Full Stack CEO

About Full Stack CEO

The conversations for founders, VCs, and operators who want a 360° view of what it means to build and lead a company in the age of AI. Most podcasts give you one lane (fundraising, GTM, or leadership). The Full Stack CEO Podcast gives you the whole system. Hosted by Yannick Kpodar — 2x VP/CMO turned General Partner at Aventra Capital, with 15 years inside VC-backed SaaS across LinkedIn, PayFit, Amenitiz, and Groupe BPCE. This show is built for founders, investors, and operators who refuse to be blind in any lane. Every episode tackles the real conversations that don't happen in board decks: the GTM bets that worked and the ones that didn't, the fundraising rounds that nearly killed the company, the pivots, the shutdowns, the exits, the IPOs, and everything in between. We cover it all: Go-to-market, ICP design, and sales motion CAC payback, NRR, burn multiple, and runway Fundraising from pre-seed to Series B and beyond Hiring, international expansion, and organizational design Pivots, shutdowns, IPOs, secondary exits, and acquisitions We interview the people who've actually lived it: exited founders with real scar tissue, active VCs writing checks today, and tier-1 operators who've scaled teams from single-digit ARR to category leadership. No hype. No vanity metrics. No celebrity-CEOs. Why this show, and why now? AI has collapsed product and GTM cycles. Boards are underwriting control, not just charisma. The founders who win in this environment are the ones who can read the whole field (product, GTM, capital, and leadership) as one integrated system. That's what it means to be a Full Stack CEO. And this podcast is your weekly dispatch from the operators and investors building those companies. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. New episodes every week.

Publisher

Yannick Kpodar

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

12 Jun 2026

Latest episode

10 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

5 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   10 Aug 2026

   First Sales Hire to Scalable Sales Machine: What Founders Get Wrong — David Ehrlich & Mark Nelson

   What does it actually take to make your first sales hire at the right time, avoid the classic founder-led-sales traps, and build a sales function that can scale without breaking the business? In this episode of the Full Stack CEO podcast, Yannick Kpodar sits down with David Ehrlich and Mark Nelson for a candid conversation on product-market fit, sales hiring, comp structure, and how founders can tell the difference between a strong resume and the right operator for their reality. David brings decades of experience as a founder and CEO, including building Aktana into a global business with hundreds of employees across 50 countries, while Mark shares lessons from a long career spanning enterprise software, consulting, e-commerce, and multiple founder-led ventures. Together, they break down when founders should hire, what to look for in that first salesperson, why “mini founder” ownership matters, and how to avoid bringing in the wrong profile too early. Main Topics: Why founders need to understand their sales cycle before making the first hire. The difference between a founder who should keep selling and a founder who needs a partner early. Why customer listening matters more than rushing to scale before product-market fit. How to think about seniority in the first sales hire, from one strong operator to a VP-level buildout. What great salespeople do differently in interviews, including ownership, persistence, and the ability to handle objections. Why the best early hires need the right incentives to stick around long enough to create real leverage. Timestamps: 00:00 — Introduction: why first sales hires are so often mishandled. 01:38 — Mark’s background and how he thinks about sales across software and e-commerce. 02:30 — David’s background, Aktana, and building through AI and data. 04:55 — The most important thing to get right before hiring your first salesperson. 06:04 — When founders should keep selling vs. bring in a partner early. 08:18 — Why product-market fit changes everything. 09:06 — Why founders should think carefully about equity, retention, and early incentives. 11:17 — How Mark approached first hires across different companies. 13:44 — Why salespeople are great at selling themselves. 14:39 — Hiring a “mini CEO” for a region or market. 16:46 — How senior should the first hire be? 18:03 — What Mark looked for when scaling from one salesperson to a team. 21:35 — Why resumes can be misleading in sales hiring. 23:21 — The traits that show up in top sales performers. 28:47 — David on why language, listening, and role play matter in vetting. 31:08 — Why role-play is one of the best ways to test a sales candidate. Resources & Links: Full Stack CEO™: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/ceo-operating-room (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/ceo-operating-room) Pre-Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/pre-seed-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/pre-seed-track) Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/seed-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/seed-track) Series A: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-a-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-a-track) Series B: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-b-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-b-track) Free Live Training Sessions: https://luma.com/fullstackceo (https://luma.com/fullstackceo)

2. 

