – A direct measure of customer loyalty. If people wouldn’t recommend your business, you have a problem.
9. Return Rate (%) – How often customers return or refund your product. High return rates signal deeper quality or fit issues.

Marketing KPIs (How Effectively You Drive Growth)

10. Conversion Rate (CR) – The percentage of visitors who take a key action (purchase, sign-up, etc.).
11. Click-Through Rate (CTR) – The percentage of users who engage with an ad or link. If they aren’t clicking, they aren’t buying.
12. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) - How much is costing you to add 1 extra customer?
13. LifeTime Value (LTV) - How much revenue is one extra client bringing you in it’s whole customer journey (lifetime)?
14. Average Order Value (AOV) - How much are clients spending per transaction?

Efficiency KPIs

15. Return on Assets (ROA) - Indicates how profitable a company is relative to its total assets.
16. Return on Equity (ROE) - Measures how effectively management is using a company’s assets to create profits.

Innovation KPIs

17. R&D Expenditure as a Percentage of Sales - Indicates the level of investment in research and development.
18. New Product Revenue - The revenue generated from newly launched products.

The Scorecard Test

Imagine it’s Friday night. You’re on a plane with no internet, and you can only receive your weekly scorecard. Can you tell if your business is on track without checking Slack, emails, or calling your team?

If not, your scorecard isn’t doing its job.

2. The “Stop Consuming, Start Implementing” Challenge

It’s easy to get stuck in mental maceration—that cycle of consuming more and more information but never actually implementing what you learn.

Let’s break that cycle.

If you don’t have a weekly scorecard with the right KPIs, stop consuming content (after reading this newsletter).

Don’t open another podcast, book, or article until you build one. Because this one change will be 10x more valuable than anything else you learn this month.

3. The End-of-Quarter Sprint

With just a few weeks left in Q1, now is the time to:

• Audit your goals—Are they clear, measurable, and actually moving the company forward?
• Review your progress—Are you hitting the right numbers, or just staying busy?
• Refine your scorecard—Do you have the 10–20 key metrics that truly matter?

Closing the quarter strong isn’t about adding more to your plate—it’s about focusing on what actually drives growth.

If you’re ready to implement a system that keeps you on track without drowning in work, let’s talk.

As I envisioned the past weeks, I’m currently sold out, grateful for this scaling stage of Founder Accelerator!

Join the waitlist for a 1:1 Scaling Gameplan Call.

Join the waitlist

Secure your spot to get a custom roadmap designed to help you scale smarter, not harder.

Read Past Issues Online

Access past insights and strategies to help you scale smarter.

Best,

Ignacio

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Building a company isn't just about charging ahead—it’s knowing when to slow down and recalibrate.

Yes, this is another thing I learned the hard way.

In the early days of growing clickOn, we skyrocketed from $1M to $10M in just two years. But behind that rapid growth were costly mistakes that nearly brought everything to a halt.

One of the toughest lessons I learned came during a crisis that almost destroyed the business.

I often share these insights during my 1:1 calls, but today, I want to open up and share the five biggest mistakes I made—so you can learn from them and avoid the same pitfalls.

1. Scaling UP without Scaling BACK — and losing 105 employees

All the advice I consumed was about growth—more employees, more ads, more revenue.

No one warned me about the cost of scaling too fast, or what could happen if things went sideways.

In 2016, we faced our own internal pandemic. Half our revenue vanished overnight. We had to downsize from 150 employees to 45 just to survive.

The good news? By 2020, we had built in Treevotion (my 2nd company) a structure that allowed us to downsize in a WEEK.

That same experience allowed me to help my coaching clients.

The lesson? If you don’t learn how to scale back, you won’t survive long enough to scale up.

2. Ignoring core values and core purpose (thinking it’s an old-school cliché)

For years, I thought defining core values was just corporate fluff.

But when it came time to decide who to let go—and later, who to hire for future ventures—I realized this was my north star (especially when we had to downsize from 150 to 45 people).

This is the truth: when done right, core values and purpose don’t just inform your mission statement—they become your most effective execution tools for DAILY use.

They shape your company’s culture, influence team dynamics, and drive decision-making at every level.

These values aren’t just useful for determining who should stay, who should go, and who shouldn’t have been in your company in the first place—they help ensure your choices are in alignment with your long-term vision.

Without this foundation, it’s easy to lose focus on what really matters.

Hint: I have a free guide that you’ll love to define your core values fast, reply this email if you want it!

That’s why defining and living by your core values isn’t just a good idea—it’s a necessity for building a sustainable, scalable business.

3. Thinking the CEO needs to be both a visionary and an integrator

I used to think that as the founder, I had to do everything myself.

It was my company, my vision, so I took on every task—big or small—even the ones I absolutely hated. I thought it was part of the job.

But the reality? I burned out. I felt exhausted, overwhelmed, and, after months of juggling it all, stuck in a never-ending cycle of tasks that drained me.

I wasn’t growing the company; I was just managing the chaos. A true fire-fighter.

Then I discovered the concept of the “Visionary” and the “Integrator” (I went deeper into these roles in a previous newsletter, so if you’d like to get a copy, just shoot me an email, and I’ll forward it to you).

That’s when everything started to click.

When we hired an Integrator to handle the day-to-day execution, I was able to fully focus on what I do best—growing the company.

Suddenly, everything changed. My energy was focused on scaling, driving innovation, and pushing the business forward. The difference was night and day.

If you’re a Visionary like me, your role isn’t to get lost in the weeds of execution. Your job is to see the big picture, strategize, and GROW the company CONSISTENTLY.

The key is to hire someone who thrives in the details and execution—someone who can turn your vision into reality.

Once you make that shift, you’ll find that growth becomes not just possible, but inevitable.

4. Avoiding Co-Founder disagreements until it was too late

Co-founder misalignment doesn’t happen overnight—it builds gradually, like a slow-moving snowball gathering momentum and turning into something much more dangerous.

Each avoided conversation, every unspoken concern, and every moment of hesitation adds another layer of misunderstanding and miscommunication.

At first, it feels manageable, but over time, those small cracks widen into major fractures.

In the early days, I avoided tough conversations, thinking they could wait or would resolve themselves. But as the pressure mounted, so did the tension.

Eventually, what could have been addressed with a single difficult conversation became a much larger issue. If you're avoiding tough conversations today, just wait—over time, they will grow into challenges you may not be able to recover from.

5. Not investing in the right advisors—For my business and my life

Early on, I tried to save money on hiring advisors. The result? I got cheap advice that cost me millions.

Even in my personal life, I saw the difference:

15 years ago, a nutritionist told me to eat diet products to be healthier. Years later, I hired one of the best fitness coaches in the world.

In the first week, he gave me life-changing advice. Since then, I’ve lost 5% body fat, gained 3kg of muscle, and completely transformed my health.

The takeaway? You get what you pay for. Cheap advice is the most expensive mistake you’ll ever make.

Your mistakes are costing you!

Growing a company is HARD. But from my biggest mistakes, I made my biggest progress.

I went on to sell $65M online—and now I help founders remove blockers and scale again.

If you’re struggling with one of these challenges, don’t waste time making the same mistakes.

