Business Stage
Product Marketing
Problem Solution Problem
Make something FREE to No one knows about your
Nothing to Sell give away stuff
Fix it until its good enough
to sell. Improvements on
the free, make it worth No one knows you have
Not good enough to sell selling. PAID stuff for sale
Paying customers have Fix it good enough for now
higher expectations, in an unscalable way. Do
product is unreliable, and anything to make customers Lead flow is inconsistent
not good enough happy, even if not efficient. (STOP:START)
No time to fix everything Fix the thing they complain Leads arent buying fast
that is wrong about most. enough
Too many different types of
customers. Feedback ideas Specialize the product to
give too many product niche down on higher
directions paying customers Too many unqualified leads
Customers have nothing Connect customer service & Qualified leads are too
else to buy from you & product. Make something expensive and cap your
churn out new to sell them ability to advertise
Install incremental product
Improving two products improvement process for Ads don’t convert as well to
slows down improvements both products colder traffic. CAC goes up
Product outdated. Fix one problem at a time Lead flow is volatile
Improvements take too long with focused feature because you only have one
to roll out specific teams way to get customers
Survey. Prune. Improve Broader creative brings in
Product has too many through deletion. Pruned lower quality leads and
features & overwhelms items can become cross- dilutes the brand. CAC goes
customers sells up again because
Page 1
Business Stage
Changes to successful Lead attribution by channel
products (cash cows) make Buy (M&A) or build (R&D) becomes difficult. Platform
them worse. You need new next rising star product to and regulatory compliance
stuff to keep growing add to the suite becomes and issue
Page 2
Business Stage
Marketing Sales
Solution Problem Solution
Get people to try it for free.
Ask them what they think
Tell people you have FREE and what could make it
stuff You don’t know how to sell better.
Tell people you have paid
stuff. Sign up for free ad Use good results from free
spend credits. Explain why people to sell paid people.
its worth paying/how its You still don’t know how to Offer to solve their
better than when it was sell problems for money
Live by the rule of 100. Nail down a script for
Prioritize advertising daily. Sales conversions are setting and closing –
Focus on what works. inconsistent CLOSER & ACA
Wasting time with bad
leads. You don’t have Decide on basic
Add long term nurture enough time to talk to good qualifications. Outsource
(emails/content) leads setting and calendering
Make better free stuff & Track basic KPIs manually
more creative to boost on spreadsheet (contact
volume. Add Speed to contact drops. rate, scheduled, showed,
qualification/friction so the You have no metrics around offered, closed, cash
extra volume self-selects sales. collected)
Create sales aids/materials.
Install weekly game tape
Spend more on niche down between customer service
messaging with new offer & Customers get sold with & sales/marketing for QA
raise CAC limit (spend unrealistic expectations and and feedback. Track
more). Start scoring your refunds/bad reviews NPS/CSAT/Refund rate by
leads. Attr + CRO become an issue rep
Closing efficiency on core
product drops. Becomes Install sales training system.
Implement Ad assembly inconsistent. Refunds go Individual coaching and
process to increase volume down, but so do closes team cadence
Fund 2nd acquisition
channel with referral
process, track it, &
segmented long term Better schedule coverage.
nurture by lead score. Pick Create lead nurture
most similar platform or new Leads getting wasted. Not checklist & kudos for top
core 4 worked consistently show rates
Grow brand with
standardized messaging +
free value + big positive
brand associations. Brand Route best leads to best
Marketing department closers (front end &
instead of this Demand Closing efficiency on ascensions). Automated
Generation premium product drops metrics tracking
Page 3
Business Stage
Shift to brand first
advertising with Salespeople specialize in
omnichannel approach with selling different products to
blended return on ad spend Too many different leads different leads using
(ROAS) across all products. and products for any one different processes. Route
Install compliance process type of salesperson leads by product/territory
Page 4
Business Stage
Customer Service Information Technology
Problem Solution Problem
Service your free customers.
Help them when needed. They
are helping you learn what to
No customers to serve fix. No tech
Figure out all hidden costs You have no basic
Free customers don’t like it (why they don’t use it) by software/tools or social
or use it talking to them media
Learn to deal with
disappointed customers (Angry
Boat). Get testimonials from
happy customers (Epiphany
Paid customers have higher script). Turn complaints into You have no money to
standards & complain more improvements. afford tech
Learn to onboard customers You have a bunch of
New customers feel lost properly different tools you don’t use
Install tracking & KPIs. Record
No metrics for customer and centralize notes for each New team isnt using
success customer in a CRM everything
Employees using their
Build proper customer service personal hardware and
playbook to onboard & train software and creates issues
team to answer questions the when people leave. No
Customers come in with same way. Weekly game tape tracking for leads and
unrealistic expectations. review. Customer ascension customers interacting with
Get inconsistent answers path your business
Create customer segmentation
by cohort and activation points New people coming in. Old
Churn increases due to (when they joined, and how people leaving with IP,
volume & new product they use product) data, and access
Create proactive customer
journey & communication.