   7 Jul 2026

   From Agency Founder to AI Operator: 30 Years of Building, Advising & Repositioning — Peter Guagenti

   What does a career built across early internet startups, agency exits, consulting, product leadership, and scaling companies like Acquia, NGINX, Cockroach Labs, SingleStore, Mesosphere, and Tabnine actually look like? Peter Guagenti — entrepreneur, executive, advisor joins Yannick Kpodar for a conversation on how he’s repeatedly found product-market opportunities, built customer love, and helped companies grow from early revenue to scale. Peter recently joined Full Stack CEO™ and brings deep experience across strategy, product, marketing, sales, and ops, with five successful exits and early conviction in AI dating back to 2017. Main Topics: Why Peter says his career was never a straight line, and why the journey mattered as much as the outcomes The five-exit perspective: what he looks for in companies Spotting trends early, from the rise of the internet to open source, cloud, and AI Why the first real job of a business is creating and keeping customer relationships How two acquisitions came from customer traction and word of mouth, not a classic M&A process Why product-market fit is the real unlock, and why revenue is still a struggle until you find it How Acquia scaled from about $3M to over $100M, and why product + sales alignment made the difference What founders at the seed to Series A stage get wrong when they hire sales leaders too early Why Peter joined Full Stack CEO™ Timestamps: 00:00 — Introduction: Peter’s background and why his LinkedIn looks like a straight line 03:03 — Five exits, many lessons: how he thinks about selecting opportunities 04:28 — Early conviction in open source, cloud, and AI 06:51 — The first startups and acquisitions: what actually drove those outcomes 08:53 — The purpose of a business: create and keep customer relationships 09:53 — How customer traction led to acquisition conversations 11:23 — How he got to $6M in year one in an earlier startup 13:02 — The importance of using your network to drive early deals 15:17 — Why product-market fit is the real revenue unlock 16:29 — Joining Accenture and building new muscles 19:06 — Scaling Acquia from ~$3M to $100M in four years 20:20 — What changes when a company moves from founder-led sales to real scale 22:03 — The mistake of hiring closers who can’t build a machine 25:21 — Why Peter joined Full Stack CEO™ Resources & Links: Peter Guagenti on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterguagenti (https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterguagenti) Full Stack CEO™: Membership: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/ceo-operating-room (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/ceo-operating-room) Pre-Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/pre-seed-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/pre-seed-track) Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/seed-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/seed-track) Series A: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-a-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-a-track) Free Live Training Sessions: https://luma.com/fullstackceo (https://luma.com/fullstackceo)

3. 

   26 Jun 2026

   From Zero to Exit: What Acquisitions, ICP Obsession & 20+ Years of B2B SaaS Teach You — Bill Kahlert

   What does it actually look like to build a company from zero to 300 employees, get acquired, start over, hit $1M ARR in under a year, and then spend the next decade helping other founders avoid the mistakes you made? Bill Kahlert — 3x founder, 3x exited, advisor to 24+ B2B SaaS and AI companies through Techstars and Alchemist — joins Yannick Kpodar to share the reality behind the scenes. Bill recently joined Full Stack CEO™ as an Operator Partner to support B2B SaaS & AI CEOs as they scale from pre-seed to Series B. Learn more at www.full-stack-ceo.com (http://www.full-stack-ceo.com). Main Topics: The real story of the Aalayance acquisition: failed first attempt, stock options wiped out by the dot-com crash, and the lockup nobody told him about Why acquisition term sheets always look better on paper, and the earnout trap that leaves founders getting paid nothing How Bill went from zero to $1M ARR in under a year at Leadfwd.ai (http://Leadfwd.ai) The GTM playbook that drove a 70%+ close rate The #1 mistake Bill sees across every founder he advises What makes Full Stack CEO™ different from the accelerators Timestamps: 00:00 — Introduction of Bill´s career 03:02 — From Xerox to Claude Code: watching the internet rise and AI arrive in real time 04:04 — The Aalayance acquisition: zero to 300 employees, acquired by HCL 05:51 — The dark side of earnouts: how acquirers set KPIs they know you can't hit 07:47 — What Bill would tell every founder before signing an acquisition term sheet 08:27 — Leadfwd.ai (http://Leadfwd.ai): from zero to $1M ARR in under a year 11:36 — The pivot: from inbound to outbound 13:23 — The upsell that became the primary sale and how to recognize when to flip your GTM story 16:20 — How they hit a 70%+ close rate 17:22 — What Bill sees advising across Techstars, Alchemist, and his portfolio 18:09 — The Claude Code illusion: why "just go vibe code it" is disingenuous advice 21:41 — Why even founders with $500K in pre-seed still can't define their ICP 23:40 — Why Bill joined Full Stack CEO™ Resources & Links: Bill Kahlert on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/billkahlert (https://www.linkedin.com/in/billkahlert) Full Stack CEO™: Membership: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/ceo-operating-room (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/ceo-operating-room) Pre-Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/pre-seed-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/pre-seed-track) Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/seed-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/seed-track) Series A: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-a-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-a-track) 12-Week Labs: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/labs (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/labs) Free Live Training Sessions: https://luma.com/fullstackceo (https://luma.com/fullstackceo)

4. 