Let’s talk. Schedule a free call, and let’s fix it together.

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1:1 Customized Scaling Gameplan Call

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Let’s be real: we all have felt like our goals are either too small to excite us or so big they leave us overwhelmed.

Finding the right performance level for you isn’t just important—it’s transformational.

Here’s the thing: too little ambition keeps you in the same spot, while too much can spiral into imposter syndrome and burnout— that frustrating feeling that you’re never good enough, even when you clearly are.

Most founders struggle with imposter syndrome, and it's one of the main reasons their companies get stuck (If you can already tell this is you, let's talk in a 1:1 session).

But others are on the way, not even realizing how they are digging their own grave. Let's get deeper into this.

The Pitfalls of Under-Ambition

When you don’t push yourself, you’re settling for less than you can.

It’s comfortable to play it safe… for a while.

But soon enough, you’ll hit a wall: stagnation. That nagging question starts haunting you: “What if I had aimed higher?”

Without bold goals, you miss the chance to create the breakthroughs that could change your life and business.

The real cost of under-ambition? Regret.

I remember when we started slow the first 4 months of clickOn to be safe, as it was a new space for us, until we realized Groupon in Argentina was investing heavily and started to have quite a head start.

We gave them a dangerous edge.

The Dangers of Over-Ambition

On the flip side, aiming too high without a precise plan and expert support is just as dangerous.

Setting goals that are too big, too fast, or too complex without the proper support can overwhelm you. Instead of making progress, they spark self-doubt, procrastination, and perfectionism.

That’s the breeding ground for imposter syndrome. You push yourself so hard, you start questioning whether you even deserve to be there.

You may feel isolated, thinking “No one understands how hard this is.”

But here’s the reality: we’re all struggling to achieve something.

Building a business is tough AF— it’s why most people don’t succeed on the short-term, but especially in the long-term.

The difference between those who fail and those who succeed?

They admit they don’t have all the answers. They don’t pretend to know it all. They fill the gap.

Finding the ambition equilibrium.

You need to set goals that challenge you but are still achievable. Goals that stretch you without paralyzing you.

Start by asking yourself:

• Are my goals realistic yet challenging?: Instead of saying, "I want to run a marathon next month," consider whether it's realistic based on your current fitness level.

A more balanced goal could be, "I will train for a half marathon in six months and a full marathon in a year."

• Are they broken down into manageable steps?:  If your goal is to write a book, instead of thinking, "I need to write 300 pages," break it down into smaller tasks:

• Outline the main chapters
• Write 500 words a day
• Edit one chapter per week

The trick is to break big goals into small, manageable steps, and celebrate every win, no matter how small. That’s how you build momentum.

Celebrate your wins, no matter how small, and let that momentum build.

A Founder’s Success Framework - With a Real-Life Example

Here are three steps you can implement today:

1. Conduct a “Goals Audit”: Take a moment to reflect on your current goals. Are they inspiring, realistic, and specific? Adjust them as needed to ensure they are challenging but achievable.

DON’T:

• Set vague goals like “Grow my business.” This doesn’t give you a clear direction or measurable outcome.
• Create goals that are too easy, like “Make 2 sales per month,” without considering how you’ll grow over time.

DO:

• Set clear, measurable goals like “Increase monthly revenue by 20% = 52K MRR by launching two new marketing campaigns.”
• Make sure your goals stretch you but are achievable with the resources you have—like “Increase website traffic by 30% to 25k visits in the next quarter by publishing two blog posts per week.”

2. Obsess about milestones (EOS calls them Rocks): Break your goals into weekly milestones. Focus on 1-3 key actions every week that move you closer to your goals. Track your progress.

DON’T:

• Try to do everything at once, like working on your website redesign, product launch, and social media strategy in the same week without prioritizing.
• Ignore deadlines or skip tracking progress, which can lead to losing sight of your goals.

DO:

• Focus on 1-3 key actions that will bring massive results contributing to your goals acceleration. For example, one week might be focused on customer outreach while the next is dedicated to finalizing your product launch.
• At the end of each week, reflect on what you accomplished, track your progress, and adjust your action plan accordingly.
• Find your support system: Success isn’t a solo game. Whether it’s a mentor, a mastermind group, or a coach, having a sounding board is critical for staying on track and avoiding burnout.

DON’T:

• Seek generic advice from multiple sources, like random LinkedIn posts, without applying it to your specific business challenges.
• Try to handle everything on your own without feedback, leading to unnecessary mistakes and missed opportunities.

DO:

• Find a mentor or coach who is aligned with your goals and has experience in your industry. For instance, schedule regular check-ins with someone who has successfully scaled businesses similar to yours.
• Engage with a mastermind group where you can share ideas, ask questions, and get tailored advice from peers who understand your unique challenges.

Does this feel overwhelming? Don’t worry, we can do it together!

Let’s create your personalized plan for balanced ambition.

Schedule your free 1:1 Customized Scaling Gameplan Call today, and let’s make your goals work for you.

Remember: balance is within reach. And when you strike it, you’ll feel clear, confident, and capable.

You’ll have the drive to achieve your big goals without burning out.

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Do you want to double your progress like my 25-year-old client?

There is no single formula to grow your money.

But there is ONE thing every founder who succeeds does: FOUNDER COACHING.

I won’t lie—it’s not easy.

But here’s the good news: you don’t have to do it alone. Let’s have an audit call and I’ll personally tailor a 1-1 scaling plan, completely free for you. You won’t believe the amount of value you’ll get.

Why?

Because, after coaching clients aged 20 to 45 for over 700 sessions, I've arrived at three key conclusions that every founder needs to know:

1. Older founders come from my school.

If you’re in your 40s like me, you grew up being told to “figure it out” on your own. Asking for help wasn’t an option.
This mindset can lead to:

• Carrying the weight of past failures.
• Relying on outdated strategies because they worked “before.”
• Struggling to trust others—or new advice.

But this approach doesn’t scale, and it can make you the main bottleneck of your own company.

2. Younger founders are more open to being coached.

Today’s young entrepreneurs understand the value of mentorship.

They actively seek it, avoiding obvious mistakes and accelerating their growth.

Take my 25-year-old client, for example:

At just 21, he embraced mentorship and took decisive action. Now he’s:

• Building incredible relationships.
• Maintaining his health.
• Scaling his company at a lightning pace toward $100M (and beyond).

And this is my third and last conclusion:

3. No founder has it all figured out.

NONE. Period.

When I started my company in my 20s, I refused to delegate.

I worked late into the night, neglecting my relationships and health.  (If you have read my previous newsletters you know what I’m talking about).

It wasn’t sustainable.

Now, at 40, I face new challenges. They’re different, but they’re still struggles.

Even younger founders face:

• Imposter Syndrome
• Limited Experience
• Lack of Community

And every middle-aged founder is:

• Unsupported and burnt out.
• Stuck at some revenue point of their entrepreneurship career.
• Unable to delegate to scale their company.

But both are:

• Extremely talented.
• Hungry to see their businesses grow.
• Constantly thinking how they can make it easier, faster and more sustainable.

