In this episode of Founders Future, host Ammar Elm sits down with Jennifer DiMotta, co-founder of Uprisors, a leadership and transformation company dedicated to helping e-commerce founders scale their businesses strategically. With over 20 years of experience growing multi-billion dollar omni-channel brands like Hayneedle (sold to Walmart) and Sports Authority, Jennifer shares her journey from corporate e-commerce pioneer to empowering founders—especially women—to break through plateaus and scale profitably. She reveals why most founders fail when hiring their first executive team, how to diagnose stagnation (slowing sales, eroding profits), and her proven framework for taking brands from $5M to $50M+ by avoiding costly mistakes she’s already made.

Jennifer dives into Uprisors’ unique approach—combining deep financial analysis with hands-on operational guidance—and why referrals alone won’t sustain growth (hint: cold outreach is their next frontier). She shares hard-won advice for 2025 entrepreneurs: “Never assume anyone wants your product—test relentlessly with your network first” and warns against the myth of “easy” entrepreneurship (“You’ll work nights and weekends to build momentum”). For founders feeling stuck, she offers a lifeline: “Plateaus are solvable—if you’re willing to rethink leadership, spending, and your own role in the business.”v