Strategies, mindsets, and tactics from hyper-growth founders. Learn what it takes to launch, scale, and win.
Escape Velocity.
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Podcast Overview
Strategies, mindsets, and tactics from hyper-growth founders. Learn what it takes to launch, scale, and win.
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Publishing Since
1/22/2026
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Recent Episodes
March 10, 2026
Choose Your Hard | Wes Mathews, CEO, Stealth Consulting
<p>How second-time founder Wes Mathews built conviction, traction, and momentum by deliberately choosing the hard that compounds. | Wes Mathews, Co-Founder & CEO, Stealth.</p><p>Wes Mathews didn’t build his second company because the first one failed. He built it because success taught him what actually breaks founders.</p><p>After scaling his first company to $20M+ and exiting, Wes hit a truth many founders quietly face: he fell out of love with his own business. So he did the harder thing—he started again from zero. In this conversation, Wes shares how that reset reshaped how he thinks about sales, leadership, leverage, and growth at the $1–$10M stage.</p><p>In this episode of Escape Velocity, Wes breaks down the real work of scaling through chaos: why founder-led sales isn’t optional, why ego has to give way to systems, and why chaos isn’t a failure—it’s the tax on growth. He also opens up about choosing the “hard that compounds,” building teams that create capacity instead of burnout, and why business should fuel life—not consume it. </p><p><strong>In this episode, we jam on: <br></strong><br>1. Why founder-led Sales is the unreplicable unlock. <br>What actually breaks momentum when founders step out of sales too early, and why no hire, system, or playbook replaces founder conviction in the market.</p><p>2. How to avoid ego sabotaging scaling.<br>Why Wes stopped trying to be everywhere, do everything, and “prove” himself and how leverage only shows up once ego steps aside.</p><p>3. Why chaos isn’t a leadership failure at $1–$10M.<br>How growth creates disorder and what happens when founders design for chaos instead of reacting to it. </p><p>4. The trap of “I’ll deal with life later.”<br>How Wes built rules around family, health, and energy and why burning your personal capacity eventually burns your business too.</p><p><strong>Meet the guest </strong><br><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/wesleymathews/">Wes Mathews</a> is the CEO and Co-Founder of Stealth. He’s a founder, operator, and growth strategist who built his previous company, High Level Marketing, from scratch and helped scale it to over $20M before a successful exit. </p><p><br></p><p>He’s now building again from zero with Stealth Consulting, approaching $3M in ARR in just two years by helping companies eliminate chaos through strategy, execution, and accountability. Wes is also the host of the Entrepreneur Intel podcast and a father of five who believes business should fuel life—not consume it.</p><p><br><strong>About Stealth </strong></p><p><a href="https://stealthconsulting.com/">Stealth</a> Consulting is a marketing strategy and execution firm that provides CMO-led fractional marketing teams to growing businesses. Instead of acting like a typical agency, it integrates as a partner, taking full leadership of a company’s marketing—developing strategy, executing campaigns, and being accountable for measurable growth results.</p><p><br><strong>Meet the host </strong><br>Josh Linkner is a rare blend of business, art, and science. </p><p>He's the New York Times bestselling author of four books, and widely regarded as one of the world's foremost innovation and leadership experts. On the business front, he’s been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which created over 10,000 jobs and sold for a combined value of over $200 million.</p><p>He’s also the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā Venture Partners—an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies. Over the last 30 years, he’s helped over 100 startups launch and scale, creating over $1 billion of investor returns.</p><p>While proud of his business success, his roots are in the dangerous world of jazz music. He’s been playing guitar in smoky jazz clubs for 40 years and has performed nearly 2,000 concerts around the world.</p><p><strong>About Mudita Venture Partners</strong></p><p>Mudita Venture Partners is different by design.</p><p>We invest in early-stage, post-revenue, AI-first B2B companies—backing founders who are building what’s next. About 80% of our capital goes directly into operating companies. The remaining 20% fuels Mudita Studios, where we turn bold ideas into venture-backable businesses from the ground up. We believe exceptional returns and meaningful impact can—and should—coexist.</p><p>Beyond capital, we bring deep operator experience, a philosophy of co-creation, and a hands-on team committed to moving at founder speed. We don’t just fund companies—we help build them.</p><p>This is venture built for the future.