Amanda NorthcuttFounder & CEO | Keynote Speaker, LevelUp · B2B sales as a solo is HARD. I’ve got you. I help consultants & coaches sell high-ticket services comfortably & confidently, while enjoying consistent, predictable revenue | Founder & CEO | Speaker |

Scaffold Around Your Weaknesses

16 Aug 2025 · 1 min

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In this segment, the speaker references a quote from former Yelp VP and startup CEO Jodi Yorg, who advises entrepreneurs to "scaffold around your weaknesses"—that is, to build on strengths while delegating or hiring to cover gaps. The speaker explains that a long list of unaddressed weaknesses often signals that a founder is trying to do too much, which hampers business growth and prevents taking time off. By asking targeted questions and documenting these gaps, leaders can clearly identify roles that need to be filled, enabling them to say no to tasks that impede progress and bring in the right people to support scaling.

Chapters

Because I like to use this quote from a boss of mine. Her name is Jodi Yorg. She used to be a vice president at Yelp and, um, she was the CEO at one of the startups I worked at. And she used to say that you should scaffold around your weaknesses, build up your strengths and scaffold around your weaknesses. So if you're having a, if you have a long list of weaknesses, things that aren't getting done, um, that are getting in the way of you growing your business or increasing your capacity, or you're never able to take time off because of those things. All of those are symptoms of this problem that you are trying to do too much. And there's a certain level that you can say no to, but there's also a certain level that it's going to impede your growth and your progress if you don't bring someone in. So that's why I like to ask those questions and pull those things out, because it becomes, rather than a, again, that feeling, we get it down on paper so they can clearly see this clearly is a role for someone.