Ronald Simons | Entrepreneur, Visionary, Startup Architect

ABOUT ME

I am Ronald Simons, an entrepreneur with a passion for building innovative startups and transforming visionary ideas into successful ventures. As the Founder of Treenia, I strive to streamline domain name search and (one click) multi-platform matching social media registration for the next generation of entrepreneurs.

STARTUP ACCOMPLISHMENTS & VISIONARY JOURNEY

As an entrepreneur, I have built two startups, securing multimillion-dollar recurring contracts with Omnicom Global and New Horizons Learning Centers Global. For 15 years, I’ve worked at the intersection of technology and branding, helping entrepreneurs navigate the chaos of digital brand identity. The struggle to secure a powerful, unified brand online is real—lost domains, mismatched handles, and branding inconsistency. Treenia was built to end this friction. With AI-driven search, instant social registration, and seamless optimization, we make branding effortless—so founders can focus on building, not battling availability.

During my time at GIC, I observed the struggles entrepreneurs face when choosing domain names, often exploited by ISP bots and brokers, and the lack of TM information about the domain name the registrar sells. Beyond that, finding matching available social media handles that have to be manually searched, and manually setup. This motivated me to develop a solution that alleviates these pain points, driving me to create Treenia to offer meaningful, transformative opportunities for business branding.

INTRODUCING TREENIA AND ITS STRONG NON-OBVIOUS UNIQUE INSIGHT

Treenia streamlines brandable domain name search and matching social-media registration!

Leveraging and collecting data points to create infinite new things, new ways to sell, and new ways to distribute!

Treenia isn’t just a tool—it’s a paradigm shift. In today’s fast-paced digital world, businesses can’t afford to spend months checking domain names for TM’s, nefarious previous use to secure a brand identity. Treenia integrates thousands of pipelines and automates this process, merging AI-driven branding with real-time available domain name search while simultaneously searching for all matching available social media handles for (one-click) acquisition—creating the fastest, smartest way to own your online presence. It’s the blueprint for modern branding. AI-driven, seamless, and built for founders who refuse to settle for second-best.

MY WORK AND BOOK IN PROGRESS

I’m distilling the hard-earned lessons of startup building, funding, and digital branding into a book designed to be every entrepreneur’s playbook. This isn’t just another business book—it’s a blueprint for modern entrepreneurship, built on real-world experience and battle-tested strategies.

Inside, you will find a tactical guide on startup execution, branding, funding, and AI-driven growth. I pull back the curtain on what truly works, what fails, and what no one tells you about building a high-impact venture. Expect deep insights, real-world case studies, and a clear blueprint for turning vision into execution. Subscribe now to stay updated.

This book is a blueprint for modern entrepreneurship—a tactical founder mode guide on startup execution, branding, funding, and AI-driven growth.

THE BALANCED FOUNDER B-I TRIANGLE TETRAHEDRON (BFT) FRAMEWORK

Breaking Free from the Broken Startup Model

The startup world is riddled with outdated playbooks and bad habits. Far too many founders face a false choice: either bootstrap and struggle endlessly or chase venture capital and relinquish control. High-burn, high-risk startups often burn out because they’re built on misaligned incentives, passive founders and premature scaling.

The BFT isn’t simply about just launching a business based on building a minimum viable product —it’s about building a company that’s designed for long-term success-after launching an MVP deploying a build measure learn lean startup methodology. With a commitment-first, execution-driven blueprint that forces startups to think beyond an MVP in survival mode before launching the MVP.

While developing our PoC with a Senior Software Architect utilizing agile lean startup and methodology of Eric Ries, and forming Treenia as a startup with princepals based on Steve Blank‘s The Startup Owner’s Manual, my cofounder Mike Clark, CMO and I looked at startup failure rate statistics to find 70% of startups fail due to team issues or lack of focus (CB Insights, 2023). We tore the problems down to its bare bones just to validate it like an idea questioning everything to figure out the best way to build a startup for success. In contrast we developed a iteritive robust ridgid startup framework (BFT) that demands strategic alignment from the very beginning. The BFT Framework offers unique solutions for today’s startup landscape, where 90% fail globally—20% in two years, 45% in five, and 65% in ten (D’Souza, 2025). Its Hybrid Five-Founder Model with 10:1 dual-class shares and 100% ROTI tackles the 23% team failure rate by ensuring aligned, execution-driven founders. The ‘Ganas’ recruitment, inspired by Stand and Deliver, and the Marshmallow Experiment’s focus on grit, counter burnout (16%) and team issues, aligning with 80% of successful founders citing expertise. A flexible structured, 15–19% cashflow allocation and VC-optional scalability address 29% funding failures and 42% scaling risks. It insists on onboarding only those co-founders who are not only experts in their domains but are also visionary contributors with a relentless entrepreneurial spirit. To achieve velocity that is not just a measure of speed, but a multifaceted indicator of progress and efficiency of startup teams.

