Small Team Big Scale

by Ron Schmelzer, Scalebrate

Season 1

Scaling AI in a Trillion Dollar Organization: Interview with Kristin Milchanowski, Chief AI & Quantum Officer, BMO Financial Group

What happens when a small team inside a $1.5 trillion bank has to turn cutting-edge AI and quantum research into governed, production-grade outcomes? Kristin Milchanowski, Chief AI & Quantum Officer and Founding Director of the BMO Institute for Applied AI & Quantum, joins the show to explain how her lean team drives operating leverage at scale... without adding headcount. Kristin shares how BMO measures every AI initiative against business value before a single dollar is budgeted, why trust inverts with generative AI (your system's best month can become your most dangerous), and how scheduling doubt is now a leadership discipline she's brought to the U.S. Army. From a peer forum of 18 Chief AI Officers to the principle that governance is the steering wheel — not the brake — this episode is a playbook for anyone running a focused team inside a massive org. What you'll learn: How BMO converts AI research into trusted business value with a small team inside a $1.5T organization Why trust inverts with generative AI — and why your system's best month can become your most dangerous The principle that governance is the steering wheel, not the brake, and how embedded governance actually accelerates adoption Why Kristin schedules doubt as a discipline, and how challenging agreement is now a leadership essential How BMO's peer forum of 18 Chief AI Officers is creating shared responsible AI principles across the banking sector Links: Kristin Milchanowski on LinkedIn BMO Financial Group Small Team Big Scale Podcast Subscribe to Small Team Big Scale: scalebrate.com/podcast

S1 · E49

Sep 10, 2026

43:31

$1M to $50M+ Bootstrapped — Interview with Guillaume Moubeche, Lempire

Guillaume Moubeche started Lemlist with $1,000 and 30 VC rejections. Five years later, his company Lempire hit $57M ARR with 40% EBITDA margins and zero outside funding. He closed the first 100 customers himself in year one through self-prospecting, built a community that became his growth loop, and sold secondary shares in 2021. In this episode, Guillaume breaks down how "eating your own dog food" became a compounding growth engine, why revenue is a lagging indicator, and how he transitioned from CEO to chairman while building an employee equity model designed to create millionaires. He also shares why valuation numbers mislead and what he's investing in through Clifton Family Office. What you'll learn: How self-prospecting landed the first 100 customers with zero sales team Why growth loops beat paid acquisition — and how Lemlist's community became the engine Revenue is a lagging indicator: why what you do now shows up six months later The trust triangle: credibility, reliability, and emotional connection in founder-led growth From CEO to chairman: how Guillaume structured employee equity to create millionaires Links: Guillaume Moubeche on LinkedIn Lempire Lemlist Small Team Big Scale Podcast Subscribe to Small Team Big Scale: scalebrate.com/podcast Supported by Zapier

S1 · E48

Sep 3, 2026

51:21

Decisions That Scale — Interview with Hoda Helmi, Corteva Agriscience

Hoda Helmi started as a team of one inside Corteva Agriscience — a $17.4B agricultural company with 21,500 employees across 110 countries — and built an AI and decision-science practice that now shapes how the enterprise makes its most consequential decisions. She didn't start with a data platform or an AI lab. She started with one decision and built outward. She introduces the "digital decision twin" — a living model of enterprise decisions, constraints, and possible futures — and explains why starting with the decision (not the data) is the fastest path to measurable value. Along the way, she shares the Name, Fame, Same, Aim, Game framework for introducing yourself and your work, the franchise model for scaling small teams inside large organizations, and why asking the right questions beats knowing all the answers. What you'll learn: Why decisions — not data or tools — are the true leverage point for scaling teams How to build a digital decision twin that models enterprise decisions and constraints The Name, Fame, Same, Aim, Game framework for introducing yourself and your work Why starting with one consequential decision beats building a massive platform How to balance operating model structure with team flexibility and innovation Links: Hoda Helmi on LinkedIn Corteva Agriscience Small Team Big Scale Podcast Subscribe to Small Team Big Scale: scalebrate.com/podcast

S1 · E47

Aug 27, 2026

1:00:31

Building a Sales Engine That Runs Without You — Interview with Collin Stewart, Predictable Revenue

Collin Stewart built Predictable Revenue on Aaron Ross's legendary Salesforce cold calling 2.0 playbook — then pivoted to go-to-market consulting because the outsourcing work didn't align with what founders needed. Now he helps small teams build outbound sales engines that don't depend on the founder, and is launching predictable.ai to codify those plays. He introduces the 10/2 gap framework (importance vs. satisfaction) that reveals whether a problem is worth building a company around, explains the "day in the life" customer development interview, and shares why "closed lost" should never exist in your CRM. What you'll learn: Why customer development should continue past product-market fit — don't stop asking for feedback at $1M ARR The 10/2 gap: find high-importance, low-satisfaction problems worth building around How to turn customer discovery calls into a natural sales pipeline without bait-and-switch Why "closed lost" is a myth — replace it with closed nurture and Follow-Up Fridays The biggest startup killer: premature go-to-market scale before you know your real customers Links: Collin Stewart on LinkedIn Predictable Revenue Founders Edition Newsletter The Terrifying Art of Finding Customers Subscribe to Small Team Big Scale: scalebrate.com/podcast

