Scaling To $10M Meant Letting Go To Grow - Graeme Barlow Think Business With Tyler podcast

Scaling to $10M Meant Letting Go to Grow - Graeme Barlow

12h ago 46:39

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Graeme Barlow went from selling digital loot at age 10 to scaling Iversoft past $10M by doing what most founders won’t—letting go of control to grow faster.

But when a major funding round fell through and his company was down to negative 60 days of cash, Graeme had to face the hardest leadership moment of his career: telling 28 employees to take their computers home—because there might not be an office tomorrow.

That experience reshaped his view on business.

Not moonshot visions or hustle culture—but discipline, cash clarity, and systems that don’t rely on heroes.

Now, he’s helping founders scale by focusing less on being “the guy” and more on building resilient companies that thrive without them.

This episode is a masterclass in founder evolution. Graeme reveals:

The harsh truth about why your raise isn’t real until the wire hits
Why over-diversifying your service offering can tank your team
The single financial ritual that saves companies from running out of cash
Why “cold calls > clever marketing” under $1M in revenue
What World of Warcraft taught him about team management
How to know when to kill a pet project—and how to let it go
Why the real CEO job is: don’t run out of money, set direction, get great people

Key Lessons

Let Go to Grow: Why removing yourself from the day-to-day is the only path to scale.

Focus or Fail: How trying to be everything to everyone nearly sank Iversoft.

Forecast or Die: Why Graeme refuses to work with founders who don’t forecast cash weekly.

Revenue First: If you’re under $1M, cold calls solve more than strategy ever will.

System-Driven Leadership: How to stop being a bottleneck and start being a builder.

Host: Tyler Martin, Think Business Podcast

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