From garage to a $250 million global aerospace supplier—and then do it again and again as an investor and mentor.

In this episode, Jerry Jendusa, founder of EMTEQ and now head of Breakthru, shares how a mix of listening to customers, discipline, and people-first leadership drove his growth journey. From bootstrapping to $100 million in sales and $250 million exit, Jerry reflects on lessons learned:

• people trump process
• process trumps product
• customers trump capital
• debt trumps equity.

A proud Wisconsin native, Jerry also discusses building bridges in polarized times through shared purpose and growth.

Favorite Quotes

“We learned, sometimes the hard way, to prioritize people and process—but learned fast. At the end of the day, people create the process, so people always trump process.”

“We set out to raise customers, not capital. We wanted to live inside customers’ value stream: their minds, habits, and pain points.”

“Equity is far more expensive than debt. The smarter you are about leveraging debt, the faster your equity can grow.”

“I still meet $5-million companies who brag, ‘I pay cash for everything.’ My reaction? ‘Are you serious?!?’ That’s not strength—it’s stagnation.”

“To my younger self: don’t start a business—buy one.”

Key Themes

People over process: Sustainable scaling begins with the right team, not the right manual.

Customer intimacy: The best capital is customer trust, not investor cash.

Smart leverage: Knowing when (and how) to use debt accelerates equity growth.

Scaling culture: Values, discipline, and a bias for listening build companies that last.

Key Takeaways

Growth follows focus—on people, customers, and disciplined risk.

Process matters, but only when people buy in.

Debt, used wisely, can be a growth engine.

Entrepreneurs don’t need to invent something new—they can scale what already works better.

From Ghana to Czech Republic to Harvard Business School to the frontlines of Africa’s digital economy, Raphael (“Rafi”) Afaedor's career is a masterclass in vision, immersion, and execution. Having co-founded Jumia—the first African e-commerce giant to list on the NYSE—and later Kyosk, a B2B platform connecting fast-moving consumer goods producers to informal retail shops and end customers, Rafi has learned firsthand how to scale in large, complex markets.

As Rafi explains, Africa’s so-called ‘difficult markets’ are actually vast opportunities for those who learn to adapt to local realities rather than impose foreign business models. From repackaging fertilizer in much smaller, 1kg bags to rethinking online payments, his story is about listening, learning, and building systems that work for real people—not just spreadsheets or foreign VCs.

Favorite Quotes

· “Capital reaches Africa last—and dries up first. Choose investors who have patience and understand the terrain.”

· “You can’t change customer behavior. It’s much easier to work with what already exists than to try to replace it.”

· “Africa’s customer service works—it just works the African way.”

· “Think in decades, not exits. The continent will reward those who stay the course.”

· “Leadership isn’t formal authority. It’s when people still call you ‘boss’ even after you’ve left.”

Key Themes

· Adapting Global Models to Local Realities: Western e-commerce assumptions often fail in Africa; success means redesigning for local buying patterns and logistics.

· Leadership through Respect: Rafi’s philosophy—‘you can’t be a leader if you don’t have followers’—underscores the power of informal authority and dignity.

· Venture Capital Fit: Choosing investors who understand Africa’s pace and volatility can make or break a scaling journey.

· The Long Game: True scale takes patience, persistence, and alignment among partners for the long haul.

· Repackaging for Affordability: A consistent lesson—from fertilizer to consumer goods—is that smaller, accessible SKUs unlock massive new markets.

I believe that one of the biggest challenges in going from a few millions to a few tens of millions is building systems and processes that enable scaling. We have seen this challenge in the majority of the ScaleApp Podcast discussions, Giscad is just the most recent example. As Julie Brandle explains, one aspect of their scaling challenge was to bring on more specialized professional services - legal, accounting, HR etc.

Metis is also a great story of resilience - recession, Pandemic, and now, October 2025, significant market uncertainty.

Maybe we need to re-define “Resilience” = “Metis Construction?”

Julie Brandle, founder and president of Metis Construction in Ohio, has built a significant construction services company based in Ohio. Launching in 2009, in the depths of the recession, Brandle turned uncertainty into opportunity. Today, Metis employs about 50 people, generates $30–50 million in revenue, and works across Ohio and beyond with clients such as Firestone Auto Care, Dollar General, McAlister’s Deli, and Bank of America.

Brandle’s formula is simple but powerful: build trust, deliver on time and on budget, and treat every project—large or small—with equal seriousness. Along the way, she has overcome some skepticism of entering a “man’s business,” "over-scaled" too rapidly during COVID to $50 million, and learned that growth must be strategic, not just fast. Metis is also a proud alum of ScaleratorNEO, where Julie and her team sharpened their growth mindset around the three C’s: cash, customers, and capacity.

Favorite Quotes

· “We hit our goal of around the $50 million mark during COVID. And it’s a stressful mark… don’t grow for the sake of growth.”

· “Sometimes clients would ask who I, a woman at a construction site, brought with me. And I’d say, it’s just me. I’m the owner and president.”

· “Our whole team was on board at ScaleratorNEO - I didn’t have to sell decisions later - yhey were already there, part of it from scratch."

· “If it’s important to you and you need it, we’re here to help you. No project is too small."

Key Themes

· Strategic Growth vs. Fast Growth: Rapid expansion can overwhelm systems, people, and processes; scaling requires infrastructure upgrades at every stage.

· Resilience in Uncertainty: Starting in a recession, weathering COVID, and navigating inflationary shocks, Metis has adapted while maintaining service.

· Culture & Teamwork: Remote work strained culture, but flexibility and intentional rebuilding are helping restore cohesion.

· Women in Construction: Julie has confronted skepticism head-on, proving that credibility comes from competence and delivery.

· Scalerator Impact: Involving the whole team in structured growth planning made scaling practices stick.