S1 · E46

Aug 20, 2026

50:27

How does a Tiny 12 Person Team Support a $50 Billion Org? Interview with Shashank Kadetotad, Mars

A 12-person data science team driving AI transformation across a $50B+ global conglomerate. Shashank Kadetotad, Global Sr. Director of Enterprise Data Science and AI at Mars, reveals how his lean team accelerates outcomes across hundreds of brands by building composable "accelerator" modules, defining criteria for failure before they start, and staying vendor-agnostic in a rapidly shifting AI landscape. Shashank shares how Mars went from weeks-long deployments to days using standardized forecasting and optimization accelerators, why governance is the biggest enabler of scale rather than a bottleneck, and how the AI Lab they built provides a safe space for experimentation with built-in failure criteria. From pizza-team principles borrowed from Amazon to the discipline of killing pilots early, this episode is packed with practical lessons for any team trying to punch above its weight. What you'll learn: How a 12-person AI team serves an organization of 100,000+ across supply, demand, finance, and HR Why governance is your biggest enabler of scale, not a bottleneck The "accelerator" approach: 15 reusable Lego blocks that cut deployment time from weeks to days How defining failure criteria upfront prevents pilots from dragging on for years Why staying vendor-agnostic and systematizing processes is the key to long-term AI adaptability Links: Shashank Kadetotad on LinkedIn Mars Small Team Big Scale Podcast Supported by: This episode is sponsored by qBotica — helping enterprises move beyond AI pilots and into real execution. Through qubi, its Agentic AI platform, qBotica brings together intelligent agents, automation, enterprise systems, and human oversight to transform complex workflows across healthcare, banking, insurance, real estate, and more. Learn more at qBotica.com → Subscribe to Small Team Big Scale: scalebrate.com/podcast

S1 · E45

Aug 13, 2026

50:28

Lean Teams, Many Products — Interview with Vira Tkachenko, MacPaw

MacPaw built 15 products with ~500 people and zero venture funding. Co-founder Vira Tkachenko started in a Kyiv dorm room in 2008 and now leads technology and innovation across a multi-product portfolio that includes CleanMyMac and Setapp — proving a lean team can scale globally from Ukraine. Vira explains why MacPaw invests in AI tokens instead of headcount, how the company went from 5 people to 200 engineers, why B2C founders struggle to raise money compared to B2B, and the counterintuitive advice to be a co-founder rather than a solo founder because diversity of thought beats AI agreement every time. What you'll learn: How MacPaw grew from 5 co-founders in a dorm to ~500 people across 15 products with zero VC funding Why MacPaw now invests in AI tokens over new hires — keeping headcount flat while scaling output The B2C funding challenge: why investors favor B2B and how MacPaw stayed profitable from day one How starting globally from Ukraine shaped a bootstrapped company selling to 100+ countries Why "be a co-founder" is Vira's top advice — diversity of thought beats solo founder ambition Links: MacPaw Vira Tkachenko on LinkedIn CleanMyMac Setapp Subscribe to Small Team Big Scale: smallteambigscale.com/podcast

S1 · E44

Aug 6, 2026

34:06

5 People, 7 Figures: Interview with Geoff Roberts, Outseta

Geoff Roberts, Co-founder of Outseta, has built a profitable seven-figure business serving over 1,000 SaaS companies with a team of just five people working four to five days a week, all without taking a dollar of outside funding. In this episode, he explains how Outseta's unusual equal-compensation model and Growth by Elimination philosophy keep the team small, focused, and profitable over a 15-year horizon. Geoff shares why Outseta deliberately chose bootstrapping over venture capital, how eliminating management layers and traditional sales actually accelerated growth, and how existing customers organically moving through pricing tiers drove 70% year-over-year revenue growth. The conversation covers the organizational structure designed to let five people build an ambitious platform product, the philosophy of "life profitability," and what it means to work on something durable enough to sustain a 15-year commitment. What you'll learn: How a team of 5 people built a profitable 7-figure SaaS platform without venture capital Why Outseta's equal salary and equity model was designed to keep the team small over 15 years How Growth by Elimination — removing investors, management, sales, budgets, and forecasts — actually accelerated revenue growth Why 70% year-over-year growth came from existing customers expanding, not new customer acquisition How Outseta provides "core feature parity" across UI, API, and AI agents What "life profitability" means and why work should enable a better life, not consume it Links: Outseta Growth by Elimination Outseta Equal Compensation Model Payment Structure & Organizational Design Seven-Year Update Nine-Year Update (Equity, Expenses, Growth) SaaS Operating Agreement Geoff Roberts on LinkedIn Outseta on LinkedIn Subscribe to Small Team Big Scale: smallteambigscale.com/podcast

