Hi Reader,
You've built something real. Revenue is up. The team is bigger than it used to be. And somewhere along the way, you stopped having anyone to talk to who actually understands what you're carrying.
That's the problem I built this for.
What I Saw at My Own Table
On Thursday, I sat down with eleven business owners in Austin for a dinner with one rule: leave your humility at the door, and bring your real challenge, not a polished one.
The room represented over $100 million in combined annual revenue, with average growth sitting around 50%. A $25 million pet food brand. An apparel company that went from $28,000 to a projected $22 million in five years. A manufacturer making the deliberate decision to bring production back to the United States. A founder who left her teaching job this year to run her growing brand full time.
And every single one of them, regardless of size or industry, named the same problem when we got honest: finding and keeping the right people to help them grow.
I said something at that table that stuck with people more than I expected: "Sometimes the guys who got you to 20 million ain't going to get you 50 million." It wasn't about any one hire going wrong. It was about recognizing that the skills that built your company aren't always the skills that scale it, and that includes your own.
We talked for nearly two hours and could have kept going. Then we walked to dinner and kept talking.
That dinner is a preview. The real work starts October 15th.
Why I'm Doing This
I serve as the Regional Cohort Leader for Birthing of Giants here in Central Texas. I didn't take on this role because I needed another title. I took it on because I spent years building my own business mostly alone, and I know exactly what that costs you. The blind spots you can't see because nobody close enough to you will say it out loud. The decisions you make twice as slowly because you're making them by yourself. The wins you can't fully feel because there's no one in the room who actually understands what it took.
I wish I'd had a program like this sooner. So I'm building it here, for the business owners in this region who are ready for what's next.
What the Program Actually Is
The Birthing of Giants Regional Cohort Program is a two-year, executive-level, MBA-style program built exclusively for business owners, delivered right here in your community. A select group of like-minded founders meets quarterly to collaborate, learn, and apply proven strategies on a journey to make their businesses more profitable, easier to run, and ultimately more valuable.
This isn't a new idea I'm testing. For more than 25 years, Birthing of Giants has given entrepreneurs a clear roadmap to growth, grounded in extensive research into what actually drives private company success. The curriculum is built on the "6 Steps to a Bigger Business" framework, shaped by decades of work with Inc. 5000 companies, the fastest-growing privately held businesses in America. The flagship Fellowship Program, often called the "Inc. 5000 School," has become the trusted destination for leaders who want to sharpen their strategy, expand their network, and scale with real confidence.
The Regional Cohort brings that same proven roadmap closer to home, guided by seasoned entrepreneurs who understand exactly what's ahead of you, with a curriculum designed by Lewis Schiff, a founder, author, and entrepreneur with two successful exits of his own.
Here's what the two years actually looks like. Each quarter, the cohort meets for a full day: time on the growth roadmap and strategies you can apply immediately, a guided strategic planning session to map your next twelve months, a guest speaker who has actually built and exited a company, and dedicated time for peer-to-peer problem solving on whatever is most urgent in your business right now. Between sessions, the group stays connected so the thinking never goes cold. The two years build toward an immersive five-day Capstone Workshop, led by some of the world's top entrepreneurs, equipping you with the tools, insights, and network to confidently lead your company into its next phase of growth.
What This Has Done for Others
"The Birthing of Giants programs are truly life-changing for me. As an owner and business person, I had plateaued in many ways. The adage of 'if you want to grow your business, grow yourself' ended up being true for me. The growth for me came through the programs and the people involved." — Jeff Aplin, CEO, Aplin
"After the Fellowship Program, I met my annual goals three months early. I never would have done it without Birthing of Giants." — Toni Jacarusco, Founder, Jacaruso Enterprises
"There is nothing that has been as impactful in my career as the Fellowship Program. Absolutely incredible." — Mark O'Brien, CEO, Newfangled
One Fellow described it this way: "Birthing of Giants has allowed me to design a roadmap for my business that's at least 10x what it was before I started." The benchmark data backs that up. One member's business posted a 478% increase in valuation over three years using the program's own performance tracking. Another grew a standalone e-commerce business 193% over the same window after a buyout.
Who This Is For
This program is built for ambitious entrepreneurs who are committed to scaling. Ideal candidates are CEOs or majority owners of fast-growing, private companies with annual revenues exceeding $5 million. If that's you, you already know the kind of drive it takes to get here. What you may not have yet is the room, and the roadmap, to take you further.
Class size is intentionally small, 10 to 16 CEOs per cohort, because the value of this program depends entirely on the caliber of the room. The time commitment is one full day each quarter for two years, plus the five-day Capstone Workshop.
What I'm Asking
I'm not looking to fill seats. I'm looking for the right people.
If you're a business owner doing $5 million or more in revenue, and you're tired of carrying the weight of every decision alone, this is the room I built for you. The dinners I'm hosting monthly are where you can see what this community actually feels like before October 15th. The cohort is where the real work begins.
Seats are limited by design. If this is the next chapter of your business, I'd love to talk with you directly. Reach out, and let's see if this is the room you've been missing.
Mathias Ihlenfeld
About Mathias
Mathias Ihlenfeld is a proud father of Luca (14) and Sofia (11), loving partner to Doralicia, and an award-winning entrepreneur based in Austin, TX.
He serves as the Austin Cohort Leader and Coach for the Birthing of Giants Regional Cohort, a selective fellowship program for growth-focused founders and CEOs building high-impact companies.
He is also the creator of The R.E.C.L.A.I.M. Code, an elite personal optimization framework built specifically for divorced high performers. His proprietary 6-stage framework helps divorced founders rebuild identity, attract aligned love, and ignite purpose-driven business performance.
As the founder of woom bikes USA, Mathias built one of North America’s fastest-growing direct-to-consumer kids’ bike companies, earning multiple Inc. 5000 honors—including a 742% three-year growth rate in 2020—and recognition as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. In 2021, he played a pivotal role in merging the U.S. and European operations, leading the combined $100M global business as CEO in 2022 and 2023. His leadership has been recognized with honors such as Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist and the Vistage Impact Leadership Award.
A graduate of the Birthing of Giants Fellowship Program, Mathias brings decades of expertise in entrepreneurship, business transformation, and conscious leadership. Through his coaching practice, he works with founders, executives, and high-achieving men navigating personal reinvention, guiding them through identity rebuilding, emotional mastery, business growth, and relationship alignment.
Today, Mathias mentors with SKU, invests in purpose-driven brands, and writes on his Substack—sharing hard-earned lessons, strategic insight, and stories from his journey building global brands and leading life transformations.