21: When should founders quit their day jobs? (with Roman Galikov of Recit Advisory)

In this episode, Gavin chats with Roman Galikov — co-founder of Recit Advisory and a long-time mate from their RedEye days — about the financial realities and blind spots that can make or break a startup. From Roman’s wild upbringing in a Cold War-era Russian missile town to co-founding an accounting firm helping Aussie tech founders scale sustainably, this episode is packed with insights (and a few table tennis flashbacks).

Expect a candid, behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to launch a B2B SaaS company from scratch – completely bootstrapped.

Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co

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In this episode, we cover:

Roman’s incredible journey from Russia to the Australian startup scene
The financial mistakes startups make early — and why they’re hard to recover from
Why founders underestimate cash flow (and how to fix it)
Equity, cap tables and avoiding messy investor situations
How to structure your startup’s P&L like a proper SaaS business
When to make your first hire and the cost of getting it wrong
Why most founders shouldn't outsource sales too early
The 80/20 rule for SaaS gross margins
R&D capitalisation and tax incentives explained simply
Roman’s take on bootstrapping vs raising capital
The story of Gavin ripping his pants at a trade show (it’s worth it)

Chapters:

(00:00) - Intro
(00:56) - Roman joins the show
(02:29) - Why founders neglect accounting
(05:06) - Roman’s journey from Russia to Australia
(17:16) - How Roman and Gavin met at RedEye
(20:36) - Early-stage accounting mistakes
(22:53) - Lessons founders learn at each stage
(25:02) - Cash flow truths (and myths)
(30:01) - Gavin’s risk balancing with Sales Market Fit
(33:39) - SixSides’ early traction and approach
(34:17) - Juggling multiple businesses and focus
(41:10) - Equity, vesting and cap table messiness
(46:53) - Bootstrapping vs raising capital
(50:41) - Scaling up: hiring your first employee
(53:50) - Managing hiring expectations
(57:10) - Sales vs product vs support hires
(59:15) - Business case analysis for product decisions
(01:04:02) - Understanding SaaS financial structure
(01:08:43) - What is EBITDA? And why it matters
(01:11:31) - Starting Record Advisory
(01:16:13) - Gavin’s final missile question
(01:17:59) - Wrap-up and final thoughts

Atlas Software is a premier software development agency based in Sydney, Australia, and founded by Mitchell Davis. We specialise in building innovative, robust, and scalable applications that drive business growth. With expertise in Laravel, Vue, React, and React Native, we help businesses craft tailored software solutions that streamline operations and enhance user experiences. Whether you're a startup finding product-market fit or an enterprise scaling digital transformation, Atlas ensures your tech vision becomes reality. Learn more at atlas.dev.

Gavin Tye is a sales strategist and the creator of Sales Market Fit (SMF) - a game-changing framework that helps B2B startups unlock predictable, scalable growth. With over 20 years of experience in high-value SaaS sales, Gavin has cracked the code on why businesses struggle to close deals and how they can transform their approach. Sales Market Fit aligns positioning, go-to-market strategies, and sales execution into a repeatable process that wins more clients with less friction. Learn how to stop relying on hope and start winning with a deliberate, proven sales strategy at salesmarketfit.co.

Links:

SixSides: sixsides.co
Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co
DealBuddi: dealbuddi.com
Recit: recit.app

Connect with us:

Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is
Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav
Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye
Roman on LinkedIn: romangalikov
SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides
SixSides on X: sixsidesevents
SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co