Episode Summary:

In this episode of Start. Scale. Exit., Ivan Galvez sits down with Anthony Garcia, combat veteran and CEO of Purepost, to unpack the intense journey of transitioning from military service to startup life. With raw honesty, Anthony shares how trauma, perseverance, and a deep desire to serve others led him to build Purepost, a workforce platform helping veterans and civilians translate their skills into meaningful careers.

Anthony opens up about battling PTSD, attending Cornell Business School, and the hard lessons learned from failed ventures. From protecting intellectual property to building fast with limited resources, he outlines the key insights that every SaaS founder, especially those from nontraditional paths, should know.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Why dealing with PTSD gave Anthony clarity and urgency in business
• The overlooked struggle veterans face in translating military experience into civilian careers
• What made him walk away from his first startup—and how it shaped Purepost
• The “build fast or die slow” philosophy of early-stage SaaS startups
• How Purepost turns military records into job-ready resumes in seconds
• Fundraising lessons: from angel investors to surviving investor ghosting
• Why protecting your IP is mission-critical before pitching anything
• What veterans bring to entrepreneurship that most founders miss
• How to balance urgency with mental health as a solo founder
• Why Anthony believes your mission should be bigger than the product

💡 Golden Nugget:

“Speed is a weapon. When you’re small, broke, and bootstrapped, perfect is the enemy. You have to move—because no one’s coming to save you.”

Mentioned in the Episode:

• Purepost.co – Anthony’s company helping translate military skills to civilian careers
• Cornell University – Where Anthony studied business post-military
• Resources for veterans coping with PTSD and transitioning into the workforce

Connect with Anthony Garcia:

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/anthonyrgarciajr
• Website: purepost.co

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Episode Summary:

In this episode of Start. Scale. Exit., Ivan Galvez sits down with Bill Stathopoulos, CEO of SalesCaptain, Clay London, Club Lead, Top Lemlist Partner, and a go-to expert for building B2B outbound systems that work. Bill shares how he took a startup from just $200/month in revenue to over $1M using cold email, laser-focused ICPs, and scalable outbound frameworks.

Together, they dig into the architecture of great outbound: what founders get wrong, how to build campaigns that convert, and why most early-stage companies don’t fail from a lack of effort, but from poor targeting and messaging. Bill also opens up about how childhood Lego-building turned into a lifelong obsession with scalable systems, team building, and long-term thinking.

If you’re a founder or GTM leader looking to replace founder-led selling, scale your sales motion, or unlock outbound at a whole new level—this conversation is packed with tactical insight and grounded inspiration.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• How Bill scaled a startup from $200 to $1M+ in revenue using outbound only
• Why great outbound = targeting × messaging × deliverability
• The mistake most founders make when they send cold emails
• How AI and automation tools like Clay are reshaping outbound
• The truth about “done-for-you” outbound—and why frameworks matter more than tools
• What it takes to scale sales without scaling burnout
• The critical role of early systems in reducing founder dependency
• Why outbound start before your product is even ready
• The power of personal purpose in long-term startup building
• How to build, test, and scale outbound like a product

💡 Golden Nugget:

“Outbound isn’t about being louder—it’s about being more precise. You don’t need more leads. You need the right ones, with the right message, at the right time.”

Mentioned in the Episode:

• Website: salescaptain.io/?ref=linkedin
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/billstath
• Clay – Bill's favorite data enrichment and automation tool
• Lemlist – Cold email platform of choice for high-performance outbound

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Episode Summary:

In this episode of Start. Scale. Exit., Ivan Galvez sits down with Justin Andrews, Co-Founder and CEO of REUZEit Technologies, to unpack how he turned the complex world of surplus lab equipment into a powerful circular economy platform.

What started as a niche resale operation has grown into a scalable SaaS and Hardware as-a-Service (HaaS) model powered by AI and human insight. Justin walks us through the real story of REUZEit from being their first customer to building out the supply side before even touching demand. If you’ve ever wondered how to digitize a service business, bootstrap through chaos, or build a profitable company by fixing your problems, this one’s for you.

Together, they explore how circularity isn’t just good for the planet, but great for business when paired with tech, operational depth, and a relentless focus on solving real problems.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Why most marketplace startups fail and how REUZEit beat the odds
• The power of being your first client
• Why automation only works if you’ve lived the manual pain first
• How to grow responsibly without overhiring or chasing hype
• The role of AI in lifecycle management, and why humans still matter
• Why SaaS came after the service and why that order saved them
• How to productize operations into scalable tech
• What sustainable profitability looks like in hardware-heavy industries
• Lessons from bootstrapping: when to reinvest vs. when to breathe
• Why REUZEit is betting big on the circular economy and winning

💡 Golden Nugget:

“Circularity isn’t just about sustainability, it’s about extracting full value from every asset. We’re not just moving equipment; we’re moving businesses toward better margins and better habits.”

Mentioned in the Episode:

• reuzeit.com/videos – Explore REUZEit’s lifecycle platform
• LinkedIn: Justin Andrews – Follow and connect with Justin
• REUZEit’s Hardware-as-a-Service platform (HaaS)

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Episode Summary:

In this episode of Start. Scale. Exit. Ivan Galvez sits down with Heather Hall, Founder & CEO of Sapphire CFO Solutions and a seasoned fintech executive, to unpack what it really takes to build a resilient business, from financial chaos to strategic clarity. Drawing from her unconventional background in anthropology, high-stakes fintech ventures, and her work as a strategic CFO, Heather shares hard-earned insights on what founders get wrong about finance and how to fix it before it’s too late.

Together, they dive into the real reasons startups fail (hint: it's not just funding), why financial storytelling matters just as much as metrics, and how founders can move from reactive to intentional when it comes to growth.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Why skipping a basic budget is one of the most expensive mistakes early-stage founders make
• How Heather went from anthropology to Silicon Valley builder to fintech co-founder
• What every startup should track monthly even before generating revenue
• Why “cash runway” matters more than revenue in your first year
• How to prepare for fundraising and the investor red flags to avoid
• The role of a fractional CFO and when to bring one in
• How to avoid premature hiring and financial overreach
• Why real financial leadership means visibility, not just spreadsheets
• How to blend empathy and data to scale smarter
• Why a mission aligned financial strategy is a founder’s superpower

💡 Golden Nugget:

"Startups don’t die because of a lack of funding—they die from a lack of financial clarity. You don’t need a 40-page model. You need to know what you’re spending, what’s working, and what’s not."

Mentioned in the Episode:

• sapphirecfosolutions.com – Heather’s fractional CFO firm for SaaS & tech startups
• “Cash Is Queen” – Heather’s upcoming workshop series on financial fluency and founder readiness
• Google Sheets – Still the most underrated startup survival tool

Connect with Heather Hall:

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/heatherhallcpa
• Website: https://www.sapphirecfosolutions.com/

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Episode Summary:

In this episode of Start. Scale. Exit. Ivan Galvez sits down with Michael Cioni, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and CEO of Strada, to unpack the raw, often unglamorous truths of startup life—and why the best founders aren’t just builders, but storytellers, recruiters, and creative survivors.

Michael shares the journey of Strada’s transformation from an AI-powered video enrichment engine to a reimagined, peer-to-peer media platform. When soaring cloud costs threatened the company’s survival, he and his team made the bold decision to pivot toward local-first architecture, anchoring their mission in practicality, performance, and user experience.

More than just a founder’s tale, this episode dives deep into the emotional and tactical realities of innovation. Michael explains the difference between “going wide” vs. “going deep,” how creative tools like Keynote outperform whiteboards for long-term thinking, and why the most overlooked founder skill is the ability to make people want to take risks with you.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Why cloud-based workflows broke Strada’s model—and what came next
• The “go wide” vs. “go deep” framework for product development
• Why hosting public launch events can accelerate internal innovation
• How Strada’s team uses Keynote decks to keep ideas evolving over time
• The emotional truth of passion: it’s not ambition—it’s suffering
• Why founder loneliness is real, and what to do about it
• How to lead through chaos while protecting both product and people
• The real difference between building for engineers vs. building for editors
• Why recruitment—not product—is the defining skill of visionary founders

💡 Golden Nugget:

“Founders don’t just need to be resilient—they need to be magnetic. If no one wants to suffer alongside you, your idea will die on the vine.”

