John St. Pierre built a $55M business, raised $20M in private equity… and was fired from the company he co-founded just six months later. But instead of walking away, he turned that gut-wrenching moment into the foundation for a new $100M+ business — built patiently, profitably, and on his terms. This episode is a raw, no-fluff masterclass in scaling smart, protecting your equity, and bouncing back when everything crashes. Through real-life lessons and battle-tested strategy, John breaks down how to grow without losing control — and why most founders don’t realize they’re vulnerable until it’s too late. • Getting fired from his own company after raising $20M • How losing everything led to a $100M comeback • Building self-financeable growth instead of relying on outside capital • Creating a 30-year life plan and aligning business decisions to it • Moving from CEO to Chairperson to unlock true strategic scale • Why founders must protect their cap table early • The danger of shiny object syndrome and how he overcame it • The real cost of burnout and over-scaling • How to forecast, protect cash, and build margin visibility • Why “patient ambition” beats hyper-growth every time My Links Host: Tyler Martin , Fractional CFO and Business Coach Having challenges scaling and growing your business? Book a meeting with me: https://calendly.com/tylermartin/strategy Link to show notes: https://thinktyler.com/podcast_episode/power-to-powerless-john-st-pierre/ Podcast: ThinkBusinesswithTyler.com  Linkedin  Instagram  YouTube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices