Episode 1: Growth Laws

Like all living systems, growth follows an S-curve. Early growth is slow, then comes an exponential phase, and eventually growth decelerates. The exponential phase is where companies typically raise capital and invest heavily to accelerate momentum. But there is a critical distinction. Turning a million-dollar asset into a billion-dollar one requires exponential growth to last for years, not quarters. That cannot be achieved by scaling effort alone. For exponential growth to persist, growth itself must compound. Costs cannot compound faster than growth. Yet in our diagnostic work with our clientele, we consistently see that most companies have stopped compounding, AND often without realizing it. So before we can govern growth at an executive or board level, we "probably" first need to know whether growth is still compounding at all. Here is a simple way to assess this. - Take your total revenue over the past 10 quarters - Ask AI to plot the revenue curve - Ask AI to overlay the first derivative, which shows your growth rate (You already know this one) - Ask AI to overlay the second derivative, which is indicative of whether growth is still compounding If the second derivative turns negative, your growth has stopped compounding. It tells you that you need to work harder and harder to keep growing. That moment matters far more than the headline growth rate, because it tells us what is happening inside your system. Now, realize this is a signal, not a verdict. It is designed to prompt further investigation, not to run a board meeting on and direct a 10M investment (just yet). But I can tell you this. When we apply this lens across most of our clients, particularly SaaS-natives, show that they are no longer in a compound growth state. And what's even more surprising, they often don't even know that this has happened, when it happened, or why it happened. Yes, they may still be growing... but the underlying growth system has fundamentally changed from compound growth to accelerative growth. And that is why it has become so much harder to keep growing... and that is why the executive team is so fatigued. It feels like swimming upstream. That realization is the starting point for everything that follows, and it sets the stage for the next episode. FWIW, if you are reading this far... THANK YOU... know I appreciate you. ---- Go deeper with Winning by Design: Join the Growth Institute Community for peer learning, live sessions, and practical GTM frameworks https://winningbydesign.com/growth-institute/ Learn how to design scalable revenue systems with the Growth Architecture™ Course https://winningbydesign.com/growth-architecture About Winning by Design: Winning by Design is the leading growth advisory firm for companies scaling recurring revenue. We help executive teams move from ad-hoc growth to designed, durable, and compounding GTM systems. From diagnostics to revenue architecture and deployment, our advisors apply the Bowtie Data Model™, SPICED™ Operating Model, and GTM AI Frameworks to help teams operate with clarity and speed. We’ve partnered with category-defining companies including Canva, Dropbox, DocuSign, Instructure, OneStream, and Five9. Forward-thinking founders, executives, and investors work with Winning by Design to reduce risk, eliminate inefficiency, and build growth engines that scale. Learn more at https://winningbydesign.com/ - - - - - Get more frameworks from WbD: https://winningbydesign.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/winningbydesign Learn more from WbD Founder Jacco van der Kooij on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaccovanderkooij Want to reach out? https://winningbydesign.com/contact - - - - - About Winning By Design: Winning by Design is the leading growth advisory firm for scaling businesses. From diagnostic insights to system design and deployment, we work with the world’s most prominent brands to architect compounding growth. WbD advisors have mastered the Bowtie Data Model™, the SPICED™ Operating Model, and the GTM Model, having deployed revenue architecture across companies like Canva, Dropbox, Instructure, DocuSign, One Stream, and Five9. These advisors work with your team to help them avoid mistakes, see around corners, and build with confidence while operating at speed. Forward-thinking investors and executive teams work with Winning by Design to assure scalable, sustainable, and durable growth. To learn more about Winning by Design, visit winningbydesign.com.