About the Book

Before Co-founder and CEO Sharon K. Gillenwater exited Boardroom Insiders for $25M in 2022, she was a kid growing up in the turbulent '70s in sleepy Ocean Beach, California. A voracious reader and deep thinker often at odds with her working-class parents, she was determined to break from her surroundings–though she never thought her dreams would take her to the top of the tech food chain.

In Scaling with Soul, a swashbuckling memoir of resilience on the journey to becoming a CEO, Gillenwater traces her path from waitress to marketer to bootstrapping founder of an industry-leading software company–all despite false starts, sexism and an imploded first startup. In the process, she shares crucial lessons about how ambitious founders can learn to cultivate resilience without losing their soul.

Illuminating the myriad challenges inherent in tech startups and VC funding, and offering advice on how to beat them, Scaling with Soul is also a toolbox of nuts-and-bolts tech wisdom for ambitious founders: on networking, scaling companies, navigating the politics of acquisitions and more.

Told in a voice guaranteed to galvanize, Gillenwater encourages readers to become tomorrow's leaders today and proves that entrepreneurship is a viable path to financial independence for all, no matter your gender or background.