The Realities of Startup Execution with Ben Leaver | Leadership | Turnarounds | Boards

Описание: Most investors dream of backing the next unicorn, but a select few decide to leave the boardroom and build one themselves. In this episode of Frames of Tech, host Giorgio Ponticelli sits down with Ben Leaver to discuss his career shift from capital allocator to an accountable startup executive.

Ben shares his candid journey of seeking out the "real action" and the difficult lessons he learned when he finally made the jump.

In this episode, we cover:
The Illusion of Transferable Skills: Why the hard skills of investing don't always apply to operations, and why soft skills like curiosity and work ethic became Ben's anchor when he joined Treatwell (formerly Wahanda).
Planning vs Executing: The stark difference in pressure between modeling a business plan and the stress of executing it as an operator to ensure the company makes payroll.
The Festicket Turnaround: Ben’s raw recount of stepping in as CEO, and managing the personal and professional stress of trying to save the business.
Hustle Culture & Balance: An honest take on the "996" work trend, the impossibility of perfect work-life balance, and why prescribing grueling hours indefinitely only leads to burnout.
Transforming Legal Tech: How Ben's current role at Legl is helping law firms digitize compliance, streamline KYC (Know Your Customer) onboarding, and improve cash flow.

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction & The Urge to Join the "Real Action"
01:25 - From Investor to Exec: Why Make the Switch?
09:46 - The Reality Check: What Skills Actually Transfer?
12:54 - Planning vs Executing: why spreadsheets are just the beginning
16:06 - Execution Strategy: Filtering "Could Do" vs. "Should Do"
26:10 - The Festicket Turnaround: Managing a Crisis
31:23 - The Myth of Balance: Handling Personal & Professional Stress
41:02 - Legl & The Future of Legal Tech Compliance
48:53 - Boardroom Dynamics & Why Laughter is Armor