Pashtoun Youssof

Work

I’m a Founder-Operator.
I turn new services into repeatable programs that scale from dozens of customers to thousands.
I design the commercial and delivery models behind them, and build the multi-layered organizations that run them.
I own the outcome, from the executive business case to delivery.

I started my career running my own consultancy, and I've built businesses the same way inside larger companies ever since. I find the idea, sell it to our sellers, help them sell it to clients, teach architects to scope it, and lead delivery until it runs on its own. Then I hand it to a leader I trust and build the next one.

Over more than 20 years in cloud and infrastructure services, that has meant building an AWS practice at Presidio that earned AWS Premier Tier status, building a subscription services business at SADA, and today leading Google Cloud platform engineering at Insight across five countries.

Field notes

Revenue comes first, then gross profit, then utilization. Each one matters only once the one before it is on plan.

The fastest way to destroy the morale of your high performers is to tolerate your low performers.

Share costs and revenue with a new practice while it can't carry its own weight. Separate them before the sharing hides its true economics.

When two teams sell the same work to the same client, separation becomes competition.

Away from work

At the table

I'm a game master. I run tabletop role-playing games, and running a table has more in common with running a program than you'd think: everyone wants something different, the plan rarely survives the first session, and the best moments come from what the players decide.

Wing Chun

I teach Wing Chun, a Southern Chinese martial art built on economy of motion. Protect the centerline, take the shortest path, and stay relaxed under pressure. It's good advice outside the school, too.

The kitchen

I love to cook and to host dinner parties. If we've shared a meal, you already know more about me than this page can tell you.

Moon and seasons

I revere the turning of the seasons and the phases of the moon. This page follows both: the moon at the top is tonight's, and the colors change with each season.