Strategy at Scale
Strategy at Scale is a podcast that cuts through contradictory business advice to deliver practical, proven strategies for scaling a business. Each week, the show interviews successful entrepreneurs and business builders across industries, extracting simple, high-impact strategic concepts. Listeners learn how to avoid costly missteps and implement systematic processes that fuel growth. The podcast is brought to you by Outthinker, Scaling Up, and Growth Institute.
Episodes
Why Copying Winners Fails: Dwayne J. Clark on Finding Real Business Edges
Dwayne J. Clark is the founder of Áegis Living, known for building a hospitality-first approach to senior care and a culture-led operating system. In this conversation, he shares the “black box” method he used to turn rejected ideas into real differentiation—and how purpose, community, and people practices became his growth engine.This episode is a practical playbook for leaders who want durable s
From $5M To $50M EBITDA: Brett Hickey’s Scale Checklist For Operators
Brett Hickey is the Founder and CEO of Star Mountain Capital, a multi-billion-dollar private investment firm focused on the U.S. lower middle market. Over more than two decades, Brett has built a specialized platform spanning private equity, private credit, and secondaries—backed by a clear philosophy: align incentives like owners, run strategy through probabilities, and build value where markets
Unconditional Power: Steven Gaffney’s 3-State Framework For High-Performing Teams
Steven Gaffney is a leadership advisor and author who helps teams perform under pressure through honest communication, change management, and practical leadership tools. Having advised leaders across Fortune 500 companies as well as government and military teams, Steven has seen firsthand that strategy doesn’t fail because teams lack intelligence—it fails because they operate in the wrong “mood,”
How Bill George Uses Authentic Leadership: Building Companies That Outlast Markets
Bill George is the former CEO and Chairman of Medtronic and a longtime professor at Harvard Business School. Starting from an early conviction that leadership had to mean more than chasing titles, he helped transform Medtronic from a 4,000-person medical device maker into a 30,000-person, purpose-driven global leader. Along the way he codified a playbook for “True North” leadership that combines c
From Booking.com To WeRoad: How Andrea D’Amico Built A €100M Community
Andrea D’Amico is the CEO of WeRoad, one of Europe’s fastest-growing travel companies, and former regional VP at Booking.com. After nearly two decades helping scale Booking.com from a 100-person startup to a 20,000-person global giant, he stepped back post-COVID to rethink what he actually wanted to build next. That reflection led him to WeRoad, now a €100M-revenue, pan-European community that has
Scaling With Purpose, Not Capital: How Brad Stevens Built Outsource Access
When growth gets real, strategy has to scale with it. In this conversation, we unpack a practical playbook with Brad Stevens—founder of Outsource Access—on turning constraints into capacity, and values into velocity, using a global-talent model anchored in culture, systems, and smart economics.From bootstrapping through a prior business crunch to building a Philippines-based team of full-time, ben
From Gas Station to CEO: How Shirin Behzadi Scaled a Multi-Brand Empire
What does it take to build—and sell—a thriving business born from resilience and clarity of purpose?Few stories capture it as powerfully as Shirin Behzadi’s.At 17, Shirin fled Iran alone during the revolution, arriving in the U.S. with little money and no family. She started as a gas station cashier—and eventually rose to become CEO of Home Franchise Concepts, the parent company behind Budget Blin
Spotting a Billion-Dollar Opportunity: Radek Sali on Turning Swisse into a Global Brand
What does it take to transform a small supplement company into a global wellness powerhouse valued at over $1 billion?Radek Sali has the answer.As CEO of Swisse Wellness, Radek led the company through one of Australia’s most remarkable growth stories—turning a niche vitamin brand into a household name through intuition, bold marketing, and a people-first culture. Where others focused on health cla
After the Idea: Julia Austin on Building Startups That Last
Most founders obsess over the spark of an idea—but the real test begins after the idea.Julia Austin knows this better than most. As an operator at Akamai, VMware, and DigitalOcean, an advisor to hundreds of startups, a faculty member at Harvard Business School, and now the author of After the Idea, she’s seen what truly drives sustainable growth.In this episode of Strategy at Scale, Julia challeng
From Startup to Significance: Brian Brault on Building Businesses That Matter
What does it take to build not just a successful business, but one that leaves a lasting impact? Brian Brault has done it multiple times—scaling, exiting, and reinventing ventures while staying anchored in purpose.A seasoned entrepreneur, former Global Chair of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), and founder of Legacy of Significance, Brian has guided leaders across industries to align vision, c
From $0 to $130B: How Kurt Miscinski Scaled Cerity Partners with Purpose
What does it take to build a firm that grows without losing its identity?Kurt Miscinski, co-founder and CEO of Cerity Partners, believes the answer lies in clarity of purpose, disciplined reinvestment, and redefining what partnership truly means. What began as a bold vision—to bring McKinsey-style professionalism and global scale to the wealth advisory space—has evolved into one of the industry’s
Unstoppable Entrepreneurs: Lori Rosenkopf on the 7 Paths to Scaling Impact
What if the key to scaling impact isn’t one bold idea—but a clear understanding of who you are as an entrepreneur?Lori Rosenkopf, Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship at the Wharton School, has spent decades mentoring more than 20,000 students, guiding startups, and redefining how we think about entrepreneurial success. In her new book, Unstoppable Entrepreneurs, she challenges the myth of the lone geniu
Built to Heal: Shaun Noorian on Scaling Empower Pharmacy Without Outside Capital
