Brett Gilliland, founder of Elite Entrepreneurs, which delivers coaching, workshops, and founder community programs to help hundreds of ambitious entrepreneurs navigate the company leadership journey from $1M to $10M in revenue. Elite Entrepreneurs workshops and coaching show founders how to move from founder-led chaos to aligned leadership teams.
Brett has seen that co-creating a clear, practical Purpose, Values, and Mission forms the foundation of scalable organizations. With clear meeting rhythms, disciplined execution, and strong hiring practices, overworked founders can become happy CEOs and build much larger companies that run without constant founder involvement.
There is a personal transformation from a stressed, busy startup founder to a strategic CEO who enjoys their business more as it grows. You can reduce chaos, scale your teams, and rediscover the fun of running your business once you shift focus from “I” to “we.”
Key Takeaways
- Growth Brings Freedom: Founders who learn to let go in the right way often rediscover fun, profit, and time.
- Leadership Teams Required: Scaling past $3M–$10M depends on building a capable senior leadership team.
- Meeting Rhythms Drive Scale: Annual, quarterly, monthly, and weekly cadences keep teams aligned.
- CEO Core Roles: Set the vision, build the team, and secure resources—everything else gets delegated.
- Hiring as Marketing: Culture-fueled job postings act like a “bat signal” for the right candidates.
This Interview Is Perfect For
- SaaS founders at $1–5M in ARR
- Business owners feeling “stuck” at their current stage
- CEOs ready to build their first real leadership team
- Entrepreneurs who want growth and a life
Quote from Brett Gilliland, founder of Elite Entrepreneurs
“All of us get stuck in some way. We know there’s a better way. We see other people figuring it out. I should be able to do this, we say, but we just didn’t know what to do.
“You have to do work on your business in a deliberate way. And those who do the work consistently make progress. We help them lay out the path from $1 to 10 million. Here are the things that you do. It’s proven, it’s practical.
“Whoever has been consistent with it, quarter after quarter, month after month, week after week, doing the things that we’re talking about, they start stacking wins.
“Then all of a sudden, 18, 24 months later, we’re at a place where we’ve tripled in revenue, we’ve doubled in team, it’s fun, I’ve got some time back in my life. It does take time, but it’s totally doable. I’ve seen it over and over and over again.”
Podcast Sponsor – Designli
This podcast is sponsored by Designli. Designli helps non-technical software founders build serious products with clarity, confidence, and peace of mind—by serving as their fully outsourced engineering team.
Designli has helped over 200 non-technical and practical founders bring their visions to life as great software. Visit Designli.co/practical to regain clarity, delight your customers, and make real progress every week.
