You Built the RIA. Now Build the Company.
I coach founders and CEOs of successful RIAs to build the leadership, team, strategy, and operating discipline required to scale beyond themselves.
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As your RIA grows, your job changes.
Advisor → owner → leader → CEO.
The skills that built a successful advisory practice won’t necessarily build a successful enterprise. At some point, your job stops being about doing more yourself and becomes about building the people, systems, and capacity that allow the firm to grow beyond you.
That’s the transition I help RIA CEOs navigate.
I’ve seen this RIA CEO transition from three different seats.
Operator. Helped build an RIA from zero to $1.8 billion in AUM.
Coach. Partnered with Omani Carson and ran what became Carson Coaching for 11+ years as it grew from zero to approximately 1,000 financial advisor coaching clients.
Synthesizer. 900+ long-form conversations with exceptional leaders have sharpened my ability to recognize the patterns behind successful leaders and enduring businesses.
GTK — The Newsletter for Growth Oriented Advisors
Subscribe to GTK, Steve’s email letter that contains his thoughts, tools, and curated list of business and growth-related resources.
Plus, you’ll get occasional behind-the-scenes access to things he doesn’t share publicly.
You pack SO MUCH into one newsletter. Thanks but now I have a lot to think about/read/write about!!!
Another wonderful email to accompany my coffee this morning – thank you!
Thank you for writing these, and I’m not just saying that because I watched the Radical Gratitude video! They always provide me with helpful insights.
This is a beautiful post Steve. Thank you for investing time on your 4th of July to birth it!
Steve Sanduski: If you’re not learning faster than the world is changing, you’re history.
Podcasts and Blog Posts for RIA Leaders, Financial Advisors, Financial Planners, and CEOs
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Michael Nathanson on Scaling Your Firm From Practice to Enterprise and Letting Go to Accelerate Growth
Michael Nathanson shares how to transition from a practice to an enterprise and how leaders can build enduring firms by distributing power.
Sandy Kaul on Bitcoin, Stablecoins, Tokenization and the Birth of the Wallet-Based Ecosystem
Sandy Kaul breaks down the skepticism about digital assets and explains the major changes these technologies are bringing to finance.
Sebastian Mallaby on the Fed, Trump, AI, and the Shifting Battle Lines for Financial Power
Sebastian Mallaby discusses how central banks are navigating political pressure, AI, and the influential power of capital.
Evan Osnos On What Advisors Need to Know About the New Gilded Age
Evan Osnos describes how the ultrawealthy are building fortresses of protection from a world they no longer trust.
Edward Fishman on Chokepoints, Weaponizing Finance, and What It Means for Portfolios
Edward Fishman discusses key financial chokepoints, including sanctions, export controls, tech wars, and digital currencies.
Robert D. Kaplan on Understanding the Geopolitical Context to Be a Successful Investor
Robert D. Kaplan explains how advisors can gain the geopolitical perspective they need to build durable portfolios and client narratives.
Dr. Daniel Crosby on Why Facts Don’t Change Investor Behavior and Finding “The Soul of Wealth”
Daniel Crosby explores persuasion and decision-making and how advisors can help clients feel more positive about their financial plans.
David DeVoe on the State of RIA M&A and How to Maximize Your Firm’s Valuation
David DeVoe shares why the RIA M&A wave is still going strong and could continue for another five-to-seven years.
Peter Wilken: How to Uncover Your Brand DNA and Own the Client’s Mind
Peter Wilken explains how to uncover and articulate your brand DNA and draw a clear roadmap for owning a fertile mental territory.
Samantha Russell on Building a Modern Marketing Machine and Optimizing for AI Search
Samantha Russell shares what's working right now in advisor marketing, including how answer engine optimization is replacing traditional SEO.
Rachel Elson on Her Journey From Intern to Lead Advisor in <5 Years
Rachel Elson discusses transitioning from personal finance journalism to second-seat advisor to lead advisor managing a full book of clients.
Bill Keen and Matt Wilson On How a Hyper-Local Niche Built a $1B RIA Organically
Bill Keen and Matt Wilson explain how they went deep and narrow into their niche to create a sustainable organic growth plan.
Lessons on Leadership and Life from My 600-Mile Caribbean Yacht Race with Skipper Nikki Henderson
Nikki Henderson on life transitions, paradoxes and polarities in leadership, and decision-making under pressure and uncertainty.
Growing a Firm Towards a Billion-Dollar BHAG with Dennis Morton and Katie Brown
Dennis Morton and Katie Brown share their intentional approach to starting, building, and managing their firm.
How “Tiny Experiments” Can Lead to Better Goals and Happier Living with Anne-Laure Le Cunff
Anne-Laure Le Cunff challenges conventional wisdom around goal-setting and encourages us to discover our purpose.
Incorporating Collectibles into High-Net-Worth Financial Planning with Tom Ruggie
Tom Ruggie discusses how he blended his passion for collecting with his financial expertise to deliver value for high-net-worth clients.