That’s why I’m so passionate about this: the founder’s lifestyle is tough, and founders themselves need support—through coaching, mentoring, therapy, or whatever works for them.

Don’t wait for burnout or breakdowns to force you to invest in yourself.

Age doesn’t guarantee wisdom, and youth doesn’t guarantee innovation.

But with the right guidance, you can bridge any gap.

Let’s build a strategy that works for you.

Schedule your Free 1:1 Customized Scaling Gameplan Call today.

Together, we’ll create a clear, actionable plan to overcome your biggest challenges and scale effectively.

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Your Co-Founder Relationship Is Either Your Greatest Asset or Your Company's Death Sentence.

I was working with a client last year. Two brilliant founders, an incredible product, and growing fast.

Then it all fell apart.

Not because of market conditions. Not because of funding. Not even because of competition.

Because they never had the hard conversations about what they were actually building together.

One wanted to scale aggressively and exit in 3 years. The other wanted to build a lifestyle business they could run forever. Both assumptions felt "obvious" to each person. Neither had ever been spoken out loud.

By the time they finally talked about it, the resentment was too deep. The trust was broken, and the company died six months later.

Here's what no one tells you about co-founder relationships:

The technical stuff: equity splits, legal docs, and role definitions, is the easy part.

The hard part is building a partnership that can survive success, failure, and everything in between.

Most founders spend more time researching what laptop to buy than defining how they'll work together. Then they wonder why their partnership explodes when things get tough.

Co-Founder Conflicts Don't Happen Overnight. They Build for Months.

Every partnership that implodes follows the same pattern:

Phase 1: Honeymoon - Everything feels aligned. You're both excited. The vision seems clear. Problems feel solvable.

Phase 2: Reality - Growth brings complexity. Decisions get harder. Stress increases. Small disagreements start surfacing.

Phase 3: Tension - Unspoken assumptions become visible. Different working styles clash. One person starts feeling like they're carrying more weight.

Phase 4: Explosion - A "final straw" moment happens. But it's not really about that moment. It's about months of unaddressed misalignment that finally erupts.

Phase 5: Destruction - Lawyers get involved. The company becomes secondary to the conflict. Everyone loses.

The tragedy? Most of this is preventable with the right conversations at the right time.

The 4 Core Conflicts That Destroy Co-Founder Relationships

1. Vision Mismatch

You want to conquer the world. They want to stay local.

This isn’t as much about goals as it is about fundamental beliefs about what success looks like, how much risk you're willing to take, and what you're willing to sacrifice.

Time for a tough conversation. Align your visions or part ways.

Use SMART goals to quantify your vision. Where do you want to be in 3 years? What revenue? What team size? What does exit look like?

If you can't agree on these fundamentals, you're f*cked for the long-term.

2. Equity Wars

Nothing kills partnerships faster than feeling screwed on equity.

You have to be clear on what equity represents.

Recognition. Value. Commitment. Fairness.

When someone feels their contribution isn't reflected in their ownership, every decision becomes personal.

Be FAIR. Be TRANSPARENT. Get it in writing.

Use a dynamic equity split calculator to factor in cash contribution, time commitment, and domain expertise. Don't just split it 50/50 because it feels equal. Equal doesn't mean fair if contributions aren't equal.

Address the elephant in the room. Have the conversation now, while you still like each other.

3. Role Confusion

"That's not my job" = Death sentence for startups.

The real killer is role evolution WITHOUT communication.

In early stages, everyone does everything. As you grow, specialization becomes necessary. But if you don't actively manage this transition, you end up with turf wars, resentment, and duplicated effort.

Define roles CLEARLY. No grey areas.

Create a RACI matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) for every key function. Who makes hiring decisions? Who owns product direction? Who controls the budget?

If you can't fill out this matrix cleanly, you've got role issues that will explode later.

4. Work Ethic Clash

One's burning the midnight oil. The other's barely showing up.

It's less about the hours, and more about the commitment and life priorities.

Maybe one person has family obligations. Maybe the other is single and obsessed. Neither is wrong, but the mismatch creates resentment on both sides.

Match your commitment levels or acknowledge the difference.

If there's a 30%+ gap in productive hours, you've got a problem. Either align your effort or adjust equity/roles to reflect the reality of contribution.

Track your time for 30 days. Compare the results. Have an honest conversation about expectations and capacity.

The Business Marriage Requires More Work Than Your Real Marriage

Here's the brutal truth: You'll spend more time with your co-founder than your spouse. You'll make more important decisions together. You'll face more stress together.

Yet most co-founders spend less time on their partnership than people spend planning a wedding.

Successful co-founder relationships require the same intentionality as successful marriages:

• Regular check-ins about how things are going.
• Clear communication about expectations and concerns.
• Conflict resolution systems for when disagreements arise.
• Shared values about what matters most.
• Individual growth that strengthens the partnership.

As I always say: If you think having difficult conversations is hard, wait until you don't have them.

The Co-Founder Operating System That Prevents Explosions

Here's the framework I install with every founding team I work with:

Monthly Partnership Reviews (30 minutes)

• What's working well in our partnership?
• What's causing friction or concern?
• Are we aligned on current priorities?
• What support does each person need?

Quarterly Strategic Alignment (2 hours)

• Review and update 3-year vision using SMART goals
• Assess role definitions and decision-making authority
• Evaluate equity arrangements and contribution balance
• Plan for upcoming challenges and growth phases

Annual Partnership Audit (Half day)

• Full assessment of partnership health
• Update operating agreements and legal docs
• Plan individual development and skill building
• Celebrate wins and learn from conflicts

Ongoing Conflict Protocols

• When we disagree, we discuss it within 48 hours
• We separate personal relationships from business decisions
• We commit to finding solutions that serve the company first
• We bring in outside mediation before conflicts escalate

The Hard Conversation Checklist

Before you scale past $500K, you need crystal clear agreements on:

Vision & Strategy

• What does success look like in 3 years?
• How much personal sacrifice are we willing to make?
• What's our risk tolerance for growth vs. stability?
• When and how do we want to exit?

Roles & Decision-Making

• Who has final say on hiring and firing?
• Who controls spending and financial decisions?
• Who owns product vision and roadmap?
• How do we resolve deadlocks?

Equity & Compensation

• Is our current split fair given contributions?
• How do we handle future equity for employees?
• What happens if one person reduces commitment?
• How do we value sweat equity vs. cash investment?

Exit Scenarios

• What if one person wants to leave?
• What if one person isn't performing?
• What if we get an acquisition offer?
• How do we handle competitive situations?

ACTION: Schedule a complete alignment session

Block a full day. Go off-site. Cover everything on this checklist.

Document every agreement. Sign it. Put it in your company files.

Update it every year as your business and partnership evolve.

Final Reality Check

Co-founder disagreements can kill your startup before it even takes off.

But the strongest partnerships aren't the ones that never fight. They're the ones that fight well.

They have documented agreements. They address conflicts early. They prioritize the business over their egos. They invest in their partnership like the strategic asset it is.

Your co-founder relationship is the foundation of everything you're building. If that foundation cracks, everything else crumbles.

Stop assuming you're aligned. Start proving it with clear agreements and ongoing communication.

