Matthew Yahes has been around the block a few times when it comes to building businesses. As the CEO of Extend Your Team, he's taking the lessons he's learned from either starting, buying, or growing four different companies and putting them to work to help others scale up.
These days, Matthew is connecting businesses with top-notch talent in the Philippines, showing founders how to build strong teams without breaking the bank. Whether it's e-commerce, restaurants, or staffing, Matthew's seen it all - and he's sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly of his story.
In this episode, we went particularly deep into the evolution of a founder's role, from hands-on operator to strategic leader. We explore the stages of a founder's journey, the importance of hands-on experience, strategic time management, and the art of delegation.
Matthew has a gold mine of tips on how founders can effectively grow with their companies. So whether you're just starting out or looking to scale your existing business, this conversation is packed with practical advice.
Listen to the full episode here:
Here are 5 takeaways on scaling your role that stood out to me from our conversation:
As founders, we often find ourselves wearing multiple hats, especially in the early stages of our startups. But how does this role evolve as our companies grow? Matthew Yahes offers a clear roadmap:
“First, you outsource admin. Then, as you level up, you're outsourcing customer onboarding, operations, and marketing, then sales, then leadership. Eventually, you're just the CEO or even just the owner. You move yourself up the food chain."
By understanding this, you can anticipate your company's needs and prepare accordingly. Are you still handling admin tasks? It might be time to outsource. Are you deeply involved in operations? Start planning for the transition to a more strategic role. This foresight allows you to make informed decisions about skill development, hiring, and organizational structure, setting the stage for sustainable growth.
Before you can effectively delegate, you have to understand the nuts and bolts of your business. Matthew emphasizes this, particularly when it comes to sales:
"Who's going to sell the product better at the start? And how are you going to know if someone's selling it poorly if you can't sell it yourself? If you hire someone and they're not performing, you need to understand why. Is it really not the right leads, or is it because they're not doing it correctly? Unless you sell it yourself, you won't know."
This is how you build a foundation of knowledge that will inform your leadership for years to come. By getting your hands dirty in key areas of your business, you're learning how to set realistic expectations, provide meaningful guidance, and accurately assess performance. This experience is invaluable when it comes time to build and manage your team.
As your company grows, one of the most challenging shifts is learning to value your time differently. Matthew offers a simple framework for making this mental leap:
"If you value your time at $100 an hour, and you're spending time on something that would cost $45 an hour for someone else to do, then you're valuing your time at $45 an hour. Go give it to someone else."
This is strategic resource allocation. As a founder, your time is your most valuable asset. By quantifying its value, you can make more informed decisions about where to focus your efforts. This is crucial for scaling your business effectively because it ensures that every hour you invest is generating the maximum possible return for your company.
Growth is an ongoing process. As your company evolves, so too must your role within it. Matthew stresses the importance of regular self-assessment:
"Every three to six months, you need to fire yourself from your job and elevate yourself. If you don't do it, you're going to be stuck. End of story."
This might sound drastic, but it comes down to being proactive rather than reactive. By regularly stepping back and evaluating your role, you ensure that you're always positioned to add the most value to your company. This ongoing evolution is what separates founders who successfully scale their businesses from those who get stuck in the weeds.
The ultimate goal of all these steps is to create space for growth. Matthew shares how effective delegation has allowed him to focus on scaling his business:
"My team in the Philippines has been running the day-to-day operations for three years. If I was still doing that, there's no way I could have scaled another company at the same time. I'm now launching a service line that's potentially going to make the company a lot more money."
This is the payoff of understanding your evolving role, gaining hands-on experience, valuing your time appropriately, and regularly reassessing your position. Effective delegation isn't about offloading tasks you don't want to do—it's about creating the mental bandwidth to identify and pursue new opportunities that will take your business to the next level.
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