Mentioned in the Episode:

• Strada – The future of media collaboration
• Frame.io – Cloud-based video collaboration platform
• Light Iron – Post-production creative services
• NAB Show – Strada’s official public debut
• Keynote – Used by the Strada team as a living whiteboard

Connect with Michael Cioni:

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michaelcioni
• Website: strada.tech

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Episode Summary:

In this episode of Start. Scale. Exit., Ivan Galvez sits down with Madhu Basu, founder and CEO of Unnanu, to unpack a powerful journey from humble beginnings in India to building a cutting-edge AI recruiting platform in the U.S. Madhu shares how his early ventures—including a childhood vegetable packing business, taught him resourcefulness, resilience, and the importance of people over paper.

Together, they explore how rejection, self-doubt, and industry disillusionment led Madhu to develop a radically new approach to hiring—one that uses AI to uncover not just what candidates have done, but why they’ve done it. Madhu delves into how Unnanu mimics human understanding to eliminate guesswork, bias, and inefficiency from the recruiting process.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Why failing college was a gift and how it taught Madhu to rethink success
• How bootstrapping built more discipline than chasing early VC money
• The symbolism of water, a pen, and money in Madhu’s entrepreneurial mindset
• Why resumes don’t tell the full story and how AI can read between the lines
• The hidden bias in traditional hiring pipelines and how Unnanu addresses it
• How to lead with purpose while building with precision
• Why hiring is broken—and how trust, data, and design can fix it
• How to protect your “why” even when others don’t believe in your vision
• What Madhu learned about business from watching life in motion in India
• Why transparency and timing matter more than titles and funding

💡 Golden Nugget:

“Failure gave me the clarity that success never could. When you strip everything away, what remains is your why. That’s what you build from.”

Mentioned in the Episode:

🌐 Unnanu.com – AI-powered talent platform for modern hiring

🌐 PMCSservices.com – IT & staffing solutions for enterprise clients

🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/madhubasu

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Episode Summary:

In this episode of Start. Scale. Exit., Ivan Galvez sits down with Chumze Chukwudebeluze, author of Business as a Baby and startup strategist, to unpack the real—and often painful—truths behind building a company from scratch. Drawing on lived experience, Chumze outlines the essential mindset shifts and team structures entrepreneurs need at every stage of growth—from chaotic beginnings to corporate maturity.

Together, they explore why many early-stage founders fail not from bad ideas, but from misaligned hires, overconfidence, and poor timing. Chumze offers his powerful framework for understanding a business like a human lifecycle: baby, toddler, teen, and adult—each stage requiring different leadership styles, team dynamics, and survival strategies.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Why impatience is the biggest killer of baby-stage startups
• The danger of hiring Fortune 500 execs too early—and what kind of team you really need
• How to find the right co-founders to complement your skill gaps
• What founders should look for in a technical partner before building a SaaS product
• Why process, accountability, and emotional maturity are key in the teen stage of business
• The four stages of business growth—and the single trait that kills companies at each one
• Why every leader needs to ask (and be asked): “Are you OK?”
• How to lead through crisis without emotionally derailing your team
• The real job of a founder: protecting your vision and your people
• Why faith, family, and a solid team are Chumze’s ultimate support system

💡 Golden Nugget:

“Know the stage your business is in—and don’t act like an adult when your startup is still crawling. Impatience kills more dreams than failure ever will.”

Mentioned in the Episode:

• BusinessasaBaby.com – Chumze’s book & resources
• thechumeffect.com/  – Book consultations and resources
• Business as a Baby – Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook
• Giveaway: First 5 LinkedIn commenters get a free copy of the book
• Sponsor: Sintesys.com – Helping SaaS founders build and scale tech platforms

Connect with Chumze Chukwudebeluze:

• LinkedIn:linkedin.com/in/chumze
• Website: thechumeffect.com/

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In this episode of Start. Scale. Exit. Ivan Galvez sits down with Justin Lokitz, business model strategist, author, and founder of DesignShift. With years of experience helping startups, scale-ups, and Fortune 500 companies innovate and grow, Justin delivers a masterclass on what truly drives startup success—and what kills it.

