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.

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
• 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: 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

Full Stack CEO™:

• Membership: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/ceo-operating-room
• Pre-Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/pre-seed-track
• Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/seed-track
• Series A: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-a-track
• 12-Week Labs: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/labs
• Free Live Training Sessions: https://luma.com/fullstackceo

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.

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

Full Stack CEO™:

• Membership: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/ceo-operating-room
• Pre-Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/pre-seed-track
• Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/seed-track
• Series A: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-a-track
• Series B: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-b-track
• 12-Week Labs: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/labs
• Free Live Training Sessions: https://luma.com/fullstackceo

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.

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/
• Indy Sen's Website - https://indysen.com
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/indysen/

Full Stack CEO™:

• Membership: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/ceo-operating-room
• Pre-Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/pre-seed-track
• Seed: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/seed-track
• Series A: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-a-track
• Series B: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/series-b-track
• 12-Week Labs: https://www.full-stack-ceo.com/labs
• Free Live Training Sessions: https://luma.com/fullstackceo