S1 · E43

Jul 30, 2026

1:01:40

The Valuation Gap: How Founder-Dependent Businesses Lose Value: Interview with Muriel Touati, Exit 3D Studio

Muriel Touati, Founder & CEO of Exit 3D Studio, has reviewed over 100 acquisition deals — and the pattern is clear: most founder-dependent businesses sell for 1–3x revenue instead of 4–6x. In this episode, she breaks down the Valuation Gap and shows how small teams can close it by building decision leverage, not just operational leverage. Muriel shares what buyers actually look for, why predictable revenue is the foundation for acquirability, and how systematizing decisions — not just tasks — transforms a founder-dependent operation into a transferable asset. Her new book "The Valuation Gap" launches July 27, the day after this interview. What you'll learn: Why founder-dependent businesses consistently sell for 1–3x instead of 4–6x How to build decision leverage that reduces dependence on any single person What acquirers actually evaluate in 100+ deal reviews — and what most founders miss How predictable revenue systems create transferable business value The difference between operational leverage and decision leverage in scaling teams Free resources: exit3dstudio.com/scorecard and exit3dstudio.com/the-valuation-gap Links: Exit 3D Studio The Valuation Gap (first chapter free) Business Scorecard Muriel Touati on LinkedIn Exit 3D Studio on LinkedIn Exit 3D Studio on YouTube Subscribe to Small Team Big Scale: smallteambigscale.com/podcast

S1 · E42

Jul 23, 2026

49:14

Building a Multimillion Dollar Service Firm: Interview with Mahesh Vinayagam, qBotica

Mahesh Vinayagam, Founder and CEO of qBotica, joins Ron Schmelzer to discuss how a team grew from just 3 people to deliver enterprise-grade agentic AI and automation to Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. With 335% revenue growth and a Deloitte Technology Fast 500 ranking, qBotica has evolved from traditional RPA services into a full Agentic AI platform — and Mahesh's founder journey embodies the Enterprise Intrapreneur playbook for building leverage products at scale. From RPA to autonomous AI agents, Mahesh shares why enterprise AI initiatives stay stuck in pilots, how small teams can use AI agents and automation to dramatically expand their capacity, and what he's learned about building a global company with a "bold, deep, and kind" culture. Whether you're selling automation to enterprises or looking for ways to productize your own leverage, this episode reveals how qBotica turns service delivery into a scalable platform. Key Takeaways Why enterprise AI initiatives get trapped in pilot mode — and what it takes to move them into production How qBotica grew 335% by productizing automation expertise into Qubi and DoqumentAI The journey from RPA services to Agentic AI — and what it means for lean teams Selling to Fortune 500 enterprise buyers with a ~200-person team How qBotica uses its own AI agents internally to deliver more with less Building a global "bold, deep, and kind" culture while scaling rapidly What Automation as a Service looks like as a business model for leverage Links and Resources qBotica website Qubi Agentic AI Platform qBotica Newsroom Mahesh Vinayagam on LinkedIn Request a Conversation or Demonstration qBotica offers qualified Small Team Big Scale listeners a complimentary 30-minute Agentic AI Opportunity Assessment. The discussion helps identify 1–2 operational workflows where AI agents and automation could create measurable capacity, efficiency, or customer-experience improvements. Use the qBotica contact page and mention the podcast when submitting your request. Subscribe: scalebrate.com/podcast

S1 · E41

Jul 16, 2026

1:10:00

The $100K Decisions You Make Blind, and What Changes When You Stop

Every decision you're making right now carries a six-figure price tag, and you're making most of them alone. Whether you're a founder at $2-10M or a team lead inside a larger org, the wrong hire, the wrong pivot, the wrong tooling bet, or the wrong reorg can each cost you $100K+ in time, money, or momentum. Ron Schmelzer explains why your peer set is broken at this stage: pre-revenue founders can't relate, VC-backed founders play a different game, and corporate peers don't share your trade-offs. The real product is decision quality and peer access. What happens when we stop making these decisions blind? Decision quality improves when someone pressure-tests your reasoning. Decision drag decreases when you're not carrying the weight alone. And the leaders who break through are the ones who understand that the real product at this stage isn't a framework or a playbook, it's peer-calibrated, stakes-matched, relevant advice from people who've walked the same path. What you'll learn: Why $100K+ decisions are the norm at $2-10M: and inside any small team in a big org Four categories of expensive decisions: hires, pivots, tooling bets, and reorgs How the peer set gap leaves founders and team leads making consequential calls alone Why decision quality improves when someone pressure-tests your reasoning How decision drag slows you down and peer calibration speeds you up Links: Scalebrate Small Team Big Scale Podcast Ron Schmelzer on LinkedIn

S1 · E40

Jul 9, 2026

25:23

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