Some CEOs sprint after growth. My guest on The Scaling CEO, Elias Berlinger, reminds us that scaling is more like a marathon.
Elias is the CEO and co-founder of My Music Workshop, a subscription-based platform teaching music to kids. For over 16 years, he has built the business almost entirely through organic growth: thousands of paying members, millions of YouTube views, and zero outside investors until now. His story is a masterclass in patience, persistence, and knowing when steady growth must give way to bigger bets.
Persistence Is the CEO’s Superpower
When I asked Elias for his biggest scaling insight, he didn’t hesitate: persistence.
“You have to have energy through the uptimes and the downtime. The why is important. Why am I doing this?”
For Elias, persistence means re-examining beliefs during downturns, pivoting when necessary, and never losing sight of the mission to bring music education to more kids.
Scaling Requires Recalibration
Elias compared scaling to marathon training.
“If I undertook the effort to run a marathon, the first day a mile would be stress on my body… after months of training, I could maybe run 15–20 miles and my body could handle that stress. So it’s about recalibrating to the difficulties as you scale and grow.”
Growth gets easier over time but only if the CEO adapts.
Pivoting From Classrooms to Online Learning
For 11 years, My Music Workshop was an in-person teaching and franchise business. COVID wiped that out overnight. Elias and his wife rebuilt from scratch, teaching themselves video production in their garage.
One of those early videos, a piano lesson shot on an Android phone, went viral with millions of views. That scrappy pivot laid the foundation for a thriving online subscription business.
Knowing When Organic Growth Isn’t Enough
After 16 years of steady expansion, Elias is now seeking a strategic partner. Why? Because organic growth has natural ceilings.
In subscription businesses, churn and acquisition rates determine the plateau. To break through, CEOs must either reduce churn, unlock new acquisition channels, or bring in outside capital. For Elias, it’s time to pair deep roots with higher branches.
Balancing Creativity and Discipline
Elias is both a percussionist and a business operator. He describes the tension well:
“Songs aren’t 17-minute orchestral pieces… they’re in a box. Verse, chorus, formula. I have to use creativity but inside the box of what works in business.”
For CEOs, the lesson is clear: creativity must live within the boundaries of strategy.
Using AI Without Losing Humanity
Elias embraces AI as a tool, but not a replacement. He uses it for research, idea generation, and blog support – always reshaping the output to preserve the company’s authentic voice.
“I like to use it to scale our own personality as opposed to letting AI be the personality of what we do.”
He envisions AI-powered personalization for music lessons but insists the human connection will always define My Music Workshop.
Final Takeaway
Elias Berlinger shows that scaling doesn’t always mean hypergrowth. Sometimes it’s about patience, recalibration, and protecting the mission until the right growth partner arrives.
As a CEO, think of scaling as a marathon. Each stage demands more endurance, but also builds your capacity to go further than you thought possible.
I’m Glenn Gow. I help CEOs break growth barriers. On my podcast, I highlight the playbooks successful CEOs use to scale without losing control.
Listen to the full episode of The Scaling CEO with Elias Berlinger for insights on scaling slowly, pivoting boldly, and leading with creativity.
