Revenue Hid the Problem

Almost three years ago, I called a mentor of mine, Pramod Dabir, in a state of panic.

I was in over my head.

Financially. Operationally. Managerially.

And deep down, I knew something even worse:

I had built a business I didn’t fully understand.

So why was Pramod my first call?

Six months earlier, we met through the Entrepreneurs’ Organization SF Chapter.
One day we grabbed coffee.

He casually mentioned he had sold his first service business for a strong multiple.

Naturally, I asked:

“How?”

He said they were running at 60% margins.

I asked again.

“How?”

He looked at me and said:

“Close to 90% of our team was offshore.”

That answer stuck with me.

Not because of the margins.
Because it revealed something bigger.

He understood leverage, systems, and how to build a business that didn’t collapse under its own weight.

At the time, I didn’t realize how badly I would need that lesson.

–

Back to 2023.

I still remember that phone call.

I felt trapped. Like invisible walls were closing in from every direction.

The kind of pressure where your chest tightens because you know the math no longer works.

And worse, you know you’re the reason.

I remember Pramod saying:

“Come to my house. We’ll go through your cost structure and financial model.”

So I did.

The first thing he looked at was the expense sheet.

He had a strong reaction . . . It was actually a brutal reaction. 

$2.5k/month for accounting and bookkeeping.
US-based account coordinators making nearly $8k/month.
$2k/month for outsourced HR management… for a 20-person company.
Two writing hires costing nearly $15k/month combined.

And there was more.

What hit me hardest wasn’t just the numbers.

It was realizing I had accepted them without questioning them (or even looking properly).

Ultimately, inefficiency can disguise itself as momentum.

Revenue covers mistakes.
Until it doesn’t.

I wasn’t close enough to the business to understand what was healthy.
Or sustainable.
Or completely insane.

The path forward became painfully clear after that meeting:

1. Cut every ounce of unnecessary weight.

2. Build toward recurring profitability.

3. Or watch the business die.

There wasn’t really a fourth option.

Over the next two years, Pramod and I met weekly.

We rebuilt the financial models (with Andrew on our team).
We upgraded the financial reporting systems.
We learned how to understand the business week by week instead of emotionally reacting month by month.

And I probably brought Blaire on our team to the edge of a heart attack more times than I’m proud to share . . .

One phrase from him still echoes in my head:

“Every single dollar matters.”

At the time, I hated hearing it.

Now I understand it.

It’s easy to understand why ambitious founders fail.
Not because of lack of effort. But lack of operational reality.
And not having the right people around them to help them see the way out.

—

So where are we today?

Today, the Arcbound team is global.

More than half our company is outside the United States.

Team members across India, the Philippines, and Ukraine.

Ironically, two of our hires came from a hike Pramod went on.
One of them, Rafael, approached him near a waterfall.

That introduction turned into one of the most impactful hires we’ve ever made.
Rafael is coding by night, building sales systems by day. His engineer mind can build literally anything.

Funny how life works sometimes.

But here’s what changed my perspective completely:

1. Global talent works incredibly hard.

There’s this lazy narrative that talent beyond the US lacks ownership, ability, or initiative.
That hasn’t been our experience at all.

The truth is: People rise to the standards and systems you build around them.

We were intentional about the culture.
Intentional about expectations.
Intentional about who we didn’t want.

And because of that, Ralent, Pramod’s resourcing company found incredible people.

2. Great operators multiply talent.

Blaire, who leads our client service operations, has done a phenomenal job helping our global team onboard and succeed.

Talent without structure creates chaos.
Structure without trust creates disengagement.

The best operators know how to create both accountability and belief.

3. Most people want more responsibility than we assume.

In the last month alone, several team members proactively approached us asking how they could grow inside the company.

Not because we forced them.
Because they wanted to contribute more.
One of them is Shreejata on our team – whose design work under Eli has been incredible to witness.

It’s been incredibly rewarding to see a team who yearns for growth, opposed to wanting the door out. I’ve felt it from both sides.

Looking back now, almost failing taught me something I never would’ve learned during easier seasons:

A business is not validated by revenue.

It’s validated by resilience (and profit).

Can it survive pressure and adapt?
Can it operate efficiently enough to earn the right to scale?

For a long time, I thought scaling revenue was right.

Profit and revenue are not the same thing. 

Had I not made that phone call to Pramod, I’m not sure Arcbound would still exist today.

Behind almost every founder who “figured it out” is usually a moment where things almost fell apart.

And then a village who helped pull them through.

If you’re building something right now and the walls feel like they’re closing in, I hope this reminds you:

Sometimes the breakthrough starts by finally looking directly at the numbers you’ve been avoiding.

And realizing that asking for help can be a strength, not a weakness.

. . . 

The good news is that I think my hair is starting to grow back.


Community Notes:

1) If you’re looking for great talent abroad, look no further than Ralent.

2) Have you done the test your doctor doesn’t run? As a high achiever, we know you manage everything. Different manages your health. Book Your Assessment.