Since we launched Strety in late 2023 we’ve been proud self-implementers of EOS internally. Back then there were only 3 of us so we were not an ideal fit for a professional EOS implementation anyway. But being self-funded (and with my experience self-implementing EOS at BrightGauge) made me think I was a “self-implementer” type of guy. But who says you can’t change as you get older and wiser? (Or just older.)
Heading into 2026 we’re 17 full-time employees, profitable, and growing fast. And we’ve decided to go ALL IN and hire a stud EOS Implementer…. Lisa González. Lisa is out Denver, CO and co-authored the EOS Traction Library book on Process.
This blog kicks off a new newsletter series I’ll be writing throughout 2026, chronicling my/our journey from self-implementing EOS to being Implementer-led. My hope is that other teams, especially the many self-implementers using Strety, can follow along, learn with us, and see what this transition really looks like.
Our Background as EOS Self-Implementers
As many know, this isn’t my first brush with EOS. Back at BrightGauge (a previous software company I founded with my brother in 2010 and sold successfully in 2019) I read Traction and quickly self-implemented as much as I could. We were bootstrapped and really watching every penny so an EOS Implementer felt like an impossible spend.
Fortunately though, I did get first-hand experience with a professional EOS Implementation. Back then I was also helping out a low voltage cabling company my father owned and someone else operated. They wanted some operational help as they were hitting the proverbial ceiling, and they were the ideal candidate for a real EOS implementation.
I personally helped them hire EOS Implementer Brent Sprinkle and joined all the key meetings: Focus Day, VB1, VB2 and the first few quarterlies. I was a fly on the wall, truly representing the Owners Box but selfishly taking notes on how to implement EOS for myself at BrightGauge.
As I mentioned above, BrightGauge successfully sold in 2019 and as I’ve said many times publicly, I credit EOS with allowing us to grow calmly and turn over a well oiled machine to our acquirers. Running on EOS truly offered peace of mind to our acquirers that the business would continue scaling without issue, especially since I was not staying on with BrightGauge post acquisition.
To support our implementation internally back then, we had built this tiny little code base to help us run EOS tools. And its internal code name was… you guessed it…. STRETY!!!
After we sold, we actually carved out that little code base for ourselves to keep and potentially take another run at a startup. Strety went dormant for a few years (that’s a longer story, and COVID was the antagonist) but we dusted off the cobwebs in early 2023 and rebooted it as a full commercial product in late 2023 for EOS.
All that to say, from Day 1 at Strety, we’ve been fully committed to Running on EOS, even as a tiny 3 person company. But in our early days, we never really considered hiring an EOS Implementer. I had learned a bunch from Brent at Blue Wave and from my first hand experience, so I felt in command of the pieces of the EOS model, particularly the Traction, Issues, and Data components.
Why Now? The Natural Inflection Point
As we grew in 2025 in people and complexity of processes, and as I’ve personally immersed myself in the EOS Community, I plainly realized we weren’t using all the EOS components to their full extent. Nor all the “extra” EOS tools below the surface of the 6 key components.
In fact, I remember sitting in a Great Boss Workshop in May 2025 and taking a ton of notes and realizing…. “Wow, we’re only scratching the surface here.” By this past fall in 2025 self-implementing EOS started to feel like I was being negligent… that NOT investing in a professional implementer was doing a disservice to our company and our growth.
So though we haven’t “hit a ceiling” per se, we were self-aware enough to know there are blind spots that we’re likely not seeing or will not see in this next phase. Heading into 2026, where our plan is to double our ARR and customer count on our way to our big 10-year target of 20,000 companies running on EOS with Strety, the time felt right to get more professional with our implementation.
Why Lisa González? A Perfect Fit at the Perfect Time
Lisa and I met in Denver in early October, and within minutes, I knew she was a great fit for us. She is sharp, passionate, calm, humble, and direct. Basically, she perfectly fits our original core values of Humble, Passionate, Good, plus has our new FAFO core value we love so much.
And the kicker: she literally wrote the book on Process. As Strety continues doubling down on the Process Component internally and in our product, partnering with someone who is the world’s leading authority on EOS Process felt like a no-brainer. We want to sharpen our own mastery on Process but also elevate how Strety as a product supports EOS Process.
Lisa González is the ideal partner for us and we signed up for 2026.
Mastery of the Tools: The Part I’m Personally Excited For
One of the best parts of being a founder is continually becoming a student again. Well, that might also be the most frustrating part too. But I feel the excitement of being a student again right now as we look forward to getting started with Lisa.
Lisa is going to help us sharpen our L10 meetings, strengthen our Scorecard, clarify our Vision, challenge our assumptions on our Accountability Chart, tighten our Core Process, and ultimately help us grow as leaders and EOS practitioners. I’ve always believed that EOS is simple, but not easy. And I want Strety as a team to be truly fluent and actively working toward mastery in the EOS tools, which can only be achieved with expert guidance.
How Working with an EOS Implementer Will Make Strety Better as a Product
As I said, this isn’t just about improving the way Strety runs as a business. Working so closely with Lisa will directly impact the evolution of Strety as a product. We’ll experience that contentious journey of “EOS Pure” more deeply. We’ll see pain points in our product that we don’t see as self-implementers. We always build for ourselves first and foremost and now that lens will be colored by a real implementation.
That’s what makes this next chapter also so exciting. The product will get so much better, so much tighter, and that will skyrocket the value for our customers.
Why I’m Documenting This Journey
Most Strety customers are self-implementers, teams building great companies who believe in running EOS on their own, but still wonder:
“Could we be getting more out of our implementation?
“Are we doing this right?”
“Should we bring in an EOS Implementer?”
“What will change with an outside perspective?”
“How important is it to be EOS Pure?”
“What’s the difference between good EOS and great EOS?”
As someone who’s asked himself exactly these questions many times, I’m excited to uncover answers from my perspective as an operator and builder of an EOS platform.
So throughout 2026, I’ll be documenting the entire journey: Focus Day, Vision Building Days, Quarterlies, tools we sharpen, surprises, friction points, wins, what we thought we were doing well vs. what we actually learned, how the team responds, how it impacts our product, etc.
If I can do this after years of self-implementing, you can too. And even if you’re not ready to take that next step, I think you’ll learn from our discoveries. This series is for the community.
What’s Next
Throughout 2026, I’ll be sharing updates, lessons, and behind-the-scenes insights from our sessions with Lisa. The highs, the lows, the uncomfortable moments, and the breakthroughs. If you’re a self-implementer or thinking about becoming an EOS Implementer-supported team, I think you’ll find tremendous value in this journey.
Thanks for following along. I can’t wait to get started.
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