Outgrowing Solopreneurship: What Your Company Needs Next
Part of Twin Cities Startup Week 2026, September 14–18.
There comes a point when doing everything yourself stops being scrappy and starts holding your company back. But building beyond yourself doesn’t necessarily mean immediately hiring a team or raising a round.
This panel is for founders navigating that transition from “I can do this myself” to “I need other people and resources around me.” How do you figure out what your business actually needs next? Is it your first hire, a co-founder, an advisor, specialized expertise, outside funding, or simply the right connection? And how do you bring those resources in without adding unnecessary cost or complexity before you’re ready?
Hear from leaders who have helped companies navigate funding, team building, outside expertise, and organizational growth about how to recognize what you’ve outgrown, identify the gaps that matter most, and make smarter decisions about what and who to bring into your company next.
Speakers & Perspectives:
Luke Riordan, Founder @ Dayta - Knowing when you’ve outgrown doing it yourself: Luke will bring the founder perspective from 15 years of growing Dayta, including raising capital, building a 30+ person team, developing partnerships, and eventually stepping out of the CEO role. He’ll speak to recognizing when something that once made sense for you to own has become something the company needs someone else to do better.
Melissa Fors Shackelford, Advisor / Board Leader - Bringing in expertise without hiring for everything: Melissa will focus on identifying the knowledge and experience your company is missing and deciding how to access it. Drawing from her experience with advisory boards, she’ll explore when you need an employee versus an advisor, mentor, consultant, or other outside expert, and how to make those relationships genuinely useful.
Kathleen Frey, Founder & Principal @ Frey Advisory – Building the structure your next stage of growth requires: Kathleen will focus on what happens when a founder’s business has outgrown the way it currently operates. Drawing on her experience leading growth, client success, and cross-functional teams and advising organizations through periods of change, she’ll explore how founders can identify the capabilities their company is missing, build the right support around themselves, and create enough structure for the business to grow beyond the founder.
Getting here on Thursday. Parking, Basecamp, lunch, and the rest of the day: tcstartupweek.com/thursday