Tech-Entrepreneur on a Mission Podcast

Latest Episodes:

#409 – How Renaud Charvet chose ownership over speed — and made Ringover impossible to copy Jun 24, 2026

Show notes

A story about what compounds when you don't take the shortcut.

This episode is for sales-led SaaS founders who invested to grow fast but now realize they forgot to grow their differentiation.

Most software companies buy speed — they build on someone else's foundation — and never count the cost. Renaud Charvet, co-founder and US CEO of Ringover, took the opposite path. He started in 2005 selling cheap international calls, watched Skype and WhatsApp kill that business, and built something new from scratch. Bootstrapped for fifteen years, then raised to expand — and moved his family to the US to make it work. He's never once taken the shortcut.

And this inspired me to invite Renaud to my podcast. We explore how choosing ownership over speed creates an edge competitors can't copy. Renaud shares how he thinks about what's worth owning, where to focus, and what actually makes customers stay. You'll discover why the slow, expensive choice compounded into something no shortcut could match.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Aim to be different, not just better – Acknowledge you cannot please everyone

Renaud's journey proves remarkable companies don't copy the playbook — they own what others rent and let the advantage compound.

Here's one of Renaud's quotes that captures how he thinks about building an edge:

"Focus — it might feel slower in the short term, but it compounds much faster in the long term."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

What you give up the day you build on someone else's stack
What changes when you stop selling features and start selling outcomes
What he did when the US market ignored him
Why the customers easiest to win are the ones who leave

For more information about the guest from this week:

Guest: Renaud Charvet, co-founder and US CEO of Ringover

Website: ringover.com

#408 – How Stan Markuze refused the me-too game and made buying a no-brainer Jun 17, 2026

Show notes

A story about choosing the one thing no competitor would copy.

This episode is for sales-led SaaS founders stuck in a crowded category, wondering how to escape the price-and-features war

In a crowded category, most founders just try to win it. Stan Markuze, CEO of Balance, did something else. Five companies in, with two auto-tech exits and a decade in real estate, he'd seen what a price war looks like. So when seven companies were selling the same treasury tool, he refused to be the seventh.

And this inspired me to invite Stan to my podcast. We explore how refusing to compete on everyone else's terms creates an edge no rival can copy. Stan shares why he walked away from a feature-and-price war, and what turns a quiet user into a vocal one. You'll discover what happened to his sales cycle once buying his product stopped being a debate.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Aim to be different, not just better – Turn customers into fans

Stan's story proves remarkable companies don't fight harder inside the category—they change what they get measured on.

Here's one of Stan's quotes that captures how he thinks about the standard SaaS model:

"We turned the business model upside down. Usually, you pay an annual SaaS fee for a treasury management product. What we do is, if people sweep cash through our platform, for those who sweep a certain threshold, we would actually give them the treasury management system at no cost, because we're able to monetize the automatic sweeps."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

Why removing friction you can't see beats chasing growth you can
What makes an ROI concrete enough to close on the first call
Why the metric you stop tracking matters as much as the one you keep
How a tight niche turns happy customers into a referral flywheel

For more information about the guest from this week:

Guest: Stan Markuze, CEO of Balance

Website: balancecash.io

#407 – How Martin Gourdeau refused the commodity race and added $1M ARR in 9 months Jun 10, 2026

Show notes

A story about choosing the harder fight on purpose.

This episode is for SaaS founders wondering why adding more features to their niche product isn't creating the edge it used to.

Most niche SaaS races to add features—and wonders why margins shrink.

Martin Gourdeau, CEO of Vacation Tracker, took a different path. After running Workleap as President and GM, he took a year off to study what's actually changing in software—then chose a 22-person bootstrapped company over another large stage.

And he didn't pick Vacation Tracker by accident. He picked it because he believes the next wave of software will be won by a very different kind of company.

And this inspired me to invite Martin to my podcast. We explore what he saw in that year off—and why it shaped a very different bet on what wins next. Martin shares why a small bootstrapped company now has an edge most large companies will never get back, why he changed the one number that decides when his whole team gets a raise, and what kind of SaaS he thinks AI will quietly destroy.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Aim to be different, not just better – Create NEW value possibilities

Martin's journey proves that the next wave of remarkable software companies won't look like the last.

