In this episode of How I Started, host Andrew Kappel interviews Matt Bolian, co-founder of Supered, a platform focused on transforming service delivery for HubSpot partners and beyond. Matt shares his unique journey from West Point graduate and military intelligence officer to revenue operations leader, agency founder, and now tech entrepreneur.

Matt dives into the lessons learned from his time in the military, including pattern recognition, decision-making under uncertainty, and leadership in high-stakes environments—skills that later shaped his approach to RevOps and business consulting. He talks about launching and scaling RevPartners, one of the fastest-growing HubSpot partner agencies, and the insights that led him to create Supered. The conversation covers tech-enabled service delivery, the challenges of scaling service businesses, and his goal of building a $100 million company without VC funding.

Takeaways

- Military training in prioritization, failure, and pattern recognition directly influenced Matt’s approach to business problem-solving.

- Transitioning from the Army to private sector tech required learning the differences between project management and RevOps leadership.

- His experience integrating ERP and CRM systems sparked his interest in RevOps consulting.

- Founding RevPartners demonstrated the power of operational efficiency and outcome-based consulting models.

- The limitations of scaling service companies led to the creation of Supered, focused on increasing delivery capacity per head.

- Supered aims to enable next-gen HubSpot partners by offering tech-enabled solutions that enhance service quality and partner profitability.

- Matt emphasizes bootstrapping and maintaining control and ownership as a key part of his long-term strategy.

- Mentorship, adaptability, and lifelong learning are recurring themes in Matt’s career evolution.

- His vision includes expanding Supered beyond HubSpot partners to end users, targeting $100 million in revenue.

Chapters

00:00 – Introduction to Matt Bolian and His Career Journey

01:11 – West Point, Leadership Training, and Early Lessons

03:24 – Becoming a Military Intelligence Officer: Pattern Recognition and Predictions

07:08 – Forecasting, Decision-Making, and High-Stakes Scenarios

09:00 – Six Years in the Army: Command Roles and Multinational Logistics

10:56 – Transitioning from Military to Civilian Tech: A Rough Start

12:24 – Chief of Staff at C Spire: Entering RevOps and Channel Management

14:55 – Revenue Systems, M&A Integration, and Building Processes

17:36 – Moving to PE-Backed Companies and Running Business Ops

20:04 – Founding RevPartners: Standardizing on HubSpot

22:17 – Rapid Growth and SaaS-Like Scaling in an Agency Model

23:50 – The Challenges of Service Delivery and Client Experience

25:15 – Birth of Supered: Increasing Capacity Without Adding Headcount

27:01 – Building the Next Generation of Elite HubSpot Partners

28:50 – Long-Term Vision: Serving End Users and Scaling to $100 Million

29:38 – Bootstrapping Supered and Building a Winning Culture

30:02 – Where to Find Matt: LinkedIn and Supered.io

Keyword

RevOps, Revenue Operations, HubSpot, CRM, Service Delivery, SaaS, Entrepreneurship, Military Leadership, Business Operations, Process Optimization, Private Equity, Tech Consulting, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Pattern Recognition, Forecasting, ERP Systems, Agency Scaling, Bootstrapping, Supered, RevPartners, Channel Management, SaaS Growth, Leadership Development, Mentorship, Service Innovation, End Users, HubSpot Partners, Scaling Service Businesses

Connect with Matt on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewbolian/

Supered Website: https://www.supered.io

Questions or Guest Ideas? Contact the Host Andrew Kappel on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkappel/⁠