And beat the odds that only 1 in 6,300 will reach this level of annual sales. The attached diagram shows the skills, systems and experience needed on that team. Each cell would take at least 5 years’ experience to acquire and master that skill area. So, we are looking at 100 years of experience cumulative for the company as a whole.
Most people think they are “ready to scale” as soon as they have some sales. This is never true. In fact, you need at least 4 levels of stuff in 5 business areas, or your odds of success are very low. This can be thought of as the “do, hire/train, manage, plan” levels too. And maps into individual contributor, manager, executive and CEO/board (long-term vision stuff).
It takes many years to acquire the skills needed to build a significant company. Anyone can build and run a small company with ~7 people. After that, the skills required are very different. And you need a senior team (c-suite or fractional) that consists of at least 3 leaders for vision/product, operations, and marketing/sales. Ideally, each should have 15+ years’ experience and be equity holders with “golden handcuffs”. Attempting to build a significant company alone never works, literally. You can build a tiny house alone, but not a skyscraper.
Want to 2X, 3X or more your valuation? Join me for a free workshop on creating more Sustainable Competitive Advantage at our monthly webinar for growth companies that want to hit $10M, $100M or even $1B in sales eventually.
Bob Norton is a long-time Serial Entrepreneur, CEO and investor who founded six companies with four exits that returned over $1 billion to investors for a 25X ROI. Two others are still in development. He has trained, consulted and advised thousands of Entrepreneurs, CEOs and boards since 2002. Mr. Norton works with companies to 2X to 10X growth rates and valuation using AirTight Management™, the world’s most comprehensive Leadership Operating System. He also helps companies raise capital to fund growth. He is also the Founder of The CEO Boot Camp™ and Entrepreneurship University™ for early-stage companies that have not reached product-market fit and $1M ARR.
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