Jesse Pujji reveals how he builds wildly successful companies from scratch by doubling down on talent, distribution, and the power of bootstrapping.

In this episode, Sarah Lockwood sits down with the serial founder and investor behind Gateway X, a venture studio that launches and scales high-performing companies without venture capital. Jesse shares how he went from Goldman Sachs and McKinsey to building Ampush, one of Facebook’s earliest and most effective performance marketing agencies, which grew to manage over $1 billion in ad spend for top brands like Uber, Peloton, and Dollar Shave Club. That experience became the foundation for how he now builds high-performance teams and scalable businesses through bootstrapping.

Jesse breaks down the core principles that drive his companies: hiring exceptional talent, obsessing over sales and distribution, and staying rooted in profitability from day one. He shares the origin stories of ventures like GrowthAssistant, which connects startups with offshore marketing talent, and explains how each business at Gateway X is shaped by a unique unfair advantage and the right operating partner, not a VC-funded roadmap. From his two-farm model for sourcing ideas and people to his frameworks for knowing when to walk away from a failing project, Jesse offers a rare look into what it really takes to scale without VC.

This is a must-listen for founders ready to trade the unicorn myth for real traction, culture-driven leadership, and sustainable growth on their own terms.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Jesse Pujji’s Entrepreneurial Journey from Ampush to Gateway X

05:01 Core Principles for Bootstrapping and Scaling Without VC

08:48 How GrowthAssistant Scaled to $20M in Revenue

13:32 The Two-Farm Model: Matching Ideas with the Right People

15:00 Knowing When to Kill an Idea and Move On

16:02 Inside Aux: Translating Marketing for Private Equity

21:09 Why Sales and Distribution Matter More Than Product

22:14 The Power of High Performance Teams

27:02 Building Profitable Companies with Operational Rigor

34:30 Managing Attention, Energy, and Leadership Across Startups

38:48 Conscious Leadership and the Value of Coaching

Links

Dave Kashen - Startup CEO Coach

Book - The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: https://a.co/d/j4uKz9A

Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/conscious-entrepreneur/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conscious_entrepreneur_summit/ 

Website: http://www.consciousentrepreneur.us 

Connect with Jesse Pujji:

Website Gateway X: https://www.gateway.xyz/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessepujji/

Connect with Sarah Lockwood:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lockwoodsarah/

Website: https://hivecast.fm

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