At its core, the BFT framework rests on five key pillars:

1. The Hybrid AFAT Expansive Adaptive One-Five Founders Model

Roles: CEO, CTO, CMO, CLO, CFO

• Each founder has a clearly defined role, deep domain expertise, and accountability.
• Dual-class shares (10:1) ensure that strategic control remains firmly in the hands of active, committed founders.
• 100% ROTI (Return on Time Investment).
• There are no free rides here. Equity isn’t simply granted by tenure—it’s earned through execution and results.
• 4-Year Vesting with a 1-Year Zero Cliff.
• Followed by 1/64 monthly vesting post-QSBS, ensuring liquidity that aligns with each founder’s contribution over time.

2. Flexible Structured Cashflow Departmental Size Allocation Driven Performance

We examined the BI Triangle structure of Robert Kiyosaki, and Buckminster Fuller, to find a flexible way to allocate funds as a guide to ensure each department can be funded to scale, while thinking through headcount and forecasted expenditures, and SG&A. The model allows smaller niche startup teams to allocate budgets, as they onboard to keep a flexible budget while bootstrapping, to pay for CLO and CFO services as needed and delay recruiting CLO, and CFO cofounders to suppress costs.

• 15% for the CEO (Strategy, Vision, Growth)
• 16% for the CLO (Legal, IP, Compliance)
• 17% for the CTO (Technology & AI Development)
• 18% for the CMO (Marketing & Brand Growth)
• 19% for the CFO (Financial Strategy, HR, Capital Allocation)

3. Scalability & Fundraising Flexibility

• Raising angel investor and venture capital is an option—not a necessity—allowing the startup to scale on its own terms.
• This framework forces startups to plan for the future post MVP.
• It demands that every co-founder is strategically aligned and fully committed to the company’s long-term vision.
• There’s no room for passive equity or dead weight—only true builders who execute.

4. RECRUITMENT & CULTURE

“The greatest people are self-managing. They don’t need to be managed. Once they know what to do, they’ll go figure out how to do it. What they need is a common vision, and that’s what leadership is.”— Steve Jobs

• A Commitment Culture is The True Differentiator

Traditional lean startup methodologies focus solely on launching an MVP to validate an idea. In contrast, our commitment culture goes deeper—it’s about who you choose to build your company with and how that team envisions the future adopting Zero to One innovative first principles thinking, taught by Peter Thiel at Stanford University.

Treenia’s Talent Recruitment: Driven by Ganas

At Treenia, our recruitment process mirrors the essence of the classic film Stand and Deliver, where the focus is on passion, drive, and the determination to succeed against extreme challenges of adversity—qualities defined as “Ganas ~ Desire”

When we seek talent, we’re not just looking for skills or qualifications, but for individuals who possess that relentless drive to overcome obstacles and make an impact. Just as the students in Stand and Deliver rise above adversity with grit and focus, demonstrating a willingness to learn calculus. By becoming a cohort team held to extreme accountability, they accomplished together what the status quo believed was impossible. We want team members who are ready to take ownership, make bold decisions, and contribute to Treenia’s mission of reshaping the future of digital branding.

At Treenia, it’s all about heart and hustle

We look beyond resumes to uncover the inner spark that propels individuals to overcome challenges and excel. Much like Jaime Escalante recognized the potential in his students despite their humble beginnings, our rigorous interview process identifies candidates who display relentless determination, creativity, and a hunger for success. This approach ensures that our team is built on diverse, resilient, and motivated talent committed to transforming digital branding and pioneering innovation.

Questions we ask everyone…

• What do you love to do so much that you would do it for free?
• Tell me about a time you made a decision few people agreed with?
• What excites you about Treenia’s mission of streamlining online branding and social media integration?
• What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career, and how has it shaped your approach to work?
• What unique perspectives or skills do you bring to a team, and how do you think they would contribute to Treenia?
• If you could improve one aspect of Treenia’s user experience, what would it be and why?
• Where do you see the future of online branding, and how would you help Treenia stay ahead?

We select only those visionary contributors who bring deep domain expertise and an unwavering entrepreneurial mindset. Our structure for startup recruitment is inspired by the Marshmallow Experiment championed by Stanford University, that values delayed gratification over short-term wins. Thus, we want founders and team members who are ready to take ownership and contribute to long-term success, gel as a team through customer development methodology regardless of whether they start part-time or full-time. This isn’t about clocking hours—it’s about making every moment count. Part-time cofounders are welcome, but dedication and consistent contribution are non-negotiable.

