Rice and Grind
Real World Advice on SMB's Business Growth and Leveraging AIThe Rice and Grind
Real growth strategies for startups and SMBs who refuse to stay small
No fluff. No theory. Fortune 500 strategies for startups doing $20K/month and SMBs doing $10M/year.
What You'll Find Here
AI That Works for Small Business
Written from the trenches. How to multiply output without replacing people. Which tools work for bootstrapped startups. Real implementations with real ROI—$20K to $2M monthly.
Operational Excellence from Day One
Build systems that scale before you need them. CRM that catches every lead. Pipeline management that prevents revenue leaks. Pricing that supports sustainable growth.
Growth Frameworks That Scale
Intel and Honeywell strategies—translated for $20K to $10M businesses. No MBA required. Proven frameworks you can implement this week.
Fixing What's Broken
Why your pricing kills deals. How to stop leads from going cold. What to fix when you're working harder but revenue's flat. Diagnostic precision, not marketing platitudes.
Case Studies from Real Businesses
Restaurant: $20K to $40K monthly. Startup: scalable systems from launch. B2B service: fixed positioning, doubled close rates. Real numbers. Real timelines. Real lessons.
You're a Fit If:
- SMB owner doing $500K-$10M, something's broken but can't pinpoint what
- Startup founder who wants systems that scale from day oneโnot fix them later
- Early-stage business needs Fortune 500 discipline without overhead or bureaucracy
- Tired of agency BS - want tactics, not 50-page decks
- Curious about AI but skeptical of hype - want to know what works
- Working harder, flat revenue - suspect systems problem, not effort problem
- Want operational excellence without hiring a COO
- Ready to compete bigger without hiring 50 people
Looking for motivational content or get-rich-quick schemes? Wrong blog. We write for operators who want to fix real problems and scale sustainably.
Recent Posts
How We Use 6 AI Employees to Scale a Fractional CGO Business
Morgan, Marcus, Taylor, Sophia, Dexter, Riley. The AI team that works 24/7. Exactly what they do, which tools we use, ROI we're seeing.
5 min read • AI Strategy • SMB Operations
Build Operations That Scale: What Startups Get Wrong From Day One
Most startups build for today, fix operations later. Wrong. How to build CRM, pipeline, customer success systems that scale—before you need them.
8 min read • Operational Excellence • Startup Growth
Why Your Leads Go Cold (And The 3 Fixes That Work)
Not your sales skills. Your follow-up system. How we use AI to ensure no lead slips through—for 2-person startups or 20-person SMBs.
7 min read • Pipeline Management • CRM
The 5P Growth Audit: What Fortune 500 Companies Know
Position, Product, Pricing, Pipeline, People. The diagnostic framework I learned at Intel. Audit your business in under 2 hours, identify exactly what's broken.
10 min read • Growth Strategy • Frameworks
Revenue-Share Growth: How We Partner With Startups
$400/week + 5-8% of new revenue growth. Why we built this model, how it works, why it creates better alignment than traditional retainers.
9 min read • Startup Growth • Business Models
Case Study: Las Vegas Restaurant Doubled Revenue in 6 Months
$20K to $40K monthly. Exact positioning shift, operational fixes, CRM setup, content strategy. Plus 3 mistakes we made.
12 min read • Case Study • Restaurant Growth
Why This Blog Is Different
Written by Someone Who's Done It
Brandon Fears. 20+ years at Intel, HPE, Honeywell. MBA from Rice. Managed $2B+ in product launches. Started my own business, nearly went broke, figured out what works. -3% to 21% margins in nine months.
Everything here comes from both Fortune 500 operational playbook and hard lessons bootstrapping a startup into profitable SMB.
Operational Excellence Without Corporate Bloat
Fortune 500 operational discipline—without bureaucracy, meetings, or org charts. Build systems that scale without hiring a COO or implementing enterprise software.
For Bootstrappers and Capital-Efficient Growers
$20K monthly or $5M annually, grow efficiently. Sustainable, profitable growth—not VC-funded "growth at all costs." Every strategy works for resource-constrained businesses.
No Affiliate Garbage
We don't recommend tools for kickbacks. We recommend what we use in our business and with clients. Not good enough for us? Won't suggest it to you.
Tactical, Not Theoretical
Every post includes something you can implement this week. No vague listicles. Actual frameworks, tools, processes you can steal and adapt.
AI Without Hype
6 AI employees work 24/7 in our business. But we're pragmatists, not evangelists. Human does it better? We say so. AI tool is enterprise nonsense? We call it out. Only write about what works for startups and SMBs with limited budgets.
Topics We Cover
Get New Posts
2-3 times monthly. No spam. No fluff. Just practical insights for building operational excellence and growing your startup or SMB.
Recent subscribers got:
- Complete 5P Growth Audit framework (PDF)
- AI tools stack for startups & SMBs (with setup guides)
- Pipeline management checklist that catches revenue leaks
- Operational systems starter kit
About Brandon
Brandon Fears, Managing Partner at Gracchus Partners. 20+ years at Intel, HPE, Honeywell. MBA from Rice. Started my own business, went from -3% to 21% margins in nine months.
What sets me apart: I spot business trends early and apply them years before they hit mainstream. We implemented Blue Ocean Strategy—creating uncontested market space—five years before everyone else talked about it. Applied The Second Mountain's principles on building meaning-driven businesses that attract loyal customers. Used Scaling Up's operational rhythms to turn chaos into predictable growth. Deployed The Science of Scaling's network effects before competitors understood the game.
This blog is where I share what's working now—not what was trending last year. You get Fortune 500 operational discipline combined with emerging strategies your competition hasn't discovered yet.
When not fixing businesses, smoking brisket for 14 hours (Texas-style), hosting "SMB Growth Unlimited" podcast, or making cookies with my kids to deliver to neighbors every Sunday.
Learn More About Gracchus Partners