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Mark Scott built Bella & Duke into one of the UK's biggest raw pet food brands - £40M+ revenue, 140+ employees, profitable since early on - then deliberately stepped down as CEO at £30M to get out of his own way. He breaks down how community (not audience) drove Bella & Duke's growth, why referral rate is the only way to beat the "death curve" on rising CAC, and the signals that tell a founder they've become the bottleneck. Plus: delegating KPIs not tasks, hiring people who aren't like you, and why he now spends his time doing breathwork instead of chasing another exit.

Timestamps:

02:58 Chopping a tree, and finding raw dog food
07:51 Community vs audience, and why authenticity is uncomfortable
11:03 A clear mission makes every decision easy
17:34 Be more like a duck: expecting failure and letting it go
20:07 Redefining the category and getting raw into retail
22:31 The death curve and why referral rate is everything
29:02 From pet food to full pet wellness
39:32 Stepping down as CEO at £30m
41:15 Are you the bottleneck? Signals to watch for
46:18 Hiring people better than you, and delegating accountability
49:55 Building a business vs building yourself a job
51:24 Torus Tree, 9D breathwork and leading from the heart
57:35 The real goal: energy, not money

Torus Tree: https://www.torustree.com/
Follow Mark Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markscottperth/

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