#233: Hiring for Skill Is Why Growth Slows | Capacity - David Karandish
Sat Feb 07 2026
Most businesses don’t stall because of a lack of strategy.They stall because execution keeps pulling the owner back into the day-to-day.In this episode of Self-Made Is a Myth, Coach Tim Campsall sits down with David Karandish, founder of Capacity, to unpack what happens when hiring decisions ignore values and why that mistake quietly caps growth.David shares how misaligned hires forced him back into the weeds, the personal cost of carrying execution himself, and the shift that allowed Capacity to scale without breaking culture. If your business works but still depends too much on you, this conversation will feel uncomfortably familiar.⸻What You’ll Learn in This Episode:• Why hiring for talent alone creates long-term execution drag• How unclear values pull owners back into daily decisions• The hidden cost of “good people” who are the wrong fit• What it takes to translate strategy into action without owner dependency⸻Looking To Scale Your Business:Did you know that only 9% of businesses make it to $1,000,000 in revenue and less than 1% get to $5,000,000. The reason is that the hustle and grind that got you to $1,000,000 needs to shift to scaling strategies to go beyond. Book a Discovery Call now to learn how our ActionCOACH Business Operating System (ABoS) and coaching helps you to get unstuck and thrive to realize your personal and dreams and business goals. https://tbcactioncoach.com/discovery-zoom-call/Sign up for our weekly business tips https://tbcactioncoach.com/resources/email-signup/⸻Timestamps:(00:00) When growth starts slowing without warning(02:05) Hiring skilled people who don’t share values(04:00) The personal cost of misaligned hires(05:10) Defining values before scaling the team(07:45) Why “good people” can still stall growth(09:40) Translating strategy into execution(12:00) Complexity, priorities, and owner dependency(14:30) Selecting the right problems to solve(16:55) Escaping the messy middle without working harder(20:00) Why self-made is a myth in real scaling⸻David Karandish is Founder & CEO of Capacity – an enterprise SaaS company headquartered in St. Louis, MO. Capacity is a support automation platform that uses AI to deflect emails, calls, and tickets so internal and external support teams can spend more time doing their best work.Prior to starting Capacity, David was the CEO of Answers Corp. He and his business partner Chris Sims started the parent company of Answers in 2006 and sold it to a private equity firm in 2014 for $960m.David sits on the boards of Create a Loop (a computer science education non-profit tackling the digital divide by teaching kids to code). David was also an early investor and board member at Nerdy (NYSE: NRDY), an on-demand, real-time learning platform in the ed tech space.David lives in St. Louis with his wife, Erin and four kids. When not working, he enjoys spending time with his family and playing ukulele.
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Most businesses don’t stall because of a lack of strategy.They stall because execution keeps pulling the owner back into the day-to-day.In this episode of Self-Made Is a Myth, Coach Tim Campsall sits down with David Karandish, founder of Capacity, to unpack what happens when hiring decisions ignore values and why that mistake quietly caps growth.David shares how misaligned hires forced him back into the weeds, the personal cost of carrying execution himself, and the shift that allowed Capacity to scale without breaking culture. If your business works but still depends too much on you, this conversation will feel uncomfortably familiar.⸻What You’ll Learn in This Episode:• Why hiring for talent alone creates long-term execution drag• How unclear values pull owners back into daily decisions• The hidden cost of “good people” who are the wrong fit• What it takes to translate strategy into action without owner dependency⸻Looking To Scale Your Business:Did you know that only 9% of businesses make it to $1,000,000 in revenue and less than 1% get to $5,000,000. The reason is that the hustle and grind that got you to $1,000,000 needs to shift to scaling strategies to go beyond. Book a Discovery Call now to learn how our ActionCOACH Business Operating System (ABoS) and coaching helps you to get unstuck and thrive to realize your personal and dreams and business goals. https://tbcactioncoach.com/discovery-zoom-call/Sign up for our weekly business tips https://tbcactioncoach.com/resources/email-signup/⸻Timestamps:(00:00) When growth starts slowing without warning(02:05) Hiring skilled people who don’t share values(04:00) The personal cost of misaligned hires(05:10) Defining values before scaling the team(07:45) Why “good people” can still stall growth(09:40) Translating strategy into execution(12:00) Complexity, priorities, and owner dependency(14:30) Selecting the right problems to solve(16:55) Escaping the messy middle without working harder(20:00) Why self-made is a myth in real scaling⸻David Karandish is Founder & CEO of Capacity – an enterprise SaaS company headquartered in St. Louis, MO. Capacity is a support automation platform that uses AI to deflect emails, calls, and tickets so internal and external support teams can spend more time doing their best work.Prior to starting Capacity, David was the CEO of Answers Corp. He and his business partner Chris Sims started the parent company of Answers in 2006 and sold it to a private equity firm in 2014 for $960m.David sits on the boards of Create a Loop (a computer science education non-profit tackling the digital divide by teaching kids to code). David was also an early investor and board member at Nerdy (NYSE: NRDY), an on-demand, real-time learning platform in the ed tech space.David lives in St. Louis with his wife, Erin and four kids. When not working, he enjoys spending time with his family and playing ukulele.