Saying No to Scale: Pipeline Cuts, ECO Fatigue & 500% Growth Without Breaking
About this episode
Matt and Michael discuss the importance of saying no as a growth strategy while sharing insights on their business adjustments and marketing successes.
Matt and Michael open with a rare moment of alignment — both independently arrived at the same conclusion this week: they're doing too much. Matt trimmed his sales pipeline from 95 deals down to 33, cutting loose months-old leads that were draining energy without moving forward. Michael is rethinking his entire business model, pushing toward a larger share of semi-turnkey and product revenue and away from the complex integrations that eat margin and goodwill. Both are learning, in their own ways, that saying no is a growth strategy. On the marketing side, Michael hits a milestone — Shopify becomes the majority of revenue for the first time, driven by a Google Ads campaign running at 60x ROAS and a newly launched Auto Vice LT going immediately to backorder. Matt finalizes plans for the VFS spinoff page, approves new homepage and service page updates, and reflects on a six-year, 32-page sales playbook that finally gets a Claude-assisted rewrite. Engineering-wise, Matt's team goes all-in on Project 29 — a complex multi-robot build targeting delivery in under six months — while managing 91% utilization and onboarding a wave of new engineers. Michael launches the Auto Vice LT, rolls…
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