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Escape Velocity.

Escape Velocity.

Von: Mudita Venture Partners
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Strategies, mindsets, and tactics from hyper-growth founders. Learn what it takes to launch, scale, and win.© 2026 Mudita Venture Partners Management & Leadership Persönliche Finanzen Ökonomie
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  • More Data Won’t Save You | Fahim Sheikh, CEO & Co-founder, Trellis

    More Data Won’t Save You | Fahim Sheikh, CEO & Co-founder, Trellis
    Oct 5 2026
    After 25+ years building and scaling technology companies, CEO Fahim Sheikh has seen firsthand how complexity, noise, and overconfidence can kill growth.At Trellis, that lesson shows up in how the company helps marketplace brands grow profitably. Instead of drowning teams in dashboards, Trellis uses AI and automation to focus on the signals that actually matter—optimizing advertising, pricing, promotions, and content in real time. Fahim explains why AI can’t be left on autopilot, why algorithms still need human judgment, and how constant iteration, not a fast launch, drives real traction.In conversation with Josh Linkner, Fahim breaks down the real work of building a durable company: how experience steadies teams through the inevitable ups and downs, why founders consistently overestimate speed and underestimate iteration, and how leaders earn trust by how they show up when things get messy. He also reflects on his evolution as a CEO—learning empathy, regulating emotion, and leading by example as the company scales.In this episode, we discuss:1. Iteration is the real speed: Why Fahim says founders chasing fast launches stall and how repeated iteration is what actually unlocks product-market fit.2. More data doesn’t mean better decisions: How Trellis helps brands cut through noise and focus on the signals that drive margin and growth.3. AI still needs a human in the loop: Why unguided automation hallucinates and how human judgment multiplies the impact of AI.4. Founders misjudge the real competition: Why future-state competitors matter more than today’s landscape and how to plan for what’s coming, not just what’s visible.5. Leadership shows up in the down cycles: Why Fahim believes teams take their cues from the CEO—and how calm, consistency, and confidence compound over time.Meet the guestFahim Sheikh is the Co-Founder and CEO of Trellis, where he leads the company’s mission to help marketplace brands grow profitably through intelligent automation and data-driven decisioning. With over 25 years of experience in startups, Fahim has built and scaled teams across the full customer lifecycle—from software development and sales engineering to account management, revenue leadership, and regional expansion. He has launched new markets from the ground up and understands firsthand what it takes to turn technology into real business impact. Fahim is deeply passionate about working with customers and sales teams, and is known for his hands-on approach, customer-first mindset, and relentless focus on helping brands succeed in an increasingly complex e-commerce landscape.About TrellisTrellis is a commerce intelligence and automation platform built to help marketplace brands grow profitably and predictably. Powered by advanced AI & automation and designed for today’s multi-marketplace reality, Trellis brings pricing, advertising, product content, and planning into a single intelligent control layer.Trusted by global brands across Amazon, Walmart, and emerging retail media channels, Trellis is redefining how e-commerce teams operate—shifting from optimization to orchestration, and from tools to a true growth platform.Meet the hostJosh Linkner is a rare blend of business, art, and science.He's the New York Times bestselling author of four books, and widely regarded as one of the world's foremost innovation and leadership experts.On the business front, he’s been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which created over 10,000 jobs and sold for a combined value of over $200 million. He’s also the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā Venture Partners—an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies. Over the last 30 years, he’s helped over 100 startups launch and scale, creating over $1 billion of investor returns.While proud of his business success, his roots are in the dangerous world of jazz music. He’s been playing guitar in smoky jazz clubs for 40 years and has performed nearly 2,000 concerts around the world.About Mudita Venture PartnersMudita Venture Partners is different by design.We invest in early-stage, post-revenue, AI-first B2B companies—backing founders who are building what’s next. About 80% of our capital goes directly into operating companies. The remaining 20% fuels Mudita Studios, where we turn bold ideas into venture-backable businesses from the ground up. We believe exceptional returns and meaningful impact can—and should—coexist.Beyond capital, we bring deep operator experience, a philosophy of co-creation, and a hands-on team committed to moving at founder speed. We don’t just fund companies—we help build them.This is venture built for the future.• Website: https://muditavp.com/• Escape Velocity: https://muditavp.com/escape-velocity/• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFo8TWXbXAx7Qh-m3awyYsQ• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/muditavp/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/muditavpTimestamps1:00 Meet...
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    30 Min.
  • Human-Level Beats Demo-Level | Greg Rutty, CEO, Sign AI

    Human-Level Beats Demo-Level | Greg Rutty, CEO, Sign AI
    Oct 5 2026

    Why CEO Greg Rutty refused to ship “good enough” AI and made human-level quality non-negotiable. | Greg Rutty, Co-Founder & CEO, SignAI


    Greg Rutty didn’t set out to build “cool AI.”
    He set out to close the access and dignity gap millions of sign-language users face every day.