You're working harder than ever but not seeing the results you want. What's missing is the structure and accountability that only comes from expert guidance.

I want to invite you to hop on a call with me.

In a free 45-minute Strategy Call, we'll identify:

• The exact bottlenecks preventing your breakthrough
• Which frameworks will accelerate your growth without burnout
• How to build the accountability systems that ensure execution

You'll walk away with a clear action plan, regardless of whether we work together.

If there's a strong fit, you may be invited to join a small cohort where I personally coach founders scaling from $250K to $3M. Direct access to the systems I used to scale 3 companies and generate $65M in online sales.

What you get:

• Personal coaching from someone who's actually built and exited companies
• Proven frameworks from real scaling experience, not business school theory
• Small group of 10 committed founders for focused attention
• Monthly strategy sessions and ongoing support to ensure execution

All for 1/3 the cost of traditional executive coaching.

→ Book Your Clarity Call

Get the clarity and accountability that turns hard work into real results.

- Ignacio

‍

You Can't Build a Plane to Sail. (But Most Co-Founders Try.)

I had a co-founder for 10 years. Here's what I wish someone had told me in year 1:

As founders, we create companies in terms of vision.

If you want to fly, you build an airplane. If you want to sail, you build a boat.

But if you and your co-founder don't agree on what you're building from the start?

You might end up building a plane to sail. And you will drown.

You'll have lost resources, money, and energy. Your team won't know who to trust or which direction to follow.

Lacking direction is a problem you need to solve in year 1.

Here's the HARD truth: Co-founder misalignment is like trying to set your GPS to go both north and south at the same time.

It doesn't work. And it destroys everything in the process.

The 3 Co-Founder Conflicts That Kill Companies

Over 10 years with my co-founder, I learned that most partnership explosions come down to three core conflicts:

1. Vision Mismatch 2. Product Priority Battles 3. Equity Wars

Let me break down each one and how to solve them before they destroy your company.

Conflict #1: Vision Mismatch (The GPS Problem)

What it means:

You want to build a race car. Your co-founder wants to build a sailboat.

You can't want to go north and south. You can't set up a GPS to go both ways. When you can't explain your direction clearly to your team, they feel lost and don't know who to trust.

This affects everything: strategy, hiring, product decisions, resource allocation.

Why it happens:

The universal law of nature is impermanence. Everything changes.

The company changes. The context changes. You change. Your co-founder changes.

Just because you were aligned in the beginning doesn't mean you'll be aligned in the future, especially when you don't have communication tools.

Co-founders who don't talk regularly drift apart without realizing it.

How to solve it:

Use a Vision to Traction Organizer (V-TO). This forces you to:

• Agree on the long-term vision (3-year picture of where you want to be)
• Define how to execute that vision together
• Set 3-7 clear, measurable priorities per quarter that drive you toward that goal
• Have a Level-10, 90 min weekly Directors meeting to align and solve problems together.

Spend as much time as needed to get that vision nailed down.

Then schedule Vision Alignment Meetings every quarter to review this document and analyze your traction.

Think of it like a marriage: Here's the brutal truth: You'll potentially spend more time with your co-founder than your spouse. You'll make more important decisions together. You'll face maybe even more stress together.

Yet most co-founders spend less time on their partnership than people spend planning a wedding.

Successful co-founder relationships require the same intentionality as successful marriages: regular check-ins about how things are going, clear communication about expectations and concerns, conflict resolution systems for when disagreements arise, shared values about what matters most, and individual growth that strengthens the partnership.

As I always say: If you think having difficult conversations is hard, wait until you don't have them.

Conflict #2: Product Priority Battles (The Resource War)

What it means:

You're not aligned on how to move the company forward.

Traction is the means to the vision. You're organizing your resources to go left or right, but you can't agree on which direction serves the vision better.

You move the whole company toward one priority or another. If co-founders disagree, you're splitting focus and resources.

Why it happens:

Setting the right priorities is one of the most difficult tasks in business.

Most of the time, we're not connected with what happens in the market and with users. We're not sure about what the customer actually wants.

We're guessing instead of knowing.

How to solve it:

Stop guessing. Start getting feedback directly from the source.

• Schedule regular power user / important customer calls
• Talk to your users about what they actually need, continuously
• Use data to drive priority decisions, not opinions

When you have real customer feedback, priority battles become discussions about data about what users WANT, not ego fights about ideas.

Conflict #3: Equity Wars (The Value Recognition Problem)

What it means:

You don't agree on equity distribution. Incentives aren't aligned.

One or both co-founders think the value they bring to the company isn't reflected in the equity they have.

This creates resentment that poisons everything else.

Why it happens:

Things change. You agree on equity splits in the beginning, but after years of extreme execution, you start to see differences.

Maybe one person is working harder, being more consistent, or bringing more value than originally anticipated.

The problem compounds when these concerns aren't discussed openly.

How to solve it:

Write it down at the beginning. Document equity agreements and the reasoning behind them.

Have uncomfortable conversations early. Trust that whoever brings up equity concerns has good intentions.

There's always a chance to build a strategy to compensate for performance differences. They're looking for incentives that match their contribution. It's a real concern.

Here's my biggest mistake: Trusting that friendships meant we'd always work things out. Assuming my co-founder would think the same way I did.

Time and context change people. Don't mix business and friendship unless you have ironclad agreements in writing.

The System That Saved My Partnership

What saved us was structure. A simple system to align our vision, set measurable priorities, and stop building a plane to sail.

Most importantly: TALK to each other.

You don't feel this is the right direction anymore? Say it.

Don't start splitting efforts out of the blue. Adjust that vision together or part ways.

The Hard Conversation Framework

Here's how to have the conversations most co-founders avoid:

Vision Reality Check: "Based on our last quarter's results, are we still building the right thing? What would we change?"

Resource Allocation: "Looking at where we spent time and money, are we prioritizing correctly? What should we stop doing?"

Contribution Assessment: "How do you feel about the workload balance? Are there areas where one of us should step up or back?"

These aren't annual conversations. Have them monthly, before small misalignments become major conflicts.

Final Reality Check

No one teaches you this early on, but here's the truth:

If you're not 100% aligned on what you're building, you'll waste time, money, and team morale chasing two different visions.

You better have a company flying high and sailing far than have a stock full of broken boats and airplanes taking you nowhere.

Structure saves partnerships. Communication prevents conflicts. Documentation protects everyone.

Stop making costly business decisions based on guesswork.

Start with a free 45-minute Clarity Call where we’ll break down:

• Where you are now vs. where you want to be

• The biggest bottlenecks holding back growth

• What frameworks and systems will help you scale without burning out

You’ll walk away with a solid scaling plan. Whether or not you join the program.

If there’s a strong fit, you may be invited to join Founder Accelerator Group. An expert-led coaching cohort for founders scaling from $250K to $3M. Only 10 founders are accepted per cohort.

Inside, we work hands-on to:

• Set and hit quarterly goals

• Solve execution challenges in real time with tactical coaching

• Get direct daily support from me and a tight-knit group of founders

• Use personalized dashboards and frameworks that prevent costly mistakes
  

→ Book your free Clarity Call

Stop building planes to sail. Start building what actually works.

