Applications open for the next cohort · 5 seats only
THE COME UP.
For founders doing $1M+ who are still the ceiling

You built a real business. And it still can't run for a week without you. You're not the owner anymore. You're the bottleneck.

You already know what's stopping you. In 30 days, we remove it.

One constraint is capping the whole business. Not ten. One. We find the real one, cut it out, and build the thing that runs without you. Five founders per cohort. Me in the room.
Watch this first · 3 minutes
Sales Hiring Delivery Marketing Team questions Every decision YOU THE BOTTLENECK Output
Everything routes through one person. That's the tax.
YES. I'M READY TO REMOVE IT
Short application. If it's a fit, we talk. If it's not, I'll tell you straight.
Guarantee: do the work or keep going free5 seats per cohort
4
Exits, 2 to PE
$1B+
Deals raised & done
20 yrs
Operating
5
Seats per cohort

What stuck actually costs.

The hire you can't make because you can't let go. The week off you haven't taken in years. The number a buyer knocks off this business the second they see it can't run without you. You've been paying for this bottleneck a long time. You just never got the invoice.

The Sprint is $3,000. Put it next to that list and it stops looking like the expensive part.

How four exits taught me founders misname their own problem.

From the desk of Nick Ayala · Founder, The Come Up
Nick Ayala
Nick Ayala

I've built companies for twenty years. Two marketing companies, an insurance agency, a real estate portfolio. Four exits, two to private equity. Over a billion dollars in deals I've raised, structured, or negotiated.

And every one of those businesses hit the same wall. The one where the thing that got it here, me, is the exact thing keeping it from going further.

Here's what nobody tells you. The founder never names the real problem. He calls it a sales problem when it's a trust problem in how he hands off leads. A team problem when it's a him problem. A time problem when it's a delegation problem in disguise.

The bottleneck always hides one layer under the thing you're frustrated about. And you can't see it from inside your own business, because you're the one standing on it.

I learned to find that layer fast. I did it for myself four times, then watched it play out across hundreds of founders. Same pattern, every time. Find the one real constraint, cut it out, and everything downstream loosens at once.

That skill is the entire Sprint. Not a course. Not a community. Thirty days where we take the one thing choking your business and pull it out. Together. With me in the room until it's actually gone.

The framework

The Unlock Method.

Everything in your business runs through one bottleneck. Find and clear the real one, and the whole thing starts flowing without you. Here's how we do it in 30 days.

1
See the real one
We diagnose the true constraint, not the loudest symptom. Day 1, one-on-one, under the surface version you've been living with.
2
Name the root
We isolate the one bottleneck creating the other seven. The one that, when it moves, everything downstream moves with it.
3
Cut it out
You get the exact playbook for your constraint, the one I don't hand out anywhere else, plus the plan to remove it for good.
4
Reroute the flow
We put a system where you used to stand. Real work on your real business every week. Not homework. Installs, live.
5
Hold the standard
We meet as a group of five, you report what you built, I push. The room is small on purpose. Nowhere to hide.
6
Prove it's gone
By Day 30 one system runs without you. One decision off your plate for good. Proof you can point at, not a feeling.
Clear the one bottleneck and everything downstream loosens at once: a business that runs when you step away, and a founder who gets to lead instead of carry.

The 30 days, day by day.

Day 1
We go deep on your one bottleneck. Not the surface version. The real one underneath it. The thing you've been calling something else for years.
Every week
We meet live as a group of five. You report what you built that week. I push. Nobody hides.
Between calls
You get the exact playbook for your constraint and you install it. Real work, on your real business, that week.
Day 30
One system runs without you. One decision off your plate for good. One piece of proof the bottleneck is gone.
Everything in the sprint

What's included.

The Day-1 deep diagnosis
We name the real bottleneck, the one you've been calling something else for years. One-on-one, first day.
$2,500
The playbook for your constraint
The exact step-by-step for your specific bottleneck. Not generic modules. The one that removes your ceiling.
$2,000
The weekly room, 5 founders, me in it
Four live calls. You report what you built, I push, nobody hides. Small on purpose.
$6,000
The between-call installs
Real work on your real business every week. You leave each week with a piece of the fix actually in place.
$3,500
Me in the room, holding the standard
Not a coach who checks in. I'm in it every week, making sure the fix gets installed and doesn't slide.
Priceless
Everything above, priced on its own
$14,000$3,000
The guarantee
Do the work and the bottleneck goes, or you keep going free.

Show up to all four calls and do the installs between them. If your bottleneck isn't gone by Day 30, you get the next cohort free, and every one after that, until it is. The risk is on the one thing you control: showing up. I'll match it by staying in the room until it's fixed.

Straight talk

This is the first cohort.

I could put testimonials here. I don't have any yet. This one has never run.

So here is what you get instead of somebody else's story.

Five seats. I read every application myself, and I am the one in the room. Not a coach, not my team. If you get in, you are one of five people I am thinking about for thirty days.

Then there is the guarantee. Do the work, and if your bottleneck is still there on Day 30, you keep going free until it's gone. I carry that risk because I don't have a wall of results to point at yet. That is the trade.

A first cohort gets the version of me with the most attention to give. That only happens once.

Who this is built for.

This is for you if

You're doing real revenue and you're the reason it can't grow.

You're good at the work. That's the trap. Everything runs through you.

You want the thing fixed, not explained.

This isn't for you if

You want theory. The free training is good. Stay there.

You want someone to do it for you. You do the work here.

You're not ready to change how you run day to day.

Before you apply

The real questions.

"I don't have time for a 30-day sprint."
That's the bottleneck talking. If you can't find time for the one thing that gives you your time back, you've just proven why you need it. The work replaces work you're already doing. It doesn't add to it.
"Why not just stay in the community?"
You should. The community is where you learn the ideas and stay sharp. The Sprint is where one bottleneck gets ripped out all the way, with me in the room holding the standard. Most founders do both.
"What if my bottleneck is different from everyone else's?"
It always is. That's what Day 1 is for. We don't run a template. We find your real constraint and you get the playbook for that one.
"Is $3,000 worth it?"
A bad hire costs you five figures. A fractional operator costs more than this a month. A business that runs without you is worth a multiple on your exit. $3,000 to remove the thing capping all of it isn't the expensive part. Staying stuck is.
"What happens after I apply?"
You answer a few short questions. If it's a fit, we talk and I confirm your seat. If it's not, I'll tell you straight. I'm not filling a room. I'm finding the five founders I can actually move.
Next cohort starts on
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5 seats in the cohort
Day-1 Bottleneck DiagnosisYour one real constraint, not the symptom
$2,500
Four live calls, me in the roomNot a coach. Not a course. Me, for 30 days.
$6,000
Your custom playbookThe exact sequence to remove your constraint
$2,000
The installed systemRuns without you after I leave the room
$3,500
The guaranteeFree cohorts until the bottleneck is gone
Included
Real value
$14,000
Founder Bottleneck Sprint
$3,000/ 30 days
5 founders per cohort. When it's full, it's full.
YES. I'M READY TO REMOVE IT
Short application. If it's a fit, we talk. If it's not, I'll tell you straight.
P.S.

You've read this far because some part of you already knows you're the bottleneck. That's not a knock. It's the most common trap for the best operators. The thing you're great at is the exact thing you can't let go of.

The Sprint is $3,000 and 30 days. The alternative is another year at the same ceiling, which costs you far more, and you already know it. Five seats per cohort. When they're gone, they're gone. Apply here.

Founder Bottleneck Sprint · $3,000
5 seats per cohort. Do the work or keep going free.
Apply