018 - Building Software That Actually Pays Off with Dave Todaro, Founder, Ascendle
Pitch, Build, Scale - Startup Founder Stories in the Age of AI · 2025-06-10 · 37 min
Episode notes
Most dev teams can build software—but very few can guarantee it delivers business value. In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale , we sit down with Dave Todaro, founder of Ascendle and author of The Epic Guide to Agile , to unpack what separates strategic software success from over-engineered failure. We cover how Dave’s early programming days shaped his obsession with real-world impact, why most product timelines still fail despite modern tools, and how to make AI a productive coding assistant—not a liability. You’ll hear hard-won lessons on agile delivery, client validation, pricing transparency, and building software with “no room for failure.” If you lead a dev shop or enterprise product team, this one’s a masterclass in modern software strategy.