    Instead of building for the community, SignAI was built with it, putting Deaf team members in charge of product strategy, quality standards, and the roadmap itself. Drawing on lessons from publishing and Amazon, Greg rejected Silicon Valley’s instinct to hoard data. The real bottleneck wasn’t scale—it was trust, earned by leaning into the Deaf community’s tight-knit “small world” network.


    In this episode of Escape Velocity, Greg Rutty, Co-Founder & CEO of SignAI, joins Josh Linkner to argue for simplicity over sophistication and why human-level quality, not demo-level flash, is the new bar for AI innovation.

    In this episode, we jam on:

    1. Why “human-level” is the only bar that matters
      And why anything less fails the people it claims to serve.

    2. Community-led product development > founder-knows-best
      How making SignAI deaf-led unlocked better ideas and faster breakthroughs.

    3. Trust as the real data moat
      Why small-world networks beat data hoarding when you’re solving the hardest problems.

    4. Simplicity as a competitive advantage
      What Greg learned from publishing and Amazon about making complex technology usable—and human.

    5. Building AI that gives people a voice
      Not just access to information, but the ability to communicate back.


    Meet Our Guest

    Greg Rutty, Co-Founder and CEO of Sign AI, started his career as a children’s book editor at Scholastic before joining Amazon and working in a number of business and product roles. After Amazon he founded Perfect Loop, a tech-enabled recruiting service, then led product development at Karat, a technical interview platform.


    Sign AI is a deaf-led AI company building the world’s largest multimodal ASL models to enable real-time, bidirectional translation between sign languages and spoken and written language. SignAI recently launched its first paid pilot with Amazon Prime Video / MGM with the goal of validating quality and delivery ahead of scaling.


    Meet Our Host

    Josh Linkner is a rare blend of business, art, and science.


    He's the New York Times bestselling author of four books, and widely regarded as one of the world's foremost innovation and leadership experts. On the business front, he’s been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which created over 10,000 jobs and sold for a combined value of over $200 million.


    He’s also the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā Venture Partners — an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies. Over the

    last 30 years, he’s helped over 100 startups launch and scale, creating over $1 billion of investor returns.


    While proud of his business success, his roots are in the dangerous world of jazz music. He’s been playing guitar in smoky jazz clubs for 40 years and has performed nearly 2,000 concerts around the world.

    Meet Mudita
    Website: muditavp.com
    Escape Velocity: muditavp.com/escapevelocity
    LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/muditavp
    YouTube: www.youtube.com/@MuditaVenturePartners

    Timestamps
    0:00 Introduction
    1:20 A Human-Level AI Sign Language Interpreter, Anytime Anywhere
    3:06 The Interpreter Shortage and the Cost of Isolation
    5:27 Profit and Purpose: Why Sign AI Is a Massive Opportunity
    6:27 From Real-Time Translation to Sign Language Avatars
    8:15 Unlocking Emergency Alerts, Conferences, and Movies for Deaf Audiences
    9:41 Building a Deaf-Led Company from Day One
    12:01 Human-Centric Leadership
    13:15 Servant Leadership Without Losing High Standards
    15:25 What Startups Can Learn from the Publishing World
    15:50 Crafting Products Like Books: Editing, Teamwork, and Quality
    18:17 Working Only with People You Truly Like and Respect
    19:37 Simplifying Complex Technology Without Dumbing It Down
    20:35 The Harsh Reality of Startup Roller Coasters
    21:07 Collaborating Without an Interpreter
    23:13 Using Technology to Deepen Human Connection
    24:23 A Future Where Deaf Children Never Start Life in Silence
    27:13 Gratitude, Impact, and the Promise of Sign AI at Scale
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    28 Min.
  • Choose Your Hard | Wes Mathews, CEO, Stealth Consulting