   18 Jun 2026

   The CEO Playbook for Surviving the Messy Middle — David Ehrlich

   What does a career built on multiple exits, a 12-year CEO run scaling Aktana to 400+ employees across 50 countries, and the technology that became the foundation of AWS Redshift actually look like from the inside? David Ehrlich — serial CEO, board member, Stanford & HBS alum — joins Yannick Kpodar for a raw, unfiltered conversation on what it truly takes to build and lead a company from zero to scale in the age of AI. David recently joined Full Stack CEO™ as an Operator Partner to support B2B SaaS & AI CEOs as they scale from pre-seed to Series B. Learn more at www.full-stack-ceo.com (http://www.full-stack-ceo.com). Main Topics: Why building a company is one of the hardest things a human being can do The single most important demarcation line every CEO must understand: pre vs. post PMF The Aktana near-death story: no money, no customers, no product — and the pivot that changed everything Burn rate discipline: why David coaches founders to resist raising capital for as long as possible Key metrics by stage — what to watch pre-PMF vs. post-PMF, and why LTV matters more than CAC early on Building in the age of AI: the massive opportunity and the moat problem every AI founder must solve Timestamps: 00:00 — Introduction: does David's career look as good on the inside as it does on paper? 02:43 — The brutal reality of starting from nothing 04:50 — Advice for CEOs at every stage: pre-seed, seed, and Series A 06:23 — The one demarcation line that matters: pre vs. post PMF 07:06 — How David knew Aktana hit PMF in early 2015 09:32 — Burn rate deep dive: runway, capital discipline, and the trap of raising too early 11:19 — What every Series A investor is actually looking for when they review your cap table 12:28 — Metrics by stage: what to look at pre vs. post-PMF 16:07 — The pivot that saved Aktana 16:33 — Building in the age of AI: what's different in 2026 19:11 — Why David joined Full Stack CEO™ 19:44 — CEO longevity: the non-negotiables for staying in the game Resources & Links: David Ehrlich on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjehrlich (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjehrlich) Full Stack CEO™: Membership: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/ceo-operating-room (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/ceo-operating-room) Pre-Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/pre-seed-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/pre-seed-track) Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/seed-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/seed-track) Series A: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-a-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-a-track) Series B: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-b-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-b-track) 12-Week Labs: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/labs (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/labs) Free Live Training Sessions: https://luma.com/fullstackceo (https://luma.com/fullstackceo)

5. 

   12 Jun 2026

   The Marathon Mindset: Building Your Business at Your Own Pace in a Noisy Market - Indy Sen

   Discover the nuanced journey of Indy Sen, a seasoned marketing leader with experience from Salesforce to Canva, Box, Matterport, Google, WeWork, Mulesoft, and 3 x IPOs. Indy recently joined Full Stack CEO™ as a Operator Partner to support B2B SaaS & AI CEOs as they scale from pre-seed to Series B. Learn more at www.full-stack-ceo.com (http://www.full-stack-ceo.com). Main Topics: The reality behind a successful career: ups, downs, and purposeful moves Key learnings from working at top tech companies and scaling startups The importance of culture, product quality, and brand consistency How setbacks like layoffs and company failures shape resilience Managing energy, health, and mindset for sustainable leadership Advice for founders in a noisy AI-driven market: pace, focus, and passion Indy’s personal journey through loss, reinvention, and community service Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction to Indy Sen’s career journey and achievements 02:17 - Learning from successes and failures across companies 03:26 - Most formative experiences in marketing at Salesforce and Canva 04:43 - The critical role of product excellence and company culture 05:54 - Culture as an internal brand promise to employees 07:13 - Overcoming challenges: the WeWork and personal setbacks stories 09:17 - Lessons from layoffs and company crises—grace and perspective 10:51 - Managing energy and health in leadership roles 12:15 - The impact of personal loss and life lessons learned 16:54 - The importance of pacing in entrepreneurship 18:29 - The value of supporting startup communities and mentoring 22:22 - Advice for founders: run your race and stay focused amid FOMO 25:31 - Connecting marathon pacing to long-term startup success 26:45 - Indy’s current projects: newsletter, deconstructing marketing playbooks Resources & Links: Indy Sen's Newsletter - The Remarketables - https://www.theremarketables.com/ (https://www.theremarketables.com/) Indy Sen's Website - https://indysen.com (https://indysen.com) LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/indysen/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/indysen/) Full Stack CEO™: Membership: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/ceo-operating-room (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/ceo-operating-room) Pre-Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/pre-seed-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/pre-seed-track) Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/seed-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/seed-track) Series A: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-a-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-a-track) Series B: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-b-track (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-b-track) 12-Week Labs: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/labs (https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/labs) Free Live Training Sessions: https://luma.com/fullstackceo (https://luma.com/fullstackceo)

Contact Full Stack CEO

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.