Every growing firm reaches a point where getting bigger requires changing how the business works. In part one of this two-part special edition of Building The Billion Dollar Business, Ray Sclafani, Founder and CEO of ClientWise, flips the script with Michael Kitces. Instead of discussing the industry, they talk entrepreneur to entrepreneur about what it takes to build and lead a growing organization.

Michael has led multiple businesses from a handful of people to teams of 30, 50, and 100+, and he outlines the four stages every growing firm moves through, starting with the founder-centered “starfish org chart.” He shares the hiring roadmap that is guiding his next three key hires, explains why word of mouth eventually needs support from a deliberate growth engine, and opens up his EOS quarterly rocks, from data automation and management training to written culture statements and a careful approach to AI.

Firm leaders will come away with a clear lens for identifying their own stage of growth and the structure their next stage requires. As Michael puts it, every day you wake up, you are running the largest company you have ever run, and that is where the opportunity lives.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE

1. The four stages of business growth and how leadership changes at each one
2. When formal career tracks become essential for attracting and retaining talent
3. How a hiring roadmap helps leadership rank priorities across every department
4. Why a 15 to 25 percent annual growth target balances opportunity and sustainability
5. Where AI can add value in a firm, and where precision requires human control

Michael Kitces, MSFS, MTAX, CFP®, CLU, ChFC, RHU, REBC, CASL, is the Chief Financial Planning Nerd at Kitces.com and Head of Planning Strategy at Focus Partners Wealth, an independent RIA with more than $50 billion in assets under management. He is a co-founder of XY Planning Network, AdvicePay, New Planner Recruiting, fpPathfinder, FA BeanCounters, and NexGen, and hosts the Financial Advisor Success podcast. A recipient of the Financial Planning Association’s Heart of Financial Planning award, Michael is dedicated to helping financial advisors become better and more successful.

Building the Billion Dollar Business is hosted by Ray Sclafani, Founder and CEO of ClientWise, the financial services industry's leading executive coaching and team development firm for elite advisors and wealth management teams. Ray Sclafani is also a Wealthies CEO of the Year Finalist (2026) and Luminaries Thought Leader of the Year Finalist (2026).

Find Ray and the ClientWise Team on the ClientWise website or LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube