Alex Miller is the Co-Founder and Chief Sales Officer of Arka Fiber, a Utah-based fiber broadband go-to-market company he started with Keith Nielsen in 2025. Arka partners with providers including Verizon, AT&T, GoNetSpeed, Fidium and Greenlight, and grew from zero employees and zero revenue in December 2025 to roughly $20 million in revenue in its first year. Alex is also a co-founder of Blitzy, a telecom technology company born out of Arka. Before Arka, he was Partner and Chief Sales Officer at Encōr Solar, which grew from a grassroots start to more than $100 million in annual revenue, made the Inc. 500 and the Utah Fast 50, and spun off the software company Solo, which later sold a majority stake to Bregal Sagemount. Earlier, he was a Director at Defenders through its roughly $381 million acquisition by ADT. Raised on his family’s farm in the Pickett/Oshkosh area of Wisconsin, Alex credits his grandfather Leland Miller for his work ethic. He was named Executive of the Year in 2023 and focuses his giving on Autism Speaks and No Kid Hungry. He is based in Chicago.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
I’m up early, and the first part of my day is calls and time with my team. In a field sales business, the morning sets the tone for everyone, so I want to know who’s winning, who’s stuck, and what our partners need before the day gets away from us. After that I split my time between partner relationships, recruiting and developing leaders, and the numbers. I keep it productive by protecting the things that move revenue and pushing everything else to the edges of the day.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Fast and in the field. I’d rather test an idea with a small team in one neighborhood this week than spend a month planning it. If it works, we write down exactly what made it work, train it, and scale it. If it doesn’t, we’ve lost a few days instead of a quarter. That’s how Arka went from an idea to roughly $20 million in revenue in about a year.
What’s one trend that excites you?
The fiber buildout across the country. Billions of dollars are going into networks, and a lot of communities are getting real high-speed internet for the first time. The part people underestimate is that a network only pays off when households actually sign up, and that’s a people business. I love being part of closing that gap.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Talking to my team before anything else. Starting the day on calls with my people keeps me close to what’s really happening in the field instead of what a report says happened last week.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Bet on people earlier. I spent too long thinking I had to do everything myself. The biggest jumps in my career came when I hired great leaders, trusted them, and got out of their way.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you.
Door-to-door isn’t old-fashioned; it’s one of the most modern go-to-market channels there is. Everyone wants to win with ads and algorithms, but a well-trained person at the door builds trust faster than any campaign, especially for something like home internet where people want to talk to a real human.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Get in the field. No matter how big the company gets, I still spend time with reps and customers. You can’t lead a sales organization from a spreadsheet.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
I go back to basics: who are my top priorities today, and who on my team needs me most. Usually a call with one of my leaders clears my head faster than anything else.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Building grassroots. At Encōr Solar and now at Arka, we grew by recruiting hungry people, training them well, and promoting from within, not by raising huge rounds or buying growth. When people can see a real path to leadership, they build the company with you. That’s how we took Arka from zero people and zero revenue to roughly $20 million in its first year with partners like Verizon and AT&T.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
Early in my career I grew a team faster than I could train it. We hired a lot of people quickly, but without the right systems many of them didn’t succeed, and we lost good people and momentum. I overcame it by slowing down just enough to build real training, clear expectations and leaders who could coach. The lesson I took away is that growth without a system isn’t growth, it’s churn. Today, at Arka, we build the training and leadership pipeline before we scale a market.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
A local service that helps small towns get their residents signed up when fiber arrives. Many communities fight for years to get a network built, then see low sign-up rates because nobody explained it to residents. Someone who partners with city halls, libraries and local businesses to run sign-up events could do very well and help a lot of people.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Our CRM. It’s the heartbeat of the business. I use it every day to see where every rep, market and partner stands, spot problems early, and know exactly who to call.
What is the best $100 you recently spent?
Taking my team out to dinner. The best ideas and the most honest conversations happen around a table, not in a meeting. Investing in my people is always the best return I get.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast from which you’ve received much value?
“The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale. Sales and entrepreneurship are full of rejection, and that book shaped how I handle it. Your mindset decides how you show up the next day, and how you show up decides your results.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” I love Tarantino’s storytelling and the way it captures an era, and the chemistry between DiCaprio and Pitt makes it a blast to watch.
Key learnings:
- Test ideas fast in the field, then systematize and scale what works.
- Grow grassroots: recruit hungry people, train them well and promote from within.
- Build training and leadership before you scale, or growth turns into churn.
- Stay close to the field, because you can’t lead sales from a spreadsheet.
- Mindset matters: how you handle rejection decides tomorrow’s results.