Customer service only Focus on renewals and Data, IP, Access all over
reactive. All firefighting ascensions the place and disorganized
Departments outgrow
general software and need
Create proactive specific solutions. Too
Multiple customer journeys recommendations to cross-sell many internal inquiries. No
conflict or poorly timed with other stuff and a blended inquiry process.
one another customer journey Departmental policies
Page 5
Business Stage
Triage support to specialized Old tech stack insufficient
Support for varied newer customer service reps to and needs update.
offerings is breaking due to improve efficiency and shorten Departments demand new
high volume training. & specialized solutions
Page 6
Business Stage
Information Technology Recruiting
Solution Problem Solution
Get a computer, internet,
microphone, phone, email
address You don’t know how to work Recruit yourself to work
Reach out to people you
Figure out the free software know to help you OR use
you need by joining free You don’t know how to do freelancer platforms to get
groups and reading online something or have the time help. Have clear
forums to do it expectations
Use free tech (google suite) Convert part timers to
and get free trials/credits for FTers, make public posts,
starter software. or run ads on job boards to
Website/hosting. Starter Too much work for part get full timers. Clear
CRM/POS timers expectations
Figure out the useful ones.
Extend free trial thru
credits/discounts. Cut the Learn how to write a job
rest. Basic system to track Not getting quality description and review
your sales pipeline applicants resumes
Get everyone on platforms.
Protect passwords. Get Lean how to conduct a
project management took & Wasting time with bad proper interview and check
comms (work chat tool) candidates references
Company provides Deliberate promotions from
company owned/controlled within rather than Peter
hardware and software. Principle. Incentivize
Need dashboard/reporting Have trouble finding higher employee referrals = CAT
system level roles/managers (cost to acquire talent)
Cybersecurity, malware, The number and type of
password protection from roles you need exceed your You learn to headhunt
and for employees. current network. (Everyone higher level roles. Add
Onboarding and offboarding whos good has a job multiple interviews filtering
employees already) for different skills
Takes too long to hire good
people and they get hire
elsewhere. You have too Install applicant tracking
Network technology. Bring many roles open to keep system to keep track of so
solutions to the cloud. Data track of candidates and many open roles. Pay
host. Centrally locate where they’re at in the specialized recruiting firms
hardware if onsite process to keep up
Get specialized stack for
departments. Internal
inquiry process. Staff up if
needed. Create
departmental policies and
service level agreements. Recruiters hold inconsistent
Establish rules around the standards and culture Standardize selection
IT department and how they suffers. Wrong candidates process for all incoming
handle requests/software get too far into the process talent. Founder final check
Page 7
Business Stage
You hire more specialized
tech roles for each major
function with updated and Best talent doesn’t respond
segmented tech stack. You to standard recruiting efforts Found directly attracts
may need a new enterprise from anyone besides the highest level roles and sells
level software. CEO/Founder on growth/vision
Page 8
Business Stage
Human Resources Finance
Problem Solution Problem
Create an entity to separate
your personal assets from Your personal money is the
You’re unprotected your business assets businesses money
You pay money to
freelancers to get work Create basic vendor
done and don’t get what agreements and You have no way to collect
you want expectations money
Setup W-2 and 1099s.
Create basic training. You don’t keep track of
You have FTEs but Establish work schedules. money or have a way to pay
structured like contractors Make responsibilities clear taxes
Get a payroll provider so all
You’re not withholding taxes and fees by state are People getting paid
employee taxes and fees handled informally
Cash flow is lumpy due to
Employees don’t know how random “one-time”
to behave (PTO, sick days, expenses. You find out that
dress code, code of Employee handbook & businesses cost money to
conduct) policies run
You don’t know how much
You’re firing people Create termination policies money you can reinvest into
incorrectly and exposed. and process growth
You can’t get higher level You’re spending money to
talent because they expect Setup benefits, retirement, grow, but you’re not. Money
full compensation package and advanced is missing, where’s my
(benefits, retirement, etc.) compensation plans return?
There are too many
different places for
employee information and Setup Human Resource Your team starts spending
you have no data Information System (HRIS) your money stupidly
Setup group onboarding You’re still paying retail for
So many new and existing (software). Documented everything (and getting
employees, performance performance management overcharged). Cash is
suffers. Compliance issues systems. Insurance (EPLI). unprotected & getting 0%
and complaints skyrocket Reinforce cultural values returns
Page 9
Business Stage
Strategic workforce
planning: org structure, Your finances arent legit
capacity planning, backfill, enough to get other people
skill gaps, role redundancy, to give you money to make
Churn increases + you don’t from generalists to hyper a big investment in M&A or
have who you need to grow specialization R&D
Page 10
Business Stage
Finance
Solution
Get a business bank
account. Put money in.
Write off start up expenses
to save on taxes
Set up a payment
processor. Run a payment.
Get a deposit
Spin up quickbooks
equivalent. Save for taxes.
Check your bank account
daily. Track expenses. Plan
for bigger expenses.
Setup: Payroll processing,
basic bookkeeping,
managing invoices and
payments
Get profit and loss
statements and cashflow
statements setup. Get basic
business insurance.
Make a budget (save for big
expenses), simple financial
forecasting. Being keeping
track of tax write offs
Scale up AR/AP. Get more
granular financial data.
Balance sheet. Begin
making quarterly tax
payments
Quarterly expense
management. Budgets by
department. Cards with
limits. Expense approval
process. Add insurance &
get fancier projections
Re-negotiate rates on
everything. Cash to yield
accounts. Specialize
finance roles (especially tax
mitigation). Do regular
internal financial audits to
make sure money is not
being wasted.
Page 11
Business Stage
Prep for sale: get Quality of
Earnings audit. Banker
audit. Capital structure.
Hedge big investments.
Optional: Raise cash for
M&A or to fuel growth
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