Here's something Martin observed that explains where he thinks the real opportunity sits:

"High performers are notoriously bad at managing their energy levels because of this obsession to perform."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

Why most SaaS companies are competing in the wrong layer
Why ARR-per-head changes the behavior of every employee
What high performers get wrong about their own energy
Why delegation to agents is the skill most leaders lack

For more information about the guest from this week:

Guest: Martin Gourdeau, CEO of Vacation Tracker

Website: https://vacationtracker.io

#406 – How Chad Gaydos chose fit over TAM and doubled deal sizes in 12 months Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

A story about asking the question many CEOs avoid—and finding real money.

This episode is for SaaS CEOs with a nagging feeling that their growth isn't compounding the way it should.

Most CEOs chase market size. And miss what actually matters.

Chad Gaydos, CEO of Procurify, took a different path. With 30 years across SAP, Skillsoft, Talkdesk, and Total Expert, he's learned that growth isn't about how big the market is—it's about how well you fit it. When he took the CEO seat in January 2025, he asked a question most operators skip: Is there a real use case here—or just a big number?

And this inspired me to invite Chad to my podcast. We explore why use-case fit—not market size—is what actually compounds growth. Chad shares why his first move was repositioning the entire company, why the product was being sold to the wrong customers, and why saying yes to the wrong customer is more expensive than saying no.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Master the art of curiosity – Acknowledge you cannot please everyone

Chad's journey proves that remarkable companies don't grow by chasing markets—they grow by reading them differently than everyone else.

Here's one of Chad's quotes that captures how he reads markets:

"What drew me wasn't procurement per se. It was really what was going on in this last category of the Office of the CFO. I felt like it hadn't been written yet."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

Why use-case fit beats TAM size
What happens when pricing finally matches the value you deliver
When the first 90 days demand subtraction, not addition
How to make hard decisions without committee paralysis

For more information about the guest from this week:

Guest: Chad Gaydos, CEO of Procurify

Website: https://www.procurify.com

#405 – Burak Karakan, CEO of Bruin - On the cost of trying to please everyone May 27, 2026

Show notes

A story about an opinionated founder, the customers he turns away, and the ones who stay.

This episode is for SaaS founders quietly wondering whether trying to be a fit for every buyer is what's slowing them down.

Most founders think the goal is to be a fit for as many buyers as possible. Burak Karakan, Co-founder and CEO of Bruin, runs his company on the opposite belief. A former engineering manager at HelloFresh, he built an opinionated product — and he's at peace with the buyers who walk away because of it.

And this inspired me to invite Burak to my podcast. We explore why being opinionated on purpose creates focus, speed, and the right kind of customer base. Burak shares his thinking on the question that qualifies a buyer in five minutes, why he hires juniors over seniors right now, and what happened when his team stopped tracking competitors altogether. You'll discover why he turns down deals that other founders would take.

We also zoom in on three of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Acknowledge you cannot please everyone – Aim to be different, not just better – Master the art of curiosity

Burak's journey proves that remarkable companies don't try to be a fit for everyone — they hold their position, and the right customers find them because of it.

Here's one of Burak's quotes that captures his thinking:

"It's unbelievable to me that engineers think they are there just to build stuff. No, you're there to solve problems, and sometimes solving that problem will especially require you to not build something."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

Why opinionated products attract better customers than agreeable ones
What question reveals whether a buyer is a real fit in five minutes
When ignoring your competitors becomes your sharpest strategic move
Why hiring juniors right now beats hiring seniors

For more information about the guest from this week:

Guest: Burak Karakan, Co-founder & CEO of Bruin

Website: https://getbruin.com

#404 – How Tim Barker proved the software org chart is now optional May 20, 2026

Show notes

A story about rebuilding how a company runs from the ground up.

This podcast is for SaaS founders wondering whether the playbook they've been running is still enough to keep their edge.

Most software CEOs scale by hiring. Few question that.

Tim Barker, CEO of Attain IP, walked away from the obvious next move. After scaling Salesforce in EMEA, leading DataSift through Twitter's data shutdown, and running a public mental health platform for five years, he turned down PE roles and board seats to start over. New company, new market — white-box AI for patent attorneys. But the real bet wasn't the market. It was the build: five people, no functional org, agents doing the work a department used to. That's the choice I wanted to understand.

