How second-time founder Wes Mathews built conviction, traction, and momentum by deliberately choosing the hard that compounds. | Wes Mathews, Co-Founder & CEO, Stealth

Wes Mathews didn’t build his second company because the first one failed. He built it because success taught him what actually breaks founders.

After scaling his first company to $20M+ and exiting, Wes hit a truth many founders quietly face: he fell out of love with his own business. So he did the harder thing—he started again from zero. In this conversation, Wes shares how that reset reshaped how he thinks about sales, leadership, leverage, and growth at the $1–$10M stage.

In this episode of Escape Velocity, Wes breaks down the real work of scaling through chaos: why founder-led sales isn’t optional, why ego has to give way to systems, and why chaos isn’t a failure—it’s the tax on growth. He also opens up about choosing the “hard that compounds,” building teams that create capacity instead of burnout, and why business should fuel life—not consume it.

In this episode, we jam on:

1. Why founder-led Sales is the unreplicable unlock. What actually breaks momentum when founders step out of sales too early, and why no hire, system, or playbook replaces founder conviction in the market.

2. How to avoid ego sabotaging scaling.
Why Wes stopped trying to be everywhere, do everything, and “prove” himself and how leverage only shows up once ego steps aside.

3. Why chaos isn’t a leadership failure at $1–$10M.
How growth creates disorder and what happens when founders design for chaos instead of reacting to it.

4. The trap of “I’ll deal with life later.”
How Wes built rules around family, health, and energy and why burning your personal capacity eventually burns your business too.

Meet Our Guest
Wes Mathews is the CEO and Co-Founder of Stealth. He’s a founder, operator, and growth strategist who built his previous company, High Level Marketing, from scratch and helped scale it to over $20M before a successful exit.

He’s now building again from zero with Stealth Consulting, approaching $3M in ARR in just two years by helping companies eliminate chaos through strategy, execution, and accountability. Wes is also the host of the Entrepreneur Intel podcast and a father of five who believes business should fuel life — not consume it.

Meet Our Host
Josh Linkner is a rare blend of business, art, and science.

He's the New York Times bestselling author of four books, and widely regarded as one of the world's foremost innovation and leadership experts. On the business front, he’s been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which created over 10,000 jobs and sold for a combined value of over $200 million.

He’s also the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā Venture Partners — an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies. Over the last 30 years, he’s helped over 100 startups launch and scale, creating over $1 billion of investor returns.

While proud of his business success, his roots are in the dangerous world of jazz music. He’s been playing guitar in smoky jazz clubs for 40 years and has performed nearly 2,000 concerts around the world.

Meet Mudita
Website: muditavp.com
Escape Velocity: muditavp.com/escapevelocity
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/muditavp
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@MuditaVenturePartners

Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
01:30 - The origin story of Stealth
04:45 -"The Stealth Way" and scalable IP
08:15 - The meaning behind the "Stealth" name
11:45 - The Wes of 2009 vs. the Wes of today
15:00 - Surviving the brutal startup grind
17:30 - The power of complementary co-founders
20:45 - The future of Stealth and integrating AI into the business
23:15 - Why "Pirate Energy" is the ultimate indicator of founder success
26:00 - Real talk on work-life balance while raising five kids
29:30 - Advice to a 22-year-old founder
32:00 - Closing remarks