- Ignacio

‍

While You're “Figuring It Out”, Your Competitors Are Scaling.

‍

Quick Note: My mastermind is starting on August 1st. If you're tired of solving problems alone while competitors move faster, join us here.

Let me paint you a picture of two founders:

Founder A: Spends 6 months perfecting their hiring process. Researches every framework. Builds custom scorecards. Tests different interview techniques.

Founder B: Calls someone who's hired 100+ A-players. Implements their proven system in 2 weeks.

Guess who has the better team 12 months later?

Here's the brutal truth: Smart founders don't solve problems. They find people who already solved them.

While you're stuck in research mode, your competitors are using borrowed intelligence to scale 10x faster.

Time to stop reinventing the wheel and start winning the speed game.

1. Why Speed Beats Smarts in the Founder Game

You think being thorough makes you smart. You research every angle. You want to understand the "why" behind every decision.

Meanwhile, your competitor just implemented a proven solution and moved on to the next problem.

Real examples:

• While you spent 3 weeks researching email automation, they asked their network and implemented in 3 days
• While you're stuck at $1M revenue "figuring it out," they just hit $3M using frameworks that already work
• While you built your own onboarding from scratch over 4 months, they copied what worked elsewhere and started getting results in week 1

Stop worrying about being the “smartest”; instead, worry about moving the fastest with proven intelligence.

ACTION: The Speed Reality Check

Think of your last 3 major business challenges.

For each one, ask:

• How long did I spend researching vs. implementing?
• Could I have asked someone who already solved this?
• What did this delay cost me in opportunity?

If you spend more time researching than implementing, you're playing the wrong game.

2. The Real Cost of Reinventing the Wheel

Let me show you what "figuring it out yourself" actually costs:

Your version of fixing customer churn:

• 3 weeks researching retention strategies
• 2 weeks rebuilding onboarding sequences
• 1 month developing custom loyalty programs
• $15K on website redesign
• 6 months of your mental bandwidth

Total cost: $50K and half a year of opportunity cost.

Or you could have called someone who solved churn last quarter for $2K.

Same result. 95% less time. 90% less money.

But your ego said: "I should figure this out myself."

ACTION: Calculate Your Reinvention Tax

Pick one problem you solved the "hard way" recently.

Calculate:

• Hours spent researching
• Money spent on trials/experiments
• Opportunity cost of delayed implementation
• Mental energy consumed

That's your reinvention tax. And you're paying it on every problem you try to solve alone.

3. While You're Thinking, Competitors Are Winning

Company A: Spent 8 months building their sales process from scratch. Tested different methodologies. Created custom CRM workflows.

Company B: Implemented a proven B2B sales framework in 2 weeks. Started closing deals immediately.

12 months later: Company B has 3x the revenue and a team that actually knows what they're doing.

Here's what kills most founders: You think taking time to "get it right" is smart.

But while you're perfecting, competitors are iterating. They implement 80% solutions and optimize from there.

You're optimizing for perfection. They're optimizing for speed.

Guess who wins market share?

ACTION: The Competitor Speed Check

Research 3 competitors who are scaling faster than you.

Ask:

• What systems did they implement quickly that I'm still "researching"?
• Where are they moving fast while I'm being thorough?
• What market opportunities are they capturing while I'm planning?

Speed creates competitive advantage. Thoroughness creates delays

.

4. Your Problems Aren't Unique. Your Context Is.

"But my business is different!"

No. It's not.

90% of founder problems have proven solutions:

• Hiring: Competency-based interviews with scorecards (works every time)
• Team alignment: Level 10 Meetings with KPI tracking (results in 30 days)
• Customer churn: Value gap analysis + targeted interventions (measurable in 45 days)
• Growth plateaus: ICP refinement + conversion optimization (unlocks in 60 days)

You don't need a custom solution. You need a proven solution adapted.

The hiring framework that worked for a B2B SaaS won't work exactly for your marketplace. But the core principles? The interview structure? The scorecard methodology?

That translates perfectly.

You need an experienced translator, not a guru who's going to reinvent everything from scratch.

ACTION: Match Problems to Proven Solutions

List your top 3 current challenges.

For each one:

• What's the proven framework that solves this?
• Who has implemented this successfully multiple times?
• How can I adapt their solution to my specific context?

Stop looking for custom solutions. Start looking for proven frameworks you can adapt.

5. Why Smart Founders Stay Stuck Longer

The smartest founders often struggle the most. Why?

Because intelligence becomes a trap:

• "I should be able to figure this out myself."
• "My business is too unique for standard solutions."
• "I don't want to look like I don't know what I'm doing"

Result: 6-month detours that become 18-month death spirals.

Your ego is expensive. Really f*cking expensive.

Meanwhile, less "intelligent" founders who ask for help scale faster because they implement proven systems instead of trying to invent new ones.

The paradox: The smarter you think you are, the longer you stay stuck.

ACTION: The Ego Reality Check

Ask yourself honestly:

• How many problems am I solving alone because I think I "should" know this?
• What would happen if I asked for help on my biggest challenge?
• Is my ego costing me speed, money, and competitive advantage?

Pride is the most expensive business expense you'll never see on a P&L.

6. The Myth of the Self-Made Founder

Let me destroy a myth that's keeping you stuck:

"Self-made" founders are a startup mythology designed to sell books.

Reality check:

• Shopify's founder studied Amazon's playbook religiously before building
• Zoom's founder spent years analyzing Skype's mistakes
• Netflix's Reed Hastings had 20+ advisors during the streaming pivot
• Elon Musk hired the SpaceX team by recruiting from NASA and other space companies

Nobody builds alone. Ever.

The founders who win fastest are the ones who shamelessly steal proven frameworks and adapt them quickly.

ACTION: The Influence Audit

List the 5 most successful companies in your space.

For each one, research:

• What frameworks did they copy from other industries?
• Who were their advisors/influences during key growth phases?
• What existing solutions did they adapt rather than build from scratch?

You'll find zero "self-made" success stories. Just smart founders who leveraged proven intelligence.

7. Case Study: From 18 Months of Struggle to 60 Days of Growth

Founder Y, B2B SaaS, stuck at $1.8M for 18 months.

What they tried:

• New positioning (3 months, $20K)
• Team restructuring (4 months, tons of chaos)
• Product pivots (6 months, confused customers)
• New marketing agency (5 months, $40K, minimal results)

Total cost: $80K in failed experiments + 18 months of opportunity cost.

What finally worked:

• Implemented proven ICP framework (2 weeks)
• Launched targeted outbound sequence (1 week)
• Optimized conversion flow (2 weeks)

Result: $1.8M to $3.2M in 90 days using systems that had worked 50+ times before.

His words: "Lacking talent wasn’t the reason I was stuck… I was stuck because I kept guessing instead of asking someone who knew."

The difference? He stopped trying to invent solutions and started implementing proven ones.

8. The Speed Advantage: Implementation Beats Innovation

Here's what most founders get wrong:

They think innovation is the answer. Speed is the answer.

The frameworks exist:

• Hiring systems that work
• Sales processes that convert
• Team alignment that sticks
• Growth strategies that scale

These aren't secrets. They're just hard to implement alone without experience.

