If you're here, it's because I think you'd be a great guest on The Come Up.
The Come Up is a written interview series that highlights business owners' stories. I'd love to feature yours.
I put this page together to answer common questions, but if anything's unclear, feel free to reach out.
About Me
I'm Alex. Up until 2020, I was a nightclub DJ and ran a recording studio in Toronto. Then COVID hit and shut that down overnight. I immediately pivoted and started a sanitizer business. A wild six months, but not something I built into a real company.
After that, I was looking for inspiration on what to do next. I was consuming a lot of entrepreneurship content and noticed most of it was oversimplified, hype-driven clickbait. "Here's how I did this amazing thing in 10 easy steps." It actually did more harm than good. It made things seem easy when they weren't, and it made me feel like something was wrong with me when I struggled.
So I started The Come Up as a passion project.
A space where we don't try to make ourselves look like geniuses or pretend we have all the answers. We highlight the inner workings behind hard decisions. The doubt. The pivots. The things that didn't work before finding what did.
Over the past few years, that's turned into dozens of conversations and thousands of readers.
Outside of this, I run Good Company, a consultancy where I build automation and operational systems for growing businesses. I write Five-Minute MBA, a weekly business book summary, and host a dinner series for business owners in Toronto. I've started businesses, invested in others, made money, lost money...but know the experience is what compounds if you just keep going.
I'm not a journalist. I'm an operator who likes talking to other operators about how they got here.
If that's interesting to you, would love to chat about your story.
What to Expect
We hop on a call
About an hour over video. No prep needed. We just talk about your journey.
I edit the transcript
I turn our conversation into a polished written piece and send it over for your review.
You approve, we publish
You can make edits, flag anything, or ask questions. Nothing goes live without your sign-off.
Common Questions
The Come Up started during COVID as a response to all the oversimplified, clickbaity entrepreneurship content out there. We highlight the real inner workings behind hard decisions: the doubt, the pivots, the things that didn't work before finding what did. We've built a following of actual entrepreneurs and operators, not people looking to quit their day job. The goal is for people already in it to see themselves and stay the course.
It's a written interview, but we don't do it over email. We hop on a video call for about an hour, have a conversation, and I transcribe and edit it into a polished written piece. No prep required. Just show up as yourself.
The whole picture. Not just the highlights, but also the struggles and setbacks. How you got started, key turning points, lessons learned, and what you'd tell someone earlier in their journey.
All kinds. Holdco operators acquiring companies, VC-funded startups, bootstrapped small businesses, digital agencies, service businesses. There's no single mold. We care about the journey, not the business model.
No. We're not looking for a specific number. We care about the story and the lessons, not hitting some arbitrary milestone.
Only if you're comfortable. Revenue and growth numbers help contextualize the story and readers appreciate it, but it's entirely up to you. We'll never push you to disclose anything you'd rather keep private.
I transcribe and edit the conversation into a polished written piece. You'll receive a Google Doc to review before the publish date.
Yes. You can suggest changes, clarify quotes, or flag anything you'd like adjusted. We're not here to make anyone look bad. If something doesn't sit right, just let me know and we'll fix it.
You'll always have a minimum of 2-4 weeks to review the draft before anything goes live, so there's plenty of time. I only mention this because we've had people ghost after receiving their draft, and all the editing effort goes to waste. If I don't hear back before the publish date, I assume you're happy with it and it goes live as-is.
Typically 2-4 weeks after the interview.
Nope! This is a passion project. I do it because I genuinely enjoy the conversations and believe these stories are worth sharing. No catch, no upsell, no strings attached.
Just bring yourself. If it helps, think about moments that shaped your journey. A time things almost fell apart, when something finally clicked, or advice you wish you'd heard earlier. But honestly, the best interviews happen when we just talk.
Not ready yet? Feel free to subscribe and read a few more interviews first.