• We are a tightly knit elite team
• We are not transactional clock-watchers
• We are equally obsessed, talented and aligned

Every team member commits to doing 1% more daily—be it one email, one task, or one sales call. Over time, this compounds into exponential (37X) year-over-year growth. We don’t hesitate to exit the wrong people from the bus because we’re drivers, not passengers.

Our culture ensures:

• Employee Loyalty & Retention
• Consistent Performance & Growth
• Long-Term Stability
  

5. FOUNDERS ACCORD AGREEMENT (FOUNDERS AGREEMENT)

100% ROTI Performance-Based Commitment Culture

A. Equity

Our equity distribution follows industry-standard splits from over 7,000 startups (via Carta) to keep our cap table investor-friendly the following is drafted into the Founder’s Agreement Prior to COI. This ensures all founders – cofounders understand the allocations will change as each member is onboarded, not based on greed or perceived value-yet based on what works. In todays startup environment, team sizes are shrinking. CTOs are demanding higher equity stakes… However, many of these Indie hacker style startups are failing instead of scaling… due to greed. Where the ideology is not focused on building and launching a successful startup… Its focused on launching a mediocre product and hope for acquisition. Obviosly, we are focused on building an investable, repeatable and scalable Silicon Valley style rapid growth tech startup, built for long range X2, X2, X3, X3, X10 results.

• 1-Founder Team: CEO holds 100%
• 2-Founder Team: CEO 55%, Partner 45%
• 3-Founder Team: CEO 47%, CMO 33%, CTO 17%
• 4-Founder Team: CEO 40%, CMO 27%, CTO 18%, CFO 10%
• 5-Founder Team: CEO 35%, CMO 22%, CTO 17%, CFO 12%, CLO 9%
  

B. Terms

• Shared = Dilution
• Delaware C. Corporation – Certificate of Incorporation (COI)
• Purchase 85% of 10M Dual-Class Shares filed with a PAR Value at COI of $0.00001. Prior to Fundraising.
• File 83b
• Allocate a 15% Equity Pool:
  -11% for Employee Options (Evergreen Pool)
  -2% for Fast Agreements (Specialist Contributions)
  -2% for Advisors (with a cost for a 0.25% equity stake)
• 1-Year Zero-Out Cliff followed by 4-Year Vesting.
• 10:1 Voting Power through Dual-Class Shares (ensuring founder control).
• Provisions for Secondaries post-QSBS and Acceleration if acquired.
• All founder-provided resources are treated as loans that must be repaid first.
• The CEO secures 1 Board Seat plus an additional vote to resolve disagreements till series B close.
  

Conclusion: The Future of Startup Success

The BFT is for founders who build, execute, and scale without falling prey to traditional startup failures. Fractional hires will never get rich by merely renting their time; real wealth comes from owning equity. We welcome part-time co-founders, but dedication and consistent contribution are non-negotiable.

• If you’re an investor, founder, or operator, it’s time to rethink how startups are built. The next generation of high-impact companies will be crafted by those who master commitment, alignment, and execution… For maximum DCF (discounted cash flows) valuation, based on value, structure, and risk.

BLOG-THOUGHTS ON INNOVATION AND LEADERSHIP

Ideas That Shape the Future

Every post here is a step toward sharing the knowledge I’ve gained through years of hands-on work in the startup ecosystem. From AI tools to funding strategies, this space will cover everything from vision-driven leadership to operational efficiency.

EDUCATION

Thomas Edison State University GPA: 3.9

Microsoft Startup Fundamentals and Startup Fundraising (September 2023)

Khan Academy Business Administration and Management, General (January 2007)

💼 TRUSTED BY INDUSTRY LEADERS
I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with, learning from, and being advised by some of the most accomplished minds in AI, cybersecurity, branding, and venture capital, including:

Stephen Joseph, Esq., Angel Investor

Mike Culliney, VP Unilever (Retired)

Robert Shalayda VP NOKIA, Wharton Valuation Associates

Larry Sladewski, VP NVIDIA Growth Graphic (Retired)

Alex Shapiro, Senior Software Architect, McKinsey & Co., Warner Music Group

Mike Kaczmarek, VP VeriSign

Jeff Bedser, ICANN Global Cybersecurity Chair

CONNECT WITH ME LET’S BUILD SOMETHING GROUNDBREAKING

Ready to disrupt an industry? Whether you’re an investor, founder, or strategist, let’s connect and explore new frontiers in AI, branding, and digital identity. Reach out—I’d love to collaborate on what’s next.

Empowering entrepreneurs to make their mark—one domain, one profile, one business at a time.

X @RonaldSimons – LinkedIn Ronald Simons

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