What you need isn't innovation. You need:

1. Access to proven frameworks
2. Help adapting them to your context
3. Support implementing them quickly
4. Accountability to ensure they stick

ACTION: The Implementation Audit

Rate yourself on:

• How quickly do I move from decision to implementation?
• Do I over-research or under-implement?
• How often do I reinvent vs. adapt existing solutions?

If you're slow to implement, you're losing competitive advantage every day.

9. Stop Playing the Solo Guessing Game

You have two choices:

Choice 1: Keep figuring everything out yourself. Research for months. Build custom solutions. Hope they work.

Choice 2: Find people who already solved your problems. Implement their frameworks. Adapt as you go.

The founders who choose #2 scale 10x faster.

Because they understand the game: It's not about being the smartest founder. It's about being the fastest to implement proven solutions.

The Proven Solution Protocol

Here's how to stop guessing and start implementing:

Step 1: Identify your top 3 revenue/growth blockers right now

Step 2: Find someone who has solved each one multiple times successfully

Step 3: Map their solution framework to your specific business context

Step 4: Implement with weekly accountability and real-time feedback

Step 5: Track measurable progress weekly. Iterate based on data, not guesswork

This is exactly what smart founders do. They leverage proven intelligence instead of trying to reinvent everything.

Final Reality Check

While you're reading this newsletter, a competitor just implemented a solution you're still researching.

While you're planning, they're executing.

While you're perfecting, they're scaling.

The question isn't whether you're smart enough to figure it out.

The question is whether you're smart enough to stop trying.

And if you want to stop playing the solo guessing game, I can help.

For the first time ever, I'm opening a mastermind specifically for burned-out founders.

10 founders ($250K-$3M). Quarterly planning sessions. Bi-monthly tactical calls. Real-time community support and daily access to me via Slack.

Not another course. Not more tasks. Just the support system that rebuilds your capacity to lead without breaking.

Starts August 1st. Applications close soon.

→ JOIN THE MASTERMIND - 10 SPOTS ONLY!

Stop researching and start implementing.

- Ignacio

P.S. If you're thinking "I should be able to figure this out myself," remember: every month you spend solving problems alone is a month your competitors spend scaling with proven solutions. Speed wins.

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You're Not Stuck Because It's Hard. You're Stuck Because You Keep Switching Games.

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Let me paint you a picture.

Olympic swimmer. Training for gold in the 400m freestyle.

Years of preparation. Blood, sweat, chlorine burns. The whole damn dream riding on this one race.

200 meters in, arms are toast. Lungs screaming. Still 2 seconds behind the podium.

What does a champion do?

They push harder. They dig deeper. They obsess over those 2 seconds until they shave them off.

What does a quitter do?

"This is getting too hard. Let's try the silver medal for long jump instead."

Here's the brutal truth: Most founders are quitters disguised as entrepreneurs.

Every time your business gets complex, every time growth gets difficult, you don't double down.

You pivot. You diversify. You chase the next shiny opportunity.

And you wonder why you're stuck.

1. The Real Reason You're the Bottleneck (And It's Not What You Think)

You think you're stuck because:

• The market is tough
• Your team isn't executing
• The economy is uncertain
• Competition is fierce

Wrong.

You're stuck because every time your company demands you to level up, you change the game instead of changing yourself.

Here's what actually happens:

Your business hits $250K. Things get complex. You need systems. You need better leadership. You need to stop being the hero of every story.

But instead of becoming the CEO your company needs?

You launch a new product line. You chase a different market. You pivot the entire strategy.

You're not scaling. You're escaping.

ACTION: The Honest Mirror Exercise

Ask yourself:

• What's the hardest challenge in my business right now?
• How long have I been avoiding it?
• What "new opportunity" am I chasing to avoid dealing with it?

The thing you're avoiding? That's your real work.

2. Champions Don't Switch Sports When It Gets Hard

Michael Jordan didn't quit basketball to try golf when the Bulls lost.

He obsessed over his weaknesses. He practiced until his hands bled. He became legendary by refusing to quit when it got difficult.

Your business is your sport.

But every time you hit resistance, you're switching to long jump.

New product when sales get tough.
New market when customers complain.
New strategy when execution gets messy.

You know what that makes you?

A mediocre competitor in a market full of mediocre companies.

ACTION: The Champion's Focus Test

Pick the ONE thing your business does better than anyone else.

Now ask:

• How can I make this 10% better this month?
• What would "obsessed" look like here?
• If I dedicated 80% of my energy to perfecting this, what would happen?

That's your gold medal event. Everything else is a distraction.

3. You're Not Building a Business. You're Building an Excuse Factory.

Let's get real about what's happening:

You start something. It grows. It gets hard.

Instead of getting better at the hard thing, you tell yourself:

• "The market is saturated"
• "We need to diversify revenue streams"
• "This pivot will unlock massive growth"

Those aren't strategies. They're excuses.

Every successful company I know got successful by becoming absolutely obsessed with ONE thing.

Apple: Beautiful, simple technology.
Amazon: Fastest, cheapest delivery.
Tesla: Electric vehicles that don't suck.

They didn't succeed by doing everything. They succeeded by doing ONE thing better than anyone else on the planet.

ACTION: The Obsession Audit

Look at your last 12 months:

• How many "new initiatives" did you start?
• How many core problems did you actually solve?
• Where did you spend more energy: new stuff or perfecting existing stuff?

If you spent more time chasing new than perfecting current, you've found your bottleneck.

4. The Market Rewards Obsession, Not Options

Here's what happens when you keep switching games:

You become okay at everything. Great at nothing.

Your customers can't figure out what you actually do.
Your team can't align on what actually matters.
Your competition eats your lunch while you're busy reinventing yourself.

But here's what happens when you obsess:

You become the best. The only choice. The obvious solution.

Customers become evangelists.
Team members become missionaries.
Competition becomes irrelevant.

The market doesn't need another decent option.
The market rewards the obsessed.

ACTION: The Obsession Declaration

Complete this sentence: "For the next 12 months, I will obsess over making [ONE THING] absolutely exceptional."

Then eliminate everything that doesn't serve that obsession.

5. Stop Building Companies & Start Building LEGENDS.

You didn't start this business to be mediocre.

You started it to win. To dominate. To build something that matters.

But winning doesn't happen by accident. It happens by obsession.

Olympic athletes don't wake up asking, "What sport should I try today?"

They wake up asking, "How do I get 1% better at MY sport?"

Your business deserves that same obsession.

ACTION: The Legend Blueprint

Ask yourself:

• What's the ONE thing we could become absolutely legendary at?
• What would it take to be 10x better than our closest competitor?
• What would customers say about us if we were truly obsessed with excellence?

Then build that. Relentlessly.

The Champion's Operating System

Here's how to stop being the bottleneck and start being the breakthrough:

Step 1: Identify Your Gold Medal Event
What's the ONE thing your business does that actually matters?

Step 2: Audit Your Distractions
What are you chasing instead of perfecting your core?

Step 3: Declare Your Obsession
Commit to 12 months of relentless focus on ONE thing.

Step 4: Eliminate Everything Else
Say no to every opportunity that doesn't serve your obsession.

