Charlie Horn’s journey from entrepreneur to industry disruptor is a masterclass in strategic scaling. As the founder of ScriptSave, he revolutionized consumer access to prescription drug savings, transforming a simple idea into a billion-dollar business. Today, through 5Lights Group, he continues to champion emerging ventures that challenge the status quo.

A core challenge in scaling any business is monetization—who pays, when do they pay, and on what basis? Charlie’s experience at ScriptSave highlights how rethinking revenue models can unlock scalability and profitability. His story is not just about growth, but about building self-sustaining business models that scale efficiently.

In this episode, Charlie shares key insights on:

• The economic principles behind scalable businesses—why large markets and high-margin models are crucial.
• The evolution of his revenue model at ScriptSave—from early struggles to a breakthrough monetization strategy.
• How to build a company culture that prioritizes efficiency and innovation.
• Why companies like Amazon, Google, and Nvidia scale successfully—and what lessons smaller businesses can learn from them.

Charlie’s approach will challenge the way you think about scaling your own business—from revenue strategy to sustainable growth.

Let’s dive in with Charlie Horn.

Thanks for listening! This episode is brought to you by Kaihan Krippendorff of Outthinker Networks, Verne Harnish of Scaling Up, and the team at Growth Institute.

Julie Copeland’s journey to becoming CEO of Arbill is one of transformation, resilience, and strategic reinvention. Founded in 1945 by her grandfather as a laundry business for industrial gloves, Arbill evolved into a leader in workplace safety solutions.

Julie grew up witnessing both the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship, with her father navigating a difficult path and her mother charting her own creative course. After forging her own path in data warehousing, Julie joined Arbill in 1997, eventually taking the reins in 2005.

Faced with a transactional business model and stiff competition, she pivoted Arbill toward a bold new vision: helping companies build world-class safety environments through innovative products, education, and consulting. She transformed a traditional low margin business into a high margin solutions company with deep, loyal client relationships. Today, Arbill partners with organizations to not only meet but exceed their safety goals, ensuring that every worker goes home safe.

In this episode, Julie shares her insights on leadership, innovation, and how focusing on mission and purpose can drive both impact and growth.

We’ll cover:

• The pivotal strategic shift that transformed Arbill’s business model
• How Arbill developed a structured rhythm for strategy execution
• Why aligning to a higher purpose is consistent with achieving higher profits
• Ultimately, Julie’s transformational strategy points to the power of combining three important strategic concepts: picking the right Total Addressable Market, appealing to a higher value Job to be Done, and serving customers with higher customer lifetime value. In other words, find the right number of valuable, underserved customers

Let’s dive in with Julie Copeland.

Thanks for listening! This episode is brought to you by Kaihan Krippendorff of Outthinker Networks, Verne Harnish of Scaling Up, and the team at Growth Institute.

Brian Scudamore is a founder, serial entrepreneur, and pioneer of the professional junk hauling industry. As the founder and CEO of O2E Brands - which stands for Ordinary to Exceptional – he's built not just one successful company, but three: 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, WOW 1 DAY PAINTING, and Shack Shine. A recipient of Fortune's Small Business Best Bosses Award and a three-time winner of their Best Company to Work For Award, he's also been recognized in the Globe and Mail's Top 40 Under 40 and by the International Franchise Association as Entrepreneur of the Year.

But Brian's story begins in a McDonald's drive-through at age 18. A high school dropout with one course left to graduate, he saw a beat-up pickup truck with "Mark's Hauling" scrawled on its side. That moment of inspiration led him to invest $700 in his own truck, and from that humble beginning, he would go on to build the world's largest junk removal company.

What makes Brian's story particularly valuable for entrepreneurs is how he did it. His "painted picture" vision process has become a blueprint for ambitious goal-setting. His people-first philosophy – that if we take care of our people, they will take care of our customers – has proven that culture isn't just about feeling good; it's about driving growth. And his systematic approach to finding and transforming "ordinary" industries offers a roadmap that other entrepreneurs can follow.

Brian shares these insights and more in his books "WTF? (Willing to Fail)" and "BYOB - Build Your Own Business, Be Your Own Boss." You can also catch him as a Dragon on CBC's Dragon's Den, where he helps other entrepreneurs realize their dreams.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• How to create and use a "painted picture" vision to align your team and achieve ambitious goals
• Why focusing on happy customers AND happy employees is the key to scaling
• The system for identifying and transforming ordinary industries into exceptional businesses
• How he used a unique promotional strategy to significantly reduce customer acquisition costs
• How failure, including firing his entire first team of 11 people, led to his biggest breakthroughs

Let's learn from Brian Scudamore.

Thanks for listening! This episode is brought to you by Kaihan Krippendorff of Outthinker Networks, Verne Harnish of Scaling Up, and the team at Growth Institute.