Avoiding Common Growth Pitfalls: How Founders Can Hire, Lead, and Scale Smarter

Susan Kearney is the Managing Director, Board Member, and Partner at Newport LLC, a business advisory firm helping middle-market companies grow and exit. Before Newport, she was the COO of Network for Good, where she achieved 40% annual recurring revenue growth, and the Co-founder of Voxant, a digital media company acquired by Blinkx. Susan also held executive positions at Paragren Technologies and IRI Software.

In this episode…

Scaling a business is hard enough, but sustaining the right team, culture, and leadership approach while doing it can be even harder. Many founders find themselves stuck with a team that can't grow with the company, unclear cultural values, or investor relationships that turn sour. How can business owners ensure their company evolves while staying true to its values?

Rather than implementing short-term fixes, entrepreneur and growth advisor Susan Kearney explains that long-term strategic thinking helps founders hire people who can grow with the business. Building scalable teams requires balancing people-first cultures with necessary accountability, avoiding entitlement, and rebuilding internal culture when needed. Susan emphasizes that alignment, trust, and clarity are essential for sustainable growth. 

In today’s Growth + Exit episode, Chad Franzen of Rise25 interviews Susan Kearney, the Managing Director, Board Member, and Partner at Newport LLC, about building a scalable company through an intentional team culture. Susan explains how remote teams can stay engaged and productive, how to rebuild your culture during an internal pivot, and how the right culture attracts strategic investors.