This inspired me to invite Tim to my podcast. We dig into how the operating model of a software company gets rebuilt when one person can run what used to take a department. Tim shares his thinking on why products should be bought not sold, why trust is now a measurable input, and why the obvious next move is rarely the remarkable one.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies:

Sell the idea, not the product
Master the art of curiosity

Tim's story proves that remarkable companies don't follow the obvious playbook—they question the foundations everyone else takes for granted and build what works now.

Here's one of Tim's quotes that captures how his definition of a winning product has shifted:

"There's no MVP in our world, in our vocabulary. It's replaced by the minimum magical product. Magical products drive word of mouth, and our North Star is: once I've used it, I'm never going back."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

Why systems beat super prompts in any AI-first business
What separates products people buy from products you have to sell
Why trust is a measurable input, not just a brand value
Why uncomfortable choices teach faster than comfortable ones

For more information about the guest from this week:

Guest: Tim Barker, CEO at Attain IP

Website: attainip.ai

#403 – Why Amos Bar-Joseph rejected the playbook every unicorn ran May 13, 2026

Show notes

A story about questioning the play itself—not the execution.

For SaaS founders quietly wondering whether their next round will fix what the last one didn't.

Most founders who fail try harder the next time.

Amos Bar-Joseph, co-founder and CEO of Swan, took a different path. Three-time founder. Two prior B2B startups built on the unicorn growth-at-all-costs playbook—both ended in failure. On the third one, he didn't tighten his execution. He rejected the play—and reached seven figures in ARR in just nine weeks.

And this inspired me to invite Amos to my podcast. We explore why questioning the playbook creates a different kind of edge. Amos shares the thinking behind scaling talent first, not headcount—why mental capacity is the bottleneck, why knowledge has to become software, why meetings and alignment calls are the real cost of scale.

We also zoom in on three of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Aim to be different, not just better – Master the art of curiosity – Focus on the essence

Amos's journey proves that remarkable companies don't follow consensus—they question what everyone else accepts and walk away from it.

Here's one of Amos's quotes that captures his philosophy on how a business should be built:

"We're scaling our talent inside the company so we can discover what does it look like the 100x version of an engineer, the 100x product, the 100x seller, the 100x marketeer. [...] A business that is designed from the ground up to scale its employees, not a business that employees are designed to scale the business."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

Why convention is the fastest path to mediocrity in software
What changes when revenue per employee becomes your North Star metric
Why mental capacity is the real bottleneck, not headcount
Why knowledge has to live in the system, not the team

For more information about the guest from this week:

Guest: Amos Bar-Joseph, Co-founder & CEO of Swan

Website: https://www.getswan.com

#402 – How Joseph Lee refused to outspend his rivals — and outgrew them anyway May 06, 2026

Show notes

A story about advantages that capital cannot buy.

This episode is for SaaS founders who are watching better-funded rivals raise round after round—and questioning whether outspending is really the only way to win.

Most founders chase scale before they've earned the right. Joseph Lee, CEO of Supademo, took a different path. After six years and several pivots in his previous company, he started Supademo in early 2023 with a bootstrap mindset—even after raising. He did the gritty work that bigger competitors refused to do, and shared every harsh lesson in public from day one.

The result: mid-seven-figure ARR — built by a team of 11.

And this inspired me to invite Joseph to my podcast. We explore why founder-led grit beats capital when capital is everywhere. Joseph shares why he stopped tracking twenty metrics to focus on three, and why he believes 99% of a startup's momentum has nothing to do with the founder. You'll discover what happens when the smaller player chooses the work the bigger players won't touch.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies:

Turn customers into fans
Master creating momentum

Joseph's journey proves that remarkable companies don't outspend competitors—they build flywheels competitors can't buy.

Here's one of his quotes:

"You need to build the right levers into your business where you're riding the momentum of the market or momentum of the product. We're not doing as much like hand-to-hand combat."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

Why structural market dynamics drive 99% of a startup's momentum
What makes 100 early customers more valuable than 10,000 later ones
Why measuring twenty metrics hides what three actually reveal
Why trust compounds when founders share lessons publicly from day one

For more information about the guest from this week:

Guest: Joseph Lee, CEO of Supademo

Website: https://supademo.com

#401 – How Alex Levin grew Regal 4x while ignoring what everyone else was doing Apr 29, 2026

Show notes

A story about refusing what the market expected—and a business that grew stronger for it.

This episode is for sales-led SaaS founders wondering why adding more people keeps making growth harder, not easier.