</p><p><br>• Website: <a href="https://muditavp.com/">https://muditavp.com/</a></p><p>• Escape Velocity: <a href="https://muditavp.com/escape-velocity/">https://muditavp.com/escape-velocity/</a></p><p>• YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@MuditaVenturePartners">https://www.youtube.com/@MuditaVenturePartners</a></p><p>• LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/muditavp/">https://www.linkedin.com/company/muditavp/</a></p><p>• X/Twitter: <a href="https://x.com/muditavp">https://x.com/muditavp</a><br>• This podcast on all platforms: <a href="https://muditavp.com/podcast/choose-your-hard/">https://muditavp.com/podcast/choose-your-hard/</a></p><p><br><strong>Timestamps</strong><br>0:00 - Introduction<br>01:30 - The origin story of Stealth<br>04:45 -"The Stealth Way" and scalable IP<br>08:15 - The meaning behind the "Stealth" name<br>11:45 - The Wes of 2009 vs. the Wes of today<br>15:00 - Surviving the brutal startup grind<br>17:30 - The power of complementary co-founders<br>20:45 - The future of Stealth and integrating AI into the business<br>23:15 - Why "Pirate Energy" is the ultimate indicator of founder success<br>26:00 - Real talk on work-life balance while raising five kids<br>29:30 - Advice to a 22-year-old founder<br>32:00 - Closing remarks</p>
February 24, 2026
Build Space Ladders, Not Excuses | Alison Alvarez, Co-founder and CEO, Blastpoint
<p>How CEO Alison Alvarez built Blastpoint to democratize innovation where every member of the team sees obstacles as design problems to be overcome | Alison Alvarez, Co-Founder & CEO, Blastpoint.</p><p>In this episode of <strong>Escape Velocity</strong>, <strong>Alison Alvarez</strong>, co-founder and CEO of Blastpoint, lays out a hard truth most AI leaders avoid: sounding smart about data is killing adoption—and revenue. With a background in computer science and business from Carnegie Mellon, Alison has spent her career doing the opposite of what most AI companies do: stripping complexity away until decisions become obvious.</p><p>At Blastpoint, that philosophy is non-negotiable. The company works with industry leaders in energy and finance to predict human behavior and turn insight into action—red lights and green lights, not dashboards and spaghetti charts. Along the way, Alison learned (often the hard way) that empathy beats elegance, speed beats polish, and clarity beats cleverness—every time.</p><p>In this conversation with Josh Linkner, Alison breaks down the real work of building a durable company: how to move fast without losing direction, why doing too much at once quietly kills momentum, and how to build a culture where obstacles aren’t debated—they’re designed around. She also reflects on how being a first-generation college student shaped her leadership style and her belief that innovation doesn’t live at the top of the org chart—it belongs to everyone.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>In this episode, we discuss:</strong></p><p><br></p><p>1. Sounding smart hurts revenue.<br>Why Blastpoint ditched analytics theater for clear objectives, playbooks, and red-light / green-light decisions—and unlocked zero percent customer churn.</p><p>2. Move fast enough to learn. Slow enough to aim.<br>Alison’s framework for speed with direction—and why “mediocre fast” beats “perfect too late.”</p><p>3. Avoid the Nike Shoe Trap.<br>Why testing fewer things at once is the fastest way to compound progress and not choke on your own ambition.</p><p>4. Empathy as a growth hack.<br>How speaking your customer’s language—and designing for their reality—outperforms any data advantage.</p><p>5. Build wormholes & space ladders.<br>How Alison built a culture where innovation isn’t founder-owned and why her team sees every obstacle as a design problem. </p><p><br></p><p><strong>Meet the guest</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/asalvarez/">Alison Alvarez</a> is the co-founder and CEO of BlastPoint, an AI-powered customer intelligence company. With a background in computer science and business from Carnegie Mellon, she’s spent her career making advanced data and AI tools more accessible and impactful for real-world decision making. </p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/blastpoint/">BlastPoint</a> is an AI-driven customer intelligence platform that helps businesses better understand and serve their customers through predictive, actionable insights. BlastPoint works with industry leaders in energy and finance to build a more customer-centric future.</p><p><strong>About Blastpoint<br></strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/blastpoint/">BlastPoint</a><strong> </strong>is an AI-driven customer intelligence platform that helps businesses better understand and serve their customers through predictive, actionable insights. BlastPoint works with industry leaders in energy and finance to build a more customer-centric future. </p><p><strong>Meet the host</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshlinkner/">Josh Linkner</a><strong> </strong>is a rare blend of business, art, and science.</p><p><br></p><p>He's the New York Times bestselling author of four books, and widely regarded as one of the world's foremost innovation and leadership experts. On the business front, he’s been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which created over 10,000 jobs and sold for a combined value of over $200 million. </p><p><br></p><p>He’s also the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā Venture Partners—an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies. Over the last 30 years, he’s helped over 100 startups launch and scale, creating over $1 billion of investor returns.</p><p><br></p><p>While proud of his business success, his roots are in the dangerous world of jazz music. He’s been playing guitar in smoky jazz clubs for 40 years and has performed nearly 2,000 concerts around the world.</p><p><strong>About Mudita Venture Partners <br></strong>Mudita Venture Partners is different by design.</p><p>We invest in early-stage, post-revenue, AI-first B2B companies—backing founders who are building what’s next. About 80% of our capital goes directly into operating companies. The remaining 20% fuels Mudita Studios, where we turn bold ideas into venture-backable businesses from the ground up.</p><p>We believe exceptional returns and meaningful impact can—and should—coexist.</p><p>Beyond capital, we bring deep operator experience, a philosophy of co-creation, and a hands-on team committed to moving at founder speed. We don’t just fund companies—we help build them.</p><p>This is venture built for the future.</p><p>• Website: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa0pWODAxNnNPaXpWZjVOZ25SMFBDckxmazlxZ3xBQ3Jtc0tudnphZGxpaXFaRW0zeUlUX3pGVURJTTU1SGhNdWgyOExhWW90MVpkTHBXYklwakhxaWxncDNYZkJtQ2huMUY3X1U4QnRxVzdPMlJ3VHhlMTFkTnVzQVA1blRmMnJraUc2MU5oaFJQWnZ2UTRWZ180WQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fmuditavp.com%2F&v=UoigztP05I8">https://muditavp.com/</a><br>• Escape Velocity: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbVV1MnBWaVVlcmdnVEM3c2lXU3RyWDhOQ3Bad3xBQ3Jtc0tsUnl4aU5EWkVFcDZmNFF2QzhTQm5GeE9ydWZqdDBKUzRGaU41aUJrWEt2RW15VUNxa2VOQ1ZXSlpxTkJDaVF0cFJ2SUZ4bmhBOWh5N2pNaWxSNmJCRHRhdG5udXlZZzM0Wl9RR0xZZ19QZFhET0lIcw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fmuditavp.com%2Fescape-velocity%2F&v=UoigztP05I8">https://muditavp.com/escape-velocity/</a><br>• YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/">https://www.youtube.com/</a><br>• LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa1lvNzJjTWZvZFlydmJEaVVITVFkaFgwTERid3xBQ3Jtc0ttRk5MZk82eWduWXg4eVA4WWJiZlNaZGNJbmpxXzV4dnNlaXdDNndjcmRmZmNfc0NjdUtRbUFJWXYzMEhFMEhaODR5TTN3WFRRWnFneGNxSThBYm0yc0h1cGtQdF95MjUwU3E0cUlQU0lqTHRjamhsdw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Fmuditavp%2F&v=UoigztP05I8"> </a><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/muditavp/posts/?feedView=all">https://www.linkedin.com/company/muditavp/posts/?feedView=all</a><br>• X/Twitter: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbWR3OFgzMFhuUEh3ME1STFRmUmVvWTdxOEtEZ3xBQ3Jtc0tsbkFWZFhLUUx5ejZKekNwMDlrSTJKeXBHQjROZjFOUEhRQzgwRFpTNV92TFdzbjM3RHRDR2V2Y0VkQjZDdHdFazNVcnA4cUpXckctOEtiZGlqR1NDWXNxZzdfZWk0b1hVYVZFZ2RxVmdFa2V6ckxIcw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fx.com%2FMuditaVp&v=UoigztP05I8">https://x.com/MuditaVp</a><br>• This podcast on all platforms: <a href="https://muditavp.com/podcast/build-space-ladders-not-excuses/">https://muditavp.com/podcast/build-space-ladders-not-excuses/</a></p><p><strong>Timestamps</strong><br>0:00 Introduction<br>1:31 The Start of Blastpoint<br>3:09 Avoiding Pointless AI<br>4:08 The Problem of Customer Intimacy<br>5:14 Embracing the Struggle<br>6:23 Mediocre Fast vs Great and Late<br>8:26 The "Too Many Rabbits" Trap<br>9:29 The Illusion of Feature Requests<br>10:50 Field Linguistics in Customer Discovery<br>12:51 Developing Empathy for the Customer<br>15:00 Why Sounding Smart Hurts Revenue<br>16:11 Responsible AI and Recognizing Bias<br>18:31 The Culture of Servant Le...</p>
February 10, 2026
Never Trust a Lead You Didn’t Earn | Dan Simon, Co-founder and CEO, Qwoted
<p>How Dan Simon refused shortcuts—earning product-market fit manually before scaling Qwoted to a two-sided marketplace with 50% ARR growth | Dan Simon, Founder & CEO, Qwoted.</p><p><br>Dan Simon has seen the media business from the inside—and from the bottom.</p><p>Before founding Qwoted, Dan was a longtime media operator, former speechwriter to some of the biggest names on Wall Street, a published author, and a three-time founder. But when it came time to build Qwoted - a two-sided marketplace connecting journalists with experts, none of that pedigree mattered. What mattered was whether he was willing to do the unglamorous work—pounding the phones, manually matching sources, and acting as his own booking agency—to earn trust on both sides of the network.</p><p><br>In this episode of Escape Velocity, Josh and Dan unpack what it really takes to build and scale the notoriously treacherous two-sided media network before the opportunity becomes obvious and attainable by the deeper-pocketed competition. </p><p><br>Dan shares why Qwoted started as a concierge service, how humility and paranoia shaped the company’s early strategy, and why he treats Qwoted 50% ARR growth not as proof of arrival, but as a reason to move faster.