Step 5: Measure Obsessively
Track progress weekly. Celebrate small wins. Course-correct fast.

This isn't just a business strategy. It's THE championship mentality.

Final Reality Check

You have two choices:

Choice 1: Keep switching games every time it gets hard. Stay mediocre. Wonder why nothing works.

Choice 2: Pick your sport. Train like hell. Become legendary.

Champions aren't made by talent. They're made by obsession.

Your business doesn't need more options.
It needs more obsession.

Join the Waitlist for a Tailored 1:1 Scaling Blueprint Call

No more pivots. No more distractions. Just obsessed execution.

Time to win your gold medal.

– Ignacio

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The first week of the year is electric.

Energy is high, goals are ambitious, and optimism is through the roof.

You've probably set a long list of goals—maybe it’s scaling your business, improving your health, or finally launching that side project.

I get the feeling you’ve done this before,

I sure have.

By week two we are discussing them on the run.

By week three, the excitement fades away. Those goals? They start gathering dust.

“I’ll just do it later, they are not urgent” – you think to yourself.

When you realize they will be kept under the rug, you blame procrastination.

It’s time to let that old excuse go.

Procrastination gets a bad rap, but the truth is, it’s rarely about laziness or lack of discipline. Instead, it’s a sign that something deeper is at play.

The real problem isn’t procrastination

Imagine trying to assemble furniture from a flat-pack kit. You’re excited to see the finished product, but when you open the box, you realize:

• The instruction manual is missing.
• Some screws and tools aren’t included.
• And the parts aren’t labeled.

You sit there, staring at the pile of parts, unsure where to begin. At first, you think, “I’ll figure it out. Maybe I can Google the instructions.” Then you notice the missing screws and tell yourself, “I’ll just run to the hardware store to get what I need.”

Hours pass. The frustration grows. Instead of making progress, you end up postponing the whole project, telling yourself, “I’ll deal with this later.”

But what if you had clear instructions, every piece neatly labeled, and the right tools at hand?

Suddenly, putting that furniture together feels straightforward—and maybe even fun.

That’s the real issue behind procrastination: it’s not about motivation—it’s about being under-resourced and unclear.

When you don’t have the right tools, prep, or plan, even the simplest tasks can feel paralyzing.

How does this show up in your goals?

Here’s how being under-equipped might be holding you back:

1. Delaying decisions because you don’t have clear frameworks for prioritization.
2. Avoiding delegation because you’ve been burned in the past and don’t trust the process.
3. Postponing progress because you don’t know where to start or don’t have the right tools.
4. Feeling overwhelmed because you’re trying to tackle everything all at once.

It’s not about trying harder or working more hours, it’s about having the clarity and support to make progress without burning out.

Don’t let 2025 be another year of missed goals.

The energy you have right now is your biggest asset.

But to sustain it, you need more than willpower: you need the right systems, frameworks, and tools to turn your goals into reality.

Here’s where to start:

1. Clarify your priorities. What’s the real problem you’re trying to solve? Do you have SMART goals or OKRs?
2. Find the right tools. Swinging harder won’t get the job done—use the right resources. (What resources do you need to be able to excel on this task?).
3. Ask for help. Success isn’t a solo sport. Lean on experts, mentors, or peers who can guide you.

This year can be different.

The most successful founders and leaders I’ve worked with didn’t achieve their goals by grinding harder.

They learned to work smarter, with the right support and strategies in place.

Let’s make sure 2025 is the year you stop spinning your wheels and start making real progress.

Book a 1:1 session with me now, and learn how to overcome overwhelm, gain clarity, and finally tackle your biggest challenges as a founder with confidence, and obsessed about results.

You don’t need to be a micromanager, an operator, a burnt-out founder, a busy-aholic, or a stalled business.

RESERVE YOUR SPOT NOW

This is your year—don’t let the first week’s energy go to waste.

Ignacio

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Let's make 2025 your year of real wins.

Many people start the New Year with ambitious resolutions, only to see them fade away within a couple of months.

Vague resolutions are sh*t.

You know the ones I’m talking about: “Be happier next year.” “Open a new market.” “Improve company culture.”

We’ve all written goals like these. They feel ambitious, but deep down, you know they’re setting you up to fail.

Why?

Because vague goals = vague results.

And I know from experience, for many years I “thought” I was setting great goals, until I realized that being vague and broad like “get in better shape” was complete BS and lead me nowhere.

What happens when your goals aren’t clear?

• Your days feel chaotic and reactive.
• You waste time (and money) on projects that don’t move the needle.
• You work hard but never feel like you’re making real progress.

It’s exhausting. And yet, most of us keep doing it year after year.

Let’s change that in 2025.

Have you heard about SMART goals?

I know, very probably, you have.
But remember: most problems I see with founders are not around NOT knowing a concept, but on how they actually implement it (or fail to do so).

Let’s revise: SMART goals are objectives that are:

Specific. Measurable. Achievable. Relevant. Time-bound.

Here’s the thing: Knowing what SMART goals are isn’t the same as putting them into action.

So here’s what they look like in real life:

❌ Instead of: “Improve company culture.”
✅ Try: “Reduce employee churn from 50% to 30% by December 2025.”

Then break it down further:

• Add 3 new employee benefits by the end of Q1.
• Increase salaries by 20% by the end of Q2.
• Schedule bi-annual feedback sessions by Q3.

Now it’s actionable. It’s trackable. And most importantly, it’s doable.

How to set SMART goals that actually work:

1. Get Specific: Define exactly what success looks like.
2. Prioritize Ruthlessly: Focus on goals that truly matter and drive results.
3. Break It Down: Is it a 10-day, 30-day, or 60-day kind of goal? Create a timeline.
4. Track & Adjust: Measure your progress weekly and tweak it as needed.

When you shift from vague goals to SMART goals:
✅ Your team knows what to focus on.
✅ Your business moves forward with direction.
✅ You regain confidence and momentum.

What’s one SMART goal you’re setting for yourself or your business?

Steal this SMART goal sample:

2025 Main Goal: Reduce employee churn from 50% to 30% by December.

Timeline: This is a 90-day goal to kick off, with adjustments every quarter.

Actionable Plan:✅ Q1: Focus on retention drivers.

• Introduce 3 new employee benefits (e.g., wellness stipends, flexible hours, professional development budgets).

✅ Q2: Boost compensation and recognition.

• Increase salaries by 20% for key roles.
• Implement a monthly employee recognition program tied to performance.

✅ Q3: Prioritize feedback and growth.

• Launch bi-annual 360° feedback sessions to identify team challenges.
• Roll out a tailored growth plan for 100% of your team.

✅ Q4: Measure impact and improve.

• Compare Q1-Q3 churn rates to final numbers.
• Conduct a year-end culture survey and review progress against Q1 benchmarks.

Metrics That Matter:

• Churn Rate: Track employee turnover percentage every 3 months.
• Engagement Score: Send a short, anonymous feedback form in January and November. Compare results to measure improvement.
• Team Satisfaction: Monitor attendance at benefits programs, training sessions, or recognition events.

Improvement:
This goal started vague—“improve company culture”—but now it’s clear, actionable, and measurable. You’re solving a specific problem (churn) with a structured plan that grows over time.

Imagine how much progress you’ll make if you apply this framework to every big dream you have for 2025.

Ready to create goals like this for your business?

Let’s turn your vague ideas into a winning plan.

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Did you know that fewer than 1 of U.S. businesses achieve annual revenues exceeding $10 million?

This statistic underscores the challenges companies face in scaling their operations.

This was me before hitting my first 10M:

• Having countless meetings to meet potential customers
• Travelling the world to jump into conferences and learn what my competitors were talking about
• Refining my product with the latest market updates
• Etc.

I was doing it all—burning the candle at both ends—but something wasn’t clicking.

No matter how many late nights I worked or how hard I pushed, the growth I dreamed of felt just out of reach.

Looking back, I see the problem: I wasn’t obsessed about the biggest needle movers that I had to prioritize.

Instead of starting with 1, 2, and 3, I was diving headfirst into 8, 4, and 9.

The result? Overwhelm. Frustration. Feeling stuck.

In 2016, during the EMP (MIT & EO Mastermind) in Boston, I had a breakthrough: success wasn’t about working harder—it was about finding the right person to share the journey with.

That’s where the magic of the dynamic duo comes in: the Visionary and the Integrator.

This isn’t just a simple partnership, it’s a powerhouse combination.

One dreams big, while the other brings those dreams to life with focus and precision.

Together, they don’t just share the workload, they transform it into something greater than either could achieve alone.

The Visionary (Hunter Energy)

That’s me—you can already tell —the one always chasing the next big thing.

Whether it’s spotting opportunities no one else sees or jumping headfirst into an ambitious idea, I’m constantly on the move.

I’m the person who’s glued to market trends, brainstorming the next game-changing product, and rallying the team with big-picture thinking and contagious energy.

I thrive in the fast lane: closing deals, meeting clients face-to-face, and building connections at networking events.

It’s high-energy, high-stakes work, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

For me, risk isn’t scary.

The Integrator (Farmer Energy)

This is the steady hand that keeps everything on track.

While the Visionary is chasing big ideas, the Integrator is behind the scenes, making sure every team, process, and goal is perfectly aligned.

They’re the ones who turn chaos into clarity, ensuring projects stay on schedule and nothing falls through the cracks.

The Integrator is a master at cutting through distractions, keeping the focus on what really matters and bringing balance to the messy world of creativity.

Integrators provide stability and structure that allow the big ideas to actually happen. Without them, the dream stays a dream.

Attempting to juggle both roles single-handedly can lead to burnout and stalled growth. The key is recognizing your natural strengths and finding someone who complements them.

For me, partnering with an Integrator was a game-changer. It didn’t just improve our company’s performance; it unlocked potential we didn’t even realize was being held back.

My learning:

Instead of juggling both ends of the spectrum yourself, focus entirely on finding your counterpart. If you’re the visionary, get obsessed with finding your integrator. If you’re the integrator, find your visionary.

When you find the right match, everything changes.

You’ll release the parking brake you’ve been operating with for years. Your company’s performance and life will transform in ways you never imagined.

So, take a step today: obsess about finding a partner (or worst case a high-level employee with some equity/phantom stocks) who will take you to the next level. Because the path to 10M and beyond isn’t meant to be walked alone.

How to find the right partner?

• Know yourself first: Before seeking a partner, take a step back and assess your strengths and weaknesses. Are you the big-picture dreamer who thrives on risk and innovation, or are you the steady hand who loves structure and execution?
• Look for complementary skills, not similarities: The best partnerships rely on balance, not duplication. If you’re the visionary, look for someone who’s detail-oriented, and enjoys building processes. If you’re the integrator, find a visionary who brings energy, creativity, and bold ideas to the table.
• Test the relationship with small projects: Start by collaborating on a smaller scale to see how well you work together. Pay attention to how you communicate, handle conflicts, and make decisions as a team.

A Visionary-Integrator partnership can be the game-changer that helps your business break past the $10M mark.

Book some time with me and let's audit where your business is standing at the moment, and leave with key actionables to start scaling sustainably.

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Do you ever find yourself working harder than ever, only to feel like the results you dream of are always just out of reach?
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It’s exhausting and deeply frustrating.

A few weeks ago, I talked about the dangers of over-diversifying a product’s features.

It’s like noticing a small crack in the foundation, only to realize the entire structure is at risk of collapse.

Here’s the truth: more doesn’t always mean better.

Sometimes, success isn’t about working harder—it’s about working smarter, focusing your energy, and aligning your actions with intentional strategies.

I learned this the hard way last year. As a coach—not a social media guru—I tried to juggle the endless demands of every platform while still running my business.

I thought that if I could just stay visible everywhere, the results would follow.

Each day became a race against the clock. I was:

• Scrambling to post on Instagram.
• Engaging in conversations on Threads.
• Uploading videos to YouTube.
• Crafting articles for LinkedIn.

The result?

• Low engagement.
• Exhaustion.
• Little to show for all the effort.

So, I made a radical decision: I pressed pause on everything except LinkedIn.

For an entire year, I focused solely on mastering that one platform.

The impact was undeniable.

• I discovered exactly where my audience hangs out and what they care about.
• I fine-tuned my messaging to resonate deeply.
• And most importantly, I created meaningful, sustainable growth.

After coaching many founders, I’ve noticed a common pattern: the same missteps that tripped me up on social media often derail businesses as well.

Many founders fall into this trap, believing that doing more will lead to better results. They:

• Launch new products before perfecting their existing ones.
• Venture into new markets without fully dominating their current space.
• Spread their efforts too thin instead of doubling down on their core strengths.

The problem isn’t the effort—it’s the direction. When energy is scattered, progress slows.

Success comes not from doing more, but from doing what truly matters with focus and intention.

When you shift your focus from “doing more” to doing what truly matters, everything changes.

How to deal with this?

Find clarity in your purpose: Identify the one thing that truly matters to your business right now—whether it’s refining a product, deepening customer relationships, or improving your operations. What is the biggest needle mover right now?

Commit fully: Stop multitasking your priorities. Dedicate 6–12 months to mastering a single, impactful area.

Embrace the feedback loop: Growth isn’t about perfection. It’s about listening, learning, and adjusting along the way. Progress comes from the small pivots you make when you’re focused and intentional.

Resist the pull of “more”: The temptation to add just one more feature, market, or initiative is real. But the more you stretch your focus, the weaker your results. Instead, focus amplifies everything.

Remember: Over-diversification dilutes your impact. Focus amplifies it.

Over-diversification is just one of the 12 “viruses” that silently sabotage success and the solutions I’ve shared here are only the beginning.

There are 11 more critical blockers that could be holding your business back, and I’m ready to help you uncover them.

Join me for a live, private session designed specifically for founders who are ready to identify their true priorities, cut through the noise, and simplify their strategies for faster, sustainable growth.

This is your chance to learn actionable solutions and build a business strategy that’s not just intentional, but genuinely impactful.

Seats are limited, so don’t wait—reserve your spot now and take the first step toward clarity and success.

I can’t wait to see you there!
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