    Choose Your Hard | Wes Mathews, CEO, Stealth Consulting
    Mar 10 2026
    How second-time founder Wes Mathews built conviction, traction, and momentum by deliberately choosing the hard that compounds. | Wes Mathews, Co-Founder & CEO, Stealth.Wes Mathews didn’t build his second company because the first one failed. He built it because success taught him what actually breaks founders.After scaling his first company to $20M+ and exiting, Wes hit a truth many founders quietly face: he fell out of love with his own business. So he did the harder thing—he started again from zero. In this conversation, Wes shares how that reset reshaped how he thinks about sales, leadership, leverage, and growth at the $1–$10M stage.In this episode of Escape Velocity, Wes breaks down the real work of scaling through chaos: why founder-led sales isn’t optional, why ego has to give way to systems, and why chaos isn’t a failure—it’s the tax on growth. He also opens up about choosing the “hard that compounds,” building teams that create capacity instead of burnout, and why business should fuel life—not consume it. In this episode, we jam on: 1. Why founder-led Sales is the unreplicable unlock. What actually breaks momentum when founders step out of sales too early, and why no hire, system, or playbook replaces founder conviction in the market.2. How to avoid ego sabotaging scaling.Why Wes stopped trying to be everywhere, do everything, and “prove” himself and how leverage only shows up once ego steps aside.3. Why chaos isn’t a leadership failure at $1–$10M.How growth creates disorder and what happens when founders design for chaos instead of reacting to it. 4. The trap of “I’ll deal with life later.”How Wes built rules around family, health, and energy and why burning your personal capacity eventually burns your business too.Meet the guest Wes Mathews is the CEO and Co-Founder of Stealth. He’s a founder, operator, and growth strategist who built his previous company, High Level Marketing, from scratch and helped scale it to over $20M before a successful exit. He’s now building again from zero with Stealth Consulting, approaching $3M in ARR in just two years by helping companies eliminate chaos through strategy, execution, and accountability. Wes is also the host of the Entrepreneur Intel podcast and a father of five who believes business should fuel life—not consume it.About Stealth Stealth Consulting is a marketing strategy and execution firm that provides CMO-led fractional marketing teams to growing businesses. Instead of acting like a typical agency, it integrates as a partner, taking full leadership of a company’s marketing—developing strategy, executing campaigns, and being accountable for measurable growth results.Meet the host Josh Linkner is a rare blend of business, art, and science. He's the New York Times bestselling author of four books, and widely regarded as one of the world's foremost innovation and leadership experts. On the business front, he’s been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which created over 10,000 jobs and sold for a combined value of over $200 million.He’s also the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā Venture Partners—an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies. Over the last 30 years, he’s helped over 100 startups launch and scale, creating over $1 billion of investor returns.While proud of his business success, his roots are in the dangerous world of jazz music. He’s been playing guitar in smoky jazz clubs for 40 years and has performed nearly 2,000 concerts around the world.About Mudita Venture PartnersMudita Venture Partners is different by design.We invest in early-stage, post-revenue, AI-first B2B companies—backing founders who are building what’s next. About 80% of our capital goes directly into operating companies. The remaining 20% fuels Mudita Studios, where we turn bold ideas into venture-backable businesses from the ground up. We believe exceptional returns and meaningful impact can—and should—coexist.Beyond capital, we bring deep operator experience, a philosophy of co-creation, and a hands-on team committed to moving at founder speed. We don’t just fund companies—we help build them.This is venture built for the future.• Website: https://muditavp.com/• Escape Velocity: https://muditavp.com/escape-velocity/• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MuditaVenturePartners• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/muditavp/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/muditavp• This podcast on all platforms: https://muditavp.com/podcast/choose-your-hard/Timestamps0:00 - Introduction01:30 - The origin story of Stealth04:45 -"The Stealth Way" and scalable IP08:15 - The meaning behind the "Stealth" name11:45 - The Wes of 2009 vs. the Wes of today15:00 - Surviving the brutal startup grind17:30 - The power of complementary co-founders20:45 - The future of Stealth and integrating AI into the business23:15 - Why "Pirate Energy" is the ultimate indicator of founder ...
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    35 Min.
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