In this episode, Mehmet is joined by Tyler Dunagin, Founder & CEO of Turnserv, a platform powering multiple tech-enabled service brands in the multifamily housing sector. Tyler has scaled five brands to 7-figure revenue, secured private equity backing, and earned a spot on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing U.S. companies. From building within arm’s reach to leading with culture and equity, Tyler shares hard-won insights into scaling non-obvious businesses with discipline and purpose.

✅ Key Takeaways

• Why tech isn’t the only path—service businesses can scale fast if built smart

• The “within arm’s reach” framework for discovering untapped opportunities

• Why specialization beats generalization in early-stage business models

• Scaling operations through playbooks, KPIs, and culture codes

• Fundraising lessons: services vs. software, and earning trust before capital

• The underestimated power of personal branding for founders

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🎧 What You’ll Learn

• How Tyler built multiple 7-figure businesses with low ego and high focus

• The hidden challenges of growing service companies (and how to solve them)

• When founders must delegate—and how to do it without losing control

• A real founder’s mindset on burnout, motivation, and purpose

• How to align your team with equity, not just expectations

👤 About the Guest

Tyler Dunagin is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Turnserv, a tech-enabled service platform for property management. He has directed $250M+ in asset management, developed patented products, and been nominated for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award. Tyler is also a strong advocate for founder mental health, team equity, and personal branding done right.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerdunagin/

https://dunagincollective.com/

https://www.turnserv.com/

Episode Highlights (Chapters)

00:00 – Introduction & Tyler’s journey

03:00 – Building within arm’s reach

06:00 – Frameworks for fast, focused scaling

10:00 – Bottlenecks and solving for scale in service businesses

15:00 – Scaling company culture with speed

21:00 – Delegation, burnout, and breaking founder bottlenecks

27:00 – Managing $250M in assets and applying it to entrepreneurship

30:00 – Fundraising for service businesses vs. tech

35:00 – Personal branding and its impact on recruiting, sales, and trust

44:00 – The founder mindset: staying grounded through uncertainty

49:00 – Final reflections and how to connect with Tyler

In this episode of The CTO Show with Mehmet, we sit down with Tom Basey, a former engineer and project manager turned entrepreneur, to unpack what it really takes to pivot from corporate life to a lean, scalable business in an unexpected space—insurance. Tom shares lessons from 30+ years in tech and telecom, why he believes insurance is a smart entry point for aspiring entrepreneurs, and how he’s leveraging digital tools and AI to scale impact without the traditional overhead.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Why simplicity and execution often outperform innovation

• How to build a scalable business with no payroll or supply chain

• The overlooked power of insurance as a lean startup model

• What Web3 and blockchain can teach us about ownership and decentralization

• Why lifelong learning and digital mentorship are the future of education

⸻

📚 What You’ll Learn

• How corporate experience can prepare you for entrepreneurship

• The pros and cons of entering a crowded market

• What “doing the work once and getting paid repeatedly” looks like

• Real-life use cases for blockchain in fraud prevention, insurance, and creator economy

• How to rethink traditional education in an AI-first world

👤 About the Guest

Tom Basey is a self-described “recovering engineer” who spent decades in corporate America before launching a successful entrepreneurial career in the insurance industry. Drawing from his background in engineering, telecom, and medical devices, Tom now helps people secure their futures through insurance, while mentoring others on digital learning and distributed ownership.

https://www.basey-insurance.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tombasey/

⏱️ Episode Highlights

00:00 – Tom’s journey: from engineering to entrepreneurship

03:00 – Why he chose insurance and how it scales lean

07:00 – Competing in a crowded market through consultative selling

09:00 – Incentives, recurring revenue, and trust in sales

11:00 – How AI is transforming underwriting in insurance

14:00 – Leaving corporate: mindset shifts and myths to break

18:00 – Digital learning, mentorship, and monetizing expertise

27:00 – Web3, blockchain, and decentralizing ownership

36:00 – Use cases for blockchain in insurance, identity, and tickets

41:00 – Staying human in a digital world

43:00 – Final advice: Own your future, stay curious, and keep learning

We’re proud to share that The CTO Show was recently featured by Million Podcasts as a top show across several categories:

• 100 Best Business Technology Podcasts

• 100 Best Digital Business Podcasts

• 100 Best Digital Transformation Podcasts

• 100 Best Future of Work Podcasts

• 100 Best Future Tech Podcasts

• 100 Best Startup Podcasts

Check it out here: Million Podcasts Feature

In this episode, Mehmet sits down with strategy and finance advisor Moataz Mukhaimer, joining from Jordan, to unpack the most overlooked blind spots in early-stage startups. From pricing pitfalls to financial illiteracy, Moataz reveals the top three areas founders consistently ignore—and why getting these right can be the difference between scaling and stalling. A must-listen for any entrepreneur serious about building fundable, resilient companies.

Key Takeaways

• Why external research is the #1 blind spot for most founders.

• The critical link between pricing strategy and sustainable profitability.

• How to simplify financial modeling—even if you’re not a numbers person.

• The psychology of founders: knowing when to say no.

• The anatomy of investor due diligence and how to prepare.

• Why culture and failure acceptance matter in MENA’s startup ecosystem.

⸻

What You’ll Learn

• How to avoid “build, build, build” syndrome without losing focus

• The real reason investors care more about cash flow than your pitch

• How to use value-based pricing to strengthen your margins

• What it means to be funding-ready—from story to spreadsheets

About the Guest

Moataz Mukhaimer is a seasoned strategic and financial advisor with 20+ years of experience supporting SMEs across the MENA region. Based in Jordan, he has worked with a wide range of clients—from family businesses to international brands—across sectors like retail, medtech, edtech, e-commerce, manufacturing, and software. Moataz specializes in strategy, pricing, financial modeling, and business valuation, helping founders make smarter decisions and build fundable companies.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/moataz-mukhaimer/

https://moatazmukhaimeradvisory.com

Episode Highlights

⏱️ 03:00 – The top 3 blind spots Moataz sees in startups

⏱️ 08:30 – Why founders avoid financial modeling (and how to simplify it)

⏱️ 14:45 – Burn rate, cash flow, and pricing as strategic tools

⏱️ 23:10 – Strategy vs. operations: defining the big picture

⏱️ 29:30 – The founder mindset: ego, FOMO, and resilience

⏱️ 36:00 – How to know you’re ready to raise funding

⏱️ 45:00 – Financial due diligence: what investors actually look at

⏱️ 52:30 – The rise of the MENA ecosystem and what still needs work