“Rule number one is: never give up. Success is always there. It’s just on a certain timeframe.”That’s the mindset behind Shaun Noorian’s journey—and it’s what powered the rise of Empower Pharmacy from a 100-square-foot rented exam room to a 340,000-square-foot, FDA-registered pharmaceutical operation with national reach.As founder and CEO of the largest 503A compounding pharmacy in the U.S., Shaun
Scaling from Within: Tushar Amin on Building a $2B Business Inside IBM
What does it take to build a $2 billion business—not from scratch, but from inside a legacy corporate giant?Tushar Amin has the answer.A seasoned strategy executive, Tushar led a transformative initiative within one of IBM’s most traditional business units—a flat-growth, high-margin division many saw as a cash cow. Where others saw constraints, he saw opportunity. By reframing IBM’s aging global i
Picking the Right Investors: Dave Whorton on Building a Company that Lasts
Dave Whorton has spent decades at the highest levels of Silicon Valley—working alongside industry legends at Kleiner Perkins, co-founding pioneering companies like drugstore.com and Good Technology, and eventually charting a different course with Tugboat Institute. His focus? Evergreen businesses—companies built to last, guided by purpose, and driven by sustainable growth.In this episode, Dave sha
From Vision to Execution: Sabrina Herrera on Scaling Brands That Last
Many founders dream of turning a big idea into a lasting company. Sabrina Herrera has done it—again and again.As part of the founding leadership at Genomma Lab, one of Mexico’s most successful pharmaceutical and personal care companies, she helped shape a brand known for category-defining products and direct-to-consumer innovation. Under her leadership, Genomma became the first in its industry to
Executing Fast, Thinking Slow: How Matt Wallach Scaled Veeva into a $2.75B Powerhouse
In this episode of Strategy at Scale, we sit down with Matt Wallach, co-founder of Veeva Systems, one of the most successful enterprise software companies in the life sciences industry. While many companies craft visionary strategy statements, Matt reveals why execution—not strategy—is what truly sets high-growth companies apart.You’ll hear how Veeva redefined cloud-based solutions for pharmaceuti
driversselect: How Steve Hall Found the Ignition Point to Disrupt the Used Car Industry
When I asked Verne Harnish, who he recommended we interview to gain insights into effective scaling strategies, Steve Hall was one of the first names he mentioned—and for good reason. As the founder of driversselect, Steve transformed the used car retail industry through innovative business practices and a strong organizational culture that drove exceptional performance. His journey culminated in
Positioning for the Perfect Exit: David McCombie’s Playbook for Maximizing Business Value
Selling a business is one of the most significant strategic decisions an entrepreneur can make. But how do you ensure that you're maximizing your company's value when it's time to exit? David McCombie, founder of McCombie Group and author of Selling Your Business with Confidence: A Practical Playbook for Mid-Market Owners, has spent the last 15 years advising business owners on stru
Cracking your Monetization Model: How Charlie Horn Unlocked a Billion-Dollar Industry to Scale ScriptSave
Charlie Horn’s journey from entrepreneur to industry disruptor is a masterclass in strategic scaling. As the founder of ScriptSave, he revolutionized consumer access to prescription drug savings, transforming a simple idea into a billion-dollar business. Today, through 5Lights Group, he continues to champion emerging ventures that challenge the status quo.A core challenge in scaling any business i
The Strategic Pivot: How Arbill's CEO Julie Copeland Revolutionized Workplace Safety
Julie Copeland’s journey to becoming CEO of Arbill is one of transformation, resilience, and strategic reinvention. Founded in 1945 by her grandfather as a laundry business for industrial gloves, Arbill evolved into a leader in workplace safety solutions.Julie grew up witnessing both the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship, with her father navigating a difficult path and her mother ch
Ordinary to Exceptional: Leadership Lessons from Serial Entrepreneur Brian Scudamore
Brian Scudamore is a founder, serial entrepreneur, and pioneer of the professional junk hauling industry. As the founder and CEO of O2E Brands - which stands for Ordinary to Exceptional – he's built not just one successful company, but three: 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, WOW 1 DAY PAINTING, and Shack Shine. A recipient of Fortune's Small Business Best Bosses Award and a three-time winner of their Be
Mastering Channel Strategy: Lessons from Bumble Bee Foods, Hershey, Kellogg's, P&G, and Starbucks Executive Connie Shepherd
Many rapidly scaled companies won through channel strategy – finding or creating a new path to customers. Consider: Dell – Sold directly to consumers, bypassing traditional retailers. Salesforce – Delivered CRM via the cloud, avoiding on-premise installations. Apple – Opened its own stores, reducing dependence on third-party retailers. Amazon – Created an online marketplace, disrupting physical re
Neil Balter: How a Teenage Carpenter Created an Entire Industry
In 1978, Neil Balter was a 17-year-old carpenter with a knack for building things, but what he would end up building was an entirely new industry. As the founder of California Closets, Neil transformed the way we think about organizing spaces, pioneering an industry that didn’t even exist when he started. But while his story begins with some shelves in a neighbor’s closet, what truly set him apart
The Secrets Behind Building a Powerful Brand with Naomi Simson
Naomi Simson is a corporate marketer and the founder of RedBalloon, an online powerhouse – the largest experience network in Australia and New Zealand. Think Amazon or Etsy or Alibaba but not just for physical things, rather for experiences. She was also a judge on the Australian version of Shark Tank and is the author of Live What You Love: When Passion And Purpose Change Your Life. Her insights
Building a Pharmacy Giant: Strategic Insights from Jack Gance
Australian businessman and the visionary founder of Chemist Warehouse, Jack Gance began his career as a pharmacist with a single store in 1972, but his innovative approach and strategic acumen quickly led to the creation of a pharmacy distribution empire. He is known for creating the Le Specs, Le Tan, Australis, and Colours of Australia brands of sunglasses, sunscreen, fragrances, and cosmetics, w
