Meet Tracy Lawrence, founder of Chewse, the catering marketplace she scaled from a Word Doc MVP and $10 eFax line to $20M+ in revenue, 300 employees, and $40M raised.
While most founders obsess over tech and funnels, Tracy built Chewse by doing the unscalable—running her first 100 orders manually, walking into restaurants cold, and building trust one relationship at a time. But scaling fast came with a cost: burnout, a failed Series C, and the hardest decision of all—knowing when to let go.
In this episode, Tracy breaks down how she validated demand without tech, scaled a marketplace across multiple cities, built a “love culture” that fueled retention, and what it really looks like to grieve the business you built.
💡 Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
How to Validate Demand Before You Build Tech: Why Tracy ran her first 100 orders manually and why manual = insight engine.
The 5 Experiments That Scaled to $20M+: Scrappy tests that compounded into multimillion-dollar growth.
How to Balance Supply + Demand in a Marketplace: Why every city needs a tailored formula, not a copy-paste model.
The “Love Culture” Framework for Teams: How Chewse scaled to 300 employees without losing its soul.
How to Recognize Burnout + Know When to Let Go: Why resentment is the red flag founders can’t ignore.
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