In this episode of The CTO Show with Mehmet, Derrick Girard shares his remarkable journey from financial services advisor to tech founder — despite having no technical background. Derrick opens up about scaling his company without a traditional sales team, surviving multiple lawsuits, and ultimately selling his business. His story is one of grit, resilience, and what he calls the FIO (Figure It Out) mindset — a framework every founder and leader can adopt to overcome obstacles and drive success.

🚀 Key Takeaways

• Why excuses are never the solution in entrepreneurship

• How Derrick scaled without a traditional sales team

• The importance of validating an idea in a resistant market

• Lessons from navigating three simultaneous lawsuits

• Why success is “stairs, not an elevator” — and the reality check founders need

• Building a culture of ownership and resilience inside growing teams

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🎧 What You’ll Learn

• Practical strategies for validating and scaling a startup in regulated industries

• How to compartmentalize challenges and stay focused under extreme pressure

• The difference between the victim mindset and the solution mindset

• Why documenting agreements — even with family and friends — is critical for founders

• How to instill the Figure It Out mindset across teams and organizations

👤 About Derrick Girard

Derrick Girard is an entrepreneur, author, and speaker who built and exited a tech company in the highly regulated financial services sector. With no formal background in technology, he relied on persistence, problem-solving, and the FIO mindset to navigate challenges that included investor disputes, lawsuits, and industry resistance. Today, Derrick helps founders and leaders embrace resilience, take ownership, and build solutions-driven cultures. He is also the author of Put to the Test: The FIO Mindset.

https://derrickgirard.com/

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

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1966190581?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_W4Z0S11X2YDG28CRKE17&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_W4Z0S11X2YDG28CRKE17&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_W4Z0S11X2YDG28CRKE17&bestFormat=true&newOGT=1

Episode Highlights

• (02:30) Derrick’s unlikely path from finance to tech entrepreneurship

• (05:00) Scaling without a sales team and replacing it with relationship managers

• (07:30) Validating the idea through networks, questions, and conferences

• (11:00) Navigating three lawsuits while scaling the company

• (18:30) Why “success is stairs, not an elevator”

• (23:00) The danger of excuses and the rise of the victim mentality

• (27:00) Applying the FIO mindset to teams and organizations

• (31:00) Reality checks every founder should do before starting up

• (38:00) Redefining entrepreneurship: problem solvers vs. titles

• (44:00) Derrick’s mission today and how to connect with him