#098 From 25 to 350 Employees: Eric Giesecke on Scaling Without Losing Control

Built For This Podcast, with Carly Pepin

November 12, 2026 by

Carly Pepin

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In this episode of Built For This, Carly Pepin sits down with Eric Giesecke, CEO of Planet DDS, to explore what it takes to scale a business, navigate acquisitions, and build a leadership team capable of growing alongside an organization.

Eric shares his unconventional journey from mechanical engineering and working in Afghanistan to Harvard Business School and discovering the search fund model. That path eventually led him to OneSource Water, where he nearly doubled the business in less than three years and gained valuable lessons from completing 21 acquisitions.

Carly and Eric explore how those experiences shaped his approach to leading Planet DDS, a cloud-based dental software company that has grown from approximately 25 employees to around 350. He explains why financial discipline, building trust with existing employees, and making data-driven decisions have been essential to managing that growth.

They also discuss the difficult leadership decisions that come with scaling, why successful acquisitions depend on cultural alignment, and how Eric's role has evolved from hands-on management to strategic prioritization. Eric also shares how Planet DDS uses its annual Apollo Mission to keep teams focused and aligned, and where he sees opportunities for AI in the dental industry.

Key Takeaways

Sustainable Growth Requires Discipline

Eric learned through experience that rapid expansion can create serious problems when a business grows faster than its systems and people can support. He emphasizes the importance of integrating acquisitions carefully, maintaining financial discipline, and focusing resources on the opportunities that deliver the greatest long-term value.

Culture and Trust Are Critical to Successful Acquisitions

Acquiring a company involves much more than financial performance. Eric believes understanding the people, relationships, and existing culture is essential to making an acquisition successful. Building trust and creating alignment help organizations come together without losing the strengths that made them successful in the first place.

Leadership Must Evolve as the Business Scales

The skills required to lead 25 employees aren't necessarily the same as those needed to lead 350. Eric shares why growing companies sometimes need to evolve their leadership teams, how CEOs must learn to delegate, and why staying focused on a small number of meaningful priorities becomes increasingly important as an organization expands.

About Eric Giesecke

Eric Giesecke is the CEO of Planet DDS, a leading provider of cloud-based, enterprise-grade dental software solutions.

Before joining Planet DDS, Eric co-founded District Line Partners, a private investment fund focused on acquiring and operating established businesses in growing industries. He also led OneSource Water, a bottleless water cooler company that he nearly doubled in size in less than three years through organic growth and acquisitions.

Eric holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia. Today, he brings his experience in acquisitions, operational leadership, and business growth to Planet DDS, helping the company scale while maintaining a strong focus on culture, customer relationships, and long-term sustainability.

Memorable Quotes
"Growth is great. But uncontrolled growth can create lots of problems downstream."
"You can't pretend like you have the answers."
"Focus and discipline I think is the hardest thing to do when you're growing and when you're scaling."

Eric Giesecke