Issue #82 • July 26th, 2026

Hi Reader,

In 2025, woom Global did $175.9 million in revenue, worldwide. A record year.

I bootstrapped woom USA from scratch to over $20M per year within less than 6 years, then became CEO of the global business managing $100M per year. I didn't build all of that on my own, plenty of people across multiple countries built woom into what it is. But for a long stretch, I was the one at the center of it.

Worth saying up front, this isn't about the early days. If you're two people in a garage still figuring out product market fit, you probably do need to be in the middle of everything, that's the job right now. This is for the founder or owner who already has a real team and a real org built, and is still running it like it's day one.

End of 2023, I stepped down as CEO. Not sold, not fired, stepped back on purpose. It wasn't an easy time to be stepping away either, we were coming out of COVID and still working hard to keep growing through it. I handed the keys to a team I trusted. People told me I was making a mistake. Why leave in the middle of that?

Truth is, I never actually saw myself running the global business forever. I always wanted a team and leaders in place who could run it without me needing to be in the middle of every decision.

For a while I told myself the business needed me specifically, not just needed someone. Early on, that was probably true. But at some point it turned into a story I kept telling myself, because being needed felt better than the alternative.

Underneath that was a question I had to actually sit with. If the business runs this well without me, where does my value come from.

That's not a knock on the team, they earned every bit of that growth. It's more of an identity thing, and honestly it took me way longer than it should have to separate the two.

What I actually learned

I had control and value mixed up in my head for years. More decisions running through me felt like I was adding more value. It's actually the opposite. If a business only works because you're personally in it, that's not a strength, that's a risk. Letting go didn't mean I cared less about the years I put in, it just meant I could finally care about it without being anxious the whole time. From the inside, staying that involved feels like commitment. Most of the time it's just fear.

Key takeaways

• Ask if your business would thrive without you, not just survive. Surviving is a low bar.
• Watch your calendar, not your intentions. What you actually spend your time on tells the real story, not what you say you want.
• Notice if staying involved feels like fear more than commitment. If pulling back makes you anxious rather than relieved, that's worth sitting with.
• You don't have to wait years to see this clearly. Get there on purpose, sooner than I did.

If you genuinely weren't reachable for a month, what would your business do. Hit reply and tell me what you found. I read every one.

P.S. If this hit close to home, I'm starting Birthing of Giants here in Austin, a program built for owners of $5M to $100M businesses working through exactly this kind of thing: control, growth, and building something that doesn't need you to survive. I'm hosting a dinner for a small group on August 13th in Austin to talk through it in person. Send me a note if you're interested in attending and learning more, or check out the details here:

Mathias Ihlenfeld | Entrepreneur | Coach | Advisor

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