</p><p><strong>In this episode,we discuss:</strong></p><p><br></p><p>1. Build the marketplace before the market shows up.</p><p>How Dan put humility before pedigree, became his own concierge, pounding phones and packing boxes to earn trust and liquidity before scale.</p><p><br></p><p>2. Earn product–market fit. Don’t declare it.</p><p>Why Qwoted refused inbound hype and earned every match, validating real demand before automation or growth narratives.</p><p><br></p><p>3. Win a corner before you win a category.</p><p>How obsessing over one white-hot use case created speed, depth, and a defensible edge for Qwoted.</p><p><br></p><p>4. Treat growth like a threat, not a trophy.</p><p>Why Dan sees 50% ARR growth as something to defend—rebuilding Qwoted continuously to stay ahead of complacency.</p><p><br></p><p>5. Outrun the competition before it exists.</p><p>Why accelerating the flywheel early—while the opportunity is still misunderstood—can make a market uncatchable later.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Meet the guest</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dansimon/">Dan Simon</a> is the founder and CEO of Qwoted, a two-sided network that connects journalists with experts in real time. A longtime media operator and serial entrepreneur, Dan is a former speechwriter to the biggest names on Wall Street, a published author, and a three-time founder. </p><p><strong>About Qwoted</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/qwoted/">Qwoted</a> streamlines this process by connecting journalists, podcasters, brands, and experts through a real-time marketplace for expertise. Reporters post source requests, and vetted professionals respond with quotes, commentary, and insights that can be directly featured in articles, podcasts, newsletters, and other media. The platform helps media teams move faster while enabling experts and brands to earn high-quality media coverage more efficiently and authentically. </p><p><br></p><p><strong>Meet Our Host</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshlinkner/">Josh Linkner</a><strong> </strong>is a rare blend of business, art, and science.</p><p><br></p><p>He's the New York Times bestselling author of four books, and widely regarded as one of the world's foremost innovation and leadership experts. On the business front, he’s been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which created over 10,000 jobs and sold for a combined value of over $200 million. </p><p><br></p><p>He’s also the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā Venture Partners—an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies. Over the</p><p>last 30 years, he’s helped over 100 startups launch and scale, creating over $1 billion of investor returns.</p><p><br></p><p>While proud of his business success, his roots are in the dangerous world of jazz music. He’s been playing guitar in smoky jazz clubs for 40 years and has performed nearly 2,000 concerts around the world.</p><p><strong>About Mudita Venture Partners <br></strong>Mudita Venture Partners is different by design.</p><p>We invest in early-stage, post-revenue, AI-first B2B companies—backing founders who are building what’s next. About 80% of our capital goes directly into operating companies. The remaining 20% fuels Mudita Studios, where we turn bold ideas into venture-backable businesses from the ground up.</p><p>We believe exceptional returns and meaningful impact can—and should—coexist.</p><p>Beyond capital, we bring deep operator experience, a philosophy of co-creation, and a hands-on team committed to moving at founder speed. We don’t just fund companies—we help build them.</p><p>This is venture built for the future.</p><p>• Website: <a href="https://muditavp.com/">https://muditavp.com/</a><br>• Escape Velocity: <a href="https://muditavp.com/escape-velocity/">https://muditavp.com/escape-velocity/</a><br>• YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/">https://www.youtube.com/</a><br>• LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/muditavp/">https://www.linkedin.com/company/muditavp/</a><br>• X/Twitter: <a href="https://x.com/MuditaVp">https://x.com/MuditaVp</a><br>• This podcast on all platforms: <a href="https://muditavp.com/podcast/never-trust-a-lead-you-didnt-earn/">https://muditavp.com/podcast/never-trust-a-lead-you-didnt-earn/</a></p><p><strong>Timestamps</strong><br>0:00 Introduction<br>1:30 Dan’s Origin Story<br>4:00 What is Qwoted? <br>7:00 AI in Nightclubs? <br>10:00 The Revenue Model<br>13:30 Democratizing Access<br>16:00 The Chicken & Egg Problem<br>19:00 Starting Narrow in Financial Services <br>21:30 The "Concierge" Phase <br>25:00 How AI is Forcing Media to Adapt <br>28:30 The Getty of Quotes? <br>31:00 Fixing the Broken Economics of the PR Industry <br>33:00 The Vision for a Hub-and-Spoke Media Network <br>35:00 The Remote Work Debate<br>37:30 Recognizing and Navigating Tension <br>39:15 Closing Remarks</p>
5 total episodes available
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This podcast updates daily.
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