Together, they break down the journey from idea to exit, exploring why creating value, not chasing money, is the core of startup success. Justin dives deep into the traps of premature scaling, the danger of losing focus, and how to distinguish between tactics and strategy. He shares hard-earned lessons from his own ventures, including the perils of doing too much, too fast—and how the most effective founders are those who play to their strengths.

• Why clarity of value creation is more important than fast growth or wide product offerings
• How a vague or constantly shifting strategy can quietly kill a company even after profitability
• The crucial difference between vision, strategy, and tactics—and how to align them
• Real talk on the cost of chasing every customer feature request in SaaS
• The power of sticking with one lane and going deep, instead of broad
• Why many founders fail financially at exit—not from lack of product value, but from lack of operational clarity
• The truth about VC investment: They’re betting on focus, not dreams
• How to build a business that fits your founder type—not someone else’s playbook

💡 Golden Nugget:

“Stick to your strengths. Focus on what you do best—and surround yourself with people who can do the rest.”

Mentioned in the Episode:

• DesignShift.me — Justin’s content platform and innovation newsletter
• Book: Dune by Frank Herbert (for visionaries and sci-fi lovers)
• Company: Autodesk (Justin’s early PM experience)
• Accelerator: Berkeley SkyDeck
• Tools: MVPs, business model design frameworks, customer interviews

• LinkedIn
• Email: [email protected]
• Websites justinlokitz.com (Personal) and plantfully.com (Company)

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In this episode of Start. Scale. Exit., Ivan Galvez speaks with Nick Manzek, co-founder of Elomia, an AI-powered mental health companion designed to increase access to emotional support around the world. Nick shares Elomia’s journey from early prototypes built in Ukraine to today’s scalable, clinically-informed product. Together, they explore the unique challenges of breaking two stigmas at once—AI and mental health—and what it takes to build a company rooted in mission, not hype.

Nick also gets personal about his own mental health journey, why it fuels his leadership, and what founders must ask themselves before switching products or giving up too soon.

• Why AI-powered mental health tools must be built differently than general chatbots like ChatGPT
• The importance of mission-driven design when creating solutions in high-stakes industries like mental health
• What it means to “stick with it” when building something users don’t love… yet
• Why passion for your customer, not just the product, matters for long-term founder resilience
• How physical activity, sleep, and deep relationships keep Nick grounded as a founder
• Real lessons from scrapping a project too early—only to see it succeed later… without them

“Are you passionate about the customer you serve? If not, you’ll give up too soon.”

• Elomia.com — AI mental health companion
• Tools: Cursor, Lovable (AI-powered no-code development)
• Book: Pasta (in honor of Nick’s Italian grandmother and comfort food as emotional grounding)

• LinkedIn
• Email: [email protected]
• Find Elomia on the App Store or at elomia.com

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In this episode of Start. Scale. Exit., Ivan Galvez interviews Harrison Telyan, co-founder of FlowGlad, an open-source payments and billing platform built with developers in mind. Harrison shares how his journey started by redesigning apps in high school, how a cold Imgur redesign earned him a job, and why testing profitably is more valuable than raising capital. He walks us through building products post-YC, bootstrapping FlowGlad with cashflow from his design firm Numi, and what it means to build high-trust, high-performance teams without falling into the “yes-man” trap.

Whether you're early-stage, scaling, or just refining your monetization engine—this episode is packed with real-world startup frameworks, founder psychology, and actionable advice.

• Why selling before building is the golden rule of modern startup validation
• How to test ideas profitably and avoid building the wrong thing
• Why FlowGlad chose to be open source and bootstrap instead of chasing VCs
• Lessons learned from growing design agency Numi to $2M ARR
• How travel and taste-building (e.g. museums!) improve product design judgment
• Why hiring based on urgency, clarity, and values is more scalable than resumes

“We developed an allergic reaction to building before selling. Test profitably. Validate with real conversations, then build.”

• FlowGlad — Open-source billing and payments for developers
• Numi.tech — Startup design department-as-a-service
• M-Pesa — The mobile payments system that inspired global innovation
• Book: Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• Favorite App: Robinhood — Best-in-class product design meets investment tech

• LinkedIn
• FlowGlad.com
• Join the FlowGlad Discord

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