Thomas Bernal

Up at 4:30. Ruck, lift, build. | Helping SMBs grow with 10+ yrs in the trenches (CRO @ExpertsExchange) | Dad of 4 | Proof that discipline scales | Chattanooga

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

2005: A coach told me I might make varsity.
2024: CRO.

It wasn’t a straight line.

1991: Born in Knoxville. Diehard UT fan.

2005: UT baseball coach told me I MIGHT make my varsity team. Became a Kentucky fan that day. Haven’t owned any orange since that day.

2010: Walked on at UK. Redshirted. Sat the bench. Didn’t know if I’d ever play. Didn’t know if I wanted to stay.

2012: Married my wife. Still in college. Still figuring it out.

2014: Finally earned a scholarship. Finally cracked the starting lineup. Pre-season All-SEC my senior year. (Missed the NIL years by a decade.)

2015: Graduated. Baseball was all I knew. No idea what came next.

2016: Pounding phones as a logistics coordinator. Gained 20 lbs at a desk. Adopted our first son, Paxton. Rock bottom and the best year of my life at the same time.

2017: Took an SDR job at Experts Exchange. Our daughter Evve was born.

2018: Promoted to Director. Started learning what I didn’t know.

2021: Adopted Luca. Lived in El Paso, Tx for 4 months while Luca was in NICU

2022: Adopted Alexei. Four kids, 5 and under. Promoted to Sr Director.

2023: VP of Revenue.

2024: CRO. Co-founded ByteSize with a goal of $100k in new revenue. Ran 4 marathons: Austin, Chattanooga, Nashville, and one I made up myself on 30A.

2025: Crossed $100k at ByteSize.

2026: Started a 500-day writing challenge. Navigating AI with SMBs and where EE is heading.

34 years old. Four kids. A wife who’s stuck with me since we were kids ourselves.

Still figuring it out.

[The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee]

"It was all worth it." https://t.co/KkG0s8gNu1

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

@uday_devops This is how every small business "codes" now.

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

@andrehaykaljr We canceled Hubspot over a year ago aver we vibe coded an internal product. We optimize it and make it better ever month. Saves thousands.

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

If you need AI to make your point sound smart, you probably don't have a point.

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

Lauren (My Wife) built a business this weekend.
https://t.co/IPhSRuMqwS Domain, website, Stripe, content plan. Live by Saturday night.
Th part that stuck with me.
I'm a revenue guy. My first question is always how does this make money right now.
Lauren's answer: "Who cares about the money. I just want to help people."
11+ years in sales and my wife reframed the whole thing in one sentence.

AI handled a lot.
Lauren did the copy, the logo, the colors. Every part a customer will actually feel.
That's the split I keep coming back to. AI does the wiring. Humans do the parts that touch humans.

Proud of you, Lauren.

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

@BrandonPahler You wear them.

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

@thesamparr Unc

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

Name an industry that it wouldn’t make sense to have a newsletter or social presence?

Everyone I talk to I always find ways to say you should be on @beehiiv

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

@beehiiv @denk_tweets We are ready!

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

I will admit, in the last decade of my career, I have never once signed up for a product release “webinar”, but something about @beehiiv and what @denk_tweets has built made me curious. I’ll be there.
Also, not sure our newsletter would’ve like it did without it.

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

@solopribuilds Watching it, correcting it and some YouTube going on in the background.

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

@alejandroreyes Speaking my language. Just followed

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

Random question: anyone actually try @icyboxapp and see the worth? Or is just another form of gambling?

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

@Polymarket These people aren’t very intelligent. What did they flip a coin to decide?

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

@BonifaceOption @realalexclark Who wants sunrise after 9!? That’s insane.

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

The problem with a home gym is the regulars.
Been waiting on this bench for 20 minutes.

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

Just crossed $100k in revenue this year with ByteSize.
We started it with zero expectations.
It's not retirement money. It's not "made it" money.
But six figures from something I built on the side, as a dad of 4 with a full-time CRO job? That feels like something.
Small, consistent actions add up.

What's one thing you're working on that's starting to show real progress?

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

34 years old.
Dad of 4.
CRO.
Still trying to be a good husband and father while building.

Some days I feel like I’m failing at all of it.

Then I remember, my kids don’t need a perfect dad.
They need a dad who keeps showing up when it’s hard.

Consistency beats intensity every single time.

Dads/execs reading this — How are you balancing it all right now?

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

What brands are you studying right now?

[Thomas Bernal @tberny46]

Truth hurts.

[Daniel Berk @danielcberk]

There are like 3 people on the planet who are good at writing cold emails

So when AI tells you how to write a cold email just remember it’s being trained on 99.99999999999% of terrible cold emails written by everyone else