From Scientist to Startup CEO: Dr. Anita Sengupta, Hydroplane, and the Real Path to Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Commercialization
Release Date: 01/13/2026
From Scientist to Startup CEO: Dr. Anita Sengupta, Hydroplane, and the Real Path to Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Commercialization
The 8-Figure Product CEO
On this episode of the Apex CEO Podcast, I interview Dr. Anita Sengupta—Founder & CEO of Hydroplane, aerospace engineer, commercial pilot, and USC professor—to unpack what it really takes for a high-level technical professional to make the leap into entrepreneurship. Anita’s career spans the kind of world-class environments most people only dream about—NASA, cutting-edge aerospace programs, and academic research. But building a deep-tech startup is a different game. In this conversation, she breaks down the hard shift from “well-resourced institutions” to starting from zero:...
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Small Business Turnaround Playbook: Inside a Fractional CMO’s Growth System
The 8-Figure Product CEO
Javier Lozano – Founder of Bolder Media Co., fractional CMO designing predictable growth systems for B2B founders. In this episode, we look at small business turnaround through the eyes of a fractional CMO/CRO. I bring Javier into the kind of company I see all the time: doing $5–10M in revenue, good product, but flat growth, weak pipeline, and a marketing “mix” that’s really just random acts of advertising. We talk about: How he spots a real growth story in a stalled business by talking to the team, digging into the numbers, and seeing if the market still cares. Turning random...
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From Zero Revenue to First Plant: How Evrnu Raised $35M in Hard-Tech Capital
The 8-Figure Product CEO
Stacy Flynn, CEO and co-founder of Evrnu, is doing something most founders only talk about: turning cotton garment waste into high-performance, fully recyclable fibers—and building a real business around it. Evrnu has raised about $35M in capital- How? In this episode, we dig into the real story behind that headline number. Stacy walks us through: How she convinced the very first investors to back a textile-to-textile recycling idea long before there was a plant or revenue. Evrnu’s business model—what they actually sell, who pays, and how garment waste turns into a product brand partners...
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Husband and Wife Co-founders Built a 9-Figure Cocktail Brand from Scratch – Carbliss
The 8-Figure Product CEO
On this episode I’m joined by Adam and Amanda Kroener, married co-founders of Carbliss Cocktails—a low-carb, full-flavor RTD cocktail brand that’s grown into a 9-figure business. Adam came out of the cheese industry as a Director of Manufacturing. Amanda stepped in as CFO and now leads the data and IT side of the business. Together, they’ve turned Carbliss into a serious national player in a brutal, crowded category. We cover: The key decisions in the first 24 months that bent the growth curve. How they handled manufacturing issues and tight cash when both inventory and dollars were...
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How to Build a 2026 Budget That Actually Works: Eight Areas Most CEOs Miss
The 8-Figure Product CEO
Most budgets fail before the year even starts. Not because the team didn’t work hard—but because the assumptions were never real. In this episode, I walk through the eight critical areas where mid-market companies blow their budgets, and the exact process I use when coaching CEOs, CFOs, and ownership teams through 2026 planning. This isn’t theory. These are real-world lessons pulled straight from reviewing company budgets this year—where revenue forecasts are overly optimistic, margins are padded, promo calendars are ignored, and SG&A stays untouched while the company continues...
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Fixing a Losing Business: The First 90 Days of a Real Consumer Brand Turnaround
The 8-Figure Product CEO
Your company’s been losing money for two or three years. Forecasts keep promising a rebound that never comes. Sales are flat or down, SG&A is bloated, and leadership is too close to the problem to see the real issues. In this episode, I walk through the exact turnaround framework I use when stepping into a struggling mid-market company. These aren’t theories. These are real wins pulled straight from the trenches—where outside eyes can find 5% in SG&A savings on day one and unlock a path back to break-even. We’ll break down the practical work: renegotiating everything from...
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When Payroll Eats the Business: Inside a Mid-Market Consumer Products Turnaround
The 8-Figure Product CEO
Most turnarounds don’t start with marketing fixes or strategy sessions. They start with a calculator. A few months ago, I stepped into a mid-market consumer products brand doing under $10M a year. From the outside, it looked healthy -- loyal customers, strong reviews, recognizable product. Under the hood, it was bleeding $70,000 every month. The core issue wasn’t mysterious. Payroll alone was sitting at roughly 25% of revenue. At their gross margins, breakeven wasn’t possible. SG&A had quietly swallowed the P&L. This episode breaks down the real math behind why product companies...
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How to Grow Past $10 Million in Sales with a Fractional VP of Sales
The 8-Figure Product CEO
What if you could hire a VP of Sales—without the full-time salary? In this episode, I sat down with Richard Few, Founder of Sales Geek, to talk about how founders scale past $10M using fractional sales leadership. Richard launched Sales Geek in 2017 and built a global sales consultancy—bootstrapped, with $6M in revenue, 15 core staff, and 70+ franchisees worldwide. We unpack how fractional VPs help early-stage businesses fix what’s really blocking growth: no sales systems, unclear messaging, and poor hiring. If you’re a CEO still doing sales yourself—or you’ve hired reps without a...
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How to Turn a Hobby into a Million-Dollar Business
The 8-Figure Product CEO
What would it take to turn your craft into a real business? In this unique episode, Luke coaches Kevin, the founder of Summit Effects, live on how to transform his woodworking passion into a scalable product brand. Kevin’s been running his custom woodshop since 2001, with deep craftsmanship and a strong social media presence—but it hasn’t translated into growth. Luke guides Kevin through a strategic pivot: building a product line that’s shippable, high-margin, and tells a story. Together, they explore new hero products (like custom sushi boards and accessories), walk through...
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New Product Development - 5 Secrets from a Billion-Dollar President
The 8-Figure Product CEO
How do billion-dollar brands decide what products to launch—and which to kill? Daniel T. Siegel, President of Lifetime Brands, has spent over 30 years in the housewares industry and helped steer the portfolio past $1B in sales. In this episode, Dan joins Luke Peters to break down the exact filters, signals, and frameworks he uses to guide product innovation at scale. You’ll learn: Why channel fit and margin path matter more than market size slides The two data points that actually predict sell-through How to define a “kill rule” that stops losers before tooling When to build,...
info_outlineOn this episode of the Apex CEO Podcast, I interview Dr. Anita Sengupta—Founder & CEO of Hydroplane, aerospace engineer, commercial pilot, and USC professor—to unpack what it really takes for a high-level technical professional to make the leap into entrepreneurship.
Anita’s career spans the kind of world-class environments most people only dream about—NASA, cutting-edge aerospace programs, and academic research. But building a deep-tech startup is a different game. In this conversation, she breaks down the hard shift from “well-resourced institutions” to starting from zero: earning trust without a famous logo, turning technical credibility into business credibility, and building momentum when timelines are long and the stakes are high.
We talk about what she underestimated, what she had to unlearn, and the few early decisions that mattered most in the first year—especially when your product has to work in the real world, not just on paper.
If you’re a senior engineer, operator, scientist, or technical leader who’s felt the pull toward building your own company, this episode is for you.
And at the end, Anita shares her single biggest insight for making the transition—one principle that cuts through the noise and keeps founders focused on what actually works.