When I last spoke with Alex Levin in 2022, Regal was already scaling. Since then, revenue has grown 4x—with the exact same team.

Back in 2022, Regal was growing fast, and the team was expanding with it. Alex made a different call. He stopped hiring to solve problems—and started solving problems instead. Three and a half years later, the team is exactly the same size. The revenue isn't.

He said no to entire customer segments. He stopped solving product gaps with people. He moved from $50K average contracts to over $150K—without adding a single person to make it happen. The result is a business approaching cash-flow break-even with most of its $83M still in the bank and revenue growing 50 to 100% a year.

And this inspired me to invite Alex back to my podcast—three and a half years after our first conversation. We explore how questioning every default assumption about growth creates compounding advantage. Alex shares hard-won insights about the ego trap of hiring, the shift from $50K to $150K average contracts, and why AI agents didn't change his core belief—they finally made it scale.

You'll discover what happens when a founder refuses the obvious answer—and finds that the constraint was always the key.

We zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Acknowledge you cannot please everyone – Focus on the essence

Alex's story proves that remarkable companies grow their leverage, not their headcount.

Here's one of Alex's quotes that captures his thinking on building a business that forces clarity:

"Don't solve problems with people, like solve the problem and then hire people if you, you know, if you want to. That's a very big shift in how companies are run."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

Why the most valuable employee is the one who automates their own job out of existence
What saying no to a whole customer segment does for average contract value
Why the constraint you kept accepting was actually the problem all along
Why the fastest solution to a product gap is often the most expensive one long-term

For more information about the guest from this week:

Guest: Alex Levin, CEO & Co-founder

Website: regal.ai

#400 - What 99 CEOs wish they'd known sooner Apr 15, 2026

Show notes

Four hundred episodes.

When I started this podcast, I had one simple belief: the best lessons in building a remarkable software company don't come from business books or consulting frameworks. They come from CEOs who've lived it — the ones who made the hard calls, paid for the wrong assumptions, and built something worth talking about.

I went back through the last 99 conversations — and pulled the 18 insights that I believe will genuinely open your eyes. Not the ones that make you nod. The ones that hold a mirror.

I selected them for one reason: each one connects directly to the traits I write about in The Remarkable Effect. The patterns that separate the software companies people keep talking about from the ones that quietly disappear.

Six don'ts. Twelve do's.

The don'ts follow one thread — each one is an assumption that ended up costing a CEO everything. The do's move from the inside out — who you need to be, how you compete, how you grow, and who you put around you.

Here's who you'll hear from:

DON'TS

Harpreet Singh, Co-CEO Launchable — on the mistake that erodes confidence in leadership faster than anything else
Josh Ellars, CEO OpenGTM — on the decision he kept making wrong, more than once
Ed Bradley, CEO Virtualstock — on why being turned down by every investor was the best thing that happened to him
Emeric Ernoult, CEO Agorapulse — on the reason he almost gave away part of his company for nothing
Krishna Raj Raja, CEO SupportLogic — on which hiring mistake is actually more dangerous
Jason Cohen, Founder WPEngine — on the belief that quietly kills more scaling companies than anything else

DO'S

Matt van Itallie, CEO Sema — on why the leadership book's answer didn't work
Richard White, CEO Fathom — on what the best YC founders had in common that surprised him
Matt Achariam, CEO Mesh — on what falls apart when momentum arrives too fast
Scott Reynolds, CEO UpCodes — on the question most AI founders can't answer
Mark Walker, CEO Nue — on why creating a new market isn't always the best idea
Caitlin MacGregor, CEO Plum — on why CEOs should spend more time selling
Tal Peretz, CEO Onfire — on saying no to customers who wanted to pay him
Jason Cohen, Founder WPEngine — on the one thing worth fixing before everything else
Emeric Ernoult, CEO Agorapulse — on why testing for the outcome is the wrong test
Theo Saville, CEO CloudNC — on the difference between a busy team and a focused one
Randy Wootton, CEO Maxio — on what nobody tells you before you sit in the CEO chair
Jon Jorgensen, CEO The Access Group — on how he actually went about finding the right people
Dinakara Nagalla, CEO EmpowerMx (acquired by IFS) — on what remarkable actually means when nobody is watching

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Tech-Entrepreneur on a Mission Podcast

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected