Introduction xi
Part I The Science of Scaling Framework: Calculating Whether We Are Ready to Scale and How Fast 1
Phase 1 Product-Market Fit 3
Chapter 1 Is Product-Market Fit ... a Feeling? 5
Chapter 2 Defining the Leading Indicator of Retention (LIR) 9
Chapter 3 Defining the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) 17
Chapter 4 Instrumenting the LIR Measurement for Scale 21
Phase 2 Go-to-Market Fit 27
Chapter 5 The Product Fits, but Does the Go-to-Market? 29
Phase 3 Growth and Moat 39
Chapter 6 How Fast Should We Scale? 41
Chapter 7 Building the Bottom-Up Scale Model 51
Part II Aligning the Go-to-Market System with Product-Market Fit 59
Chapter 8 Defining the Go-to-Market System 61
Chapter 9 The Optimal Design of the Go-to-Market System Is Contextual 67
Chapter 10 Aligning ICP with the Pursuit of Product-Market Fit: Early Adopters Fostering Rapid Learning 75
Chapter 11 Aligning the Go-to-Market Process with the Pursuit of Product-Market Fit: Founder-Led, Learning-Oriented 81
Chapter 12 Aligning GTM Hires with the Pursuit of Product-Market Fit: Half Product Manager, Half Account Executive 89
Chapter 13 Aligning Demand Generation with the Pursuit of Product-Market Fit: Rely on Personal Network and Referrals 101
Chapter 14 Aligning Pricing with the Pursuit of Product-Market Fit: Price for Commitment, Not Profits 105
Chapter 15 Aligning GTM Compensation with the Pursuit of Product-Market Fit: Equity Instead of Variable Commission 107
Chapter 16 Aligning Go-to-Market System Outputs with the Pursuit of Product-Market Fit: LIR Achievement 109
Part III Aligning the Go-to-Market System with the Pursuit of Go-to-Market Fit 117
Chapter 17 Aligning ICP with the Pursuit of Go-to-Market Fit: Expand from Early Adopter to Early Majority 119
Chapter 18 Aligning the Go-to-Market Process with the Pursuit of Go-to-Market Fit: Codified and Repeatable 123
Chapter 19 Aligning GTM Hires with the Pursuit of Go-to-Market Fit: Process Builder 155
Chapter 20 Aligning Demand Generation with the Pursuit of Go-to- Market Fit: At Least One Scalable, Measurable Medium 161
Chapter 21 Aligning Pricing with the Pursuit of Go-to-Market Fit: The Intersection of Customer ROI, Scalable Unit Economics, and Substitute Options 185
Chapter 22 Aligning Go-to-Market Compensation with the Pursuit of Go-to-Market Fit: Balancing Customer Retention and Profitable Growth 189
Chapter 23 Aligning Go-to-Market System Outputs with the Pursuit of Go-to-Market Fit: Leading Indicator of Unit Economic Achievement 193
PART IV Aligning the Go-to-Market System with the Pursuit of Growth and Moat 203
Chapter 24 Aligning ICP with Growth and Moat: Scale vs. Experiment vs. Ignore Segments 205
Chapter 25 Aligning the GTM Process with Growth and Moat: Reinforced 211
Chapter 26 Aligning GTM Hires with Growth and Moat: Process Executors 223
Chapter 27 Aligning Demand Generation with Growth and Moat: Multiple Mediums Tightly Aligned with Sales 231
Chapter 28 Align Pricing with Growth and Moat: Establish Moat and Raise Price 239
Chapter 29 Align GTM Compensation with Growth and Moat: Add Promotion Paths 245
Chapter 30 Aligning Go-to-Market System Outputs with Growth and Moat: Accelerate While Preserving PMF and GTMF 253
Conclusion 261
Appendix: The Potential Impact of AI on the
Science of Scaling Framework 264
Notes 271
Acknowledgments 278
About the Author 279
Index 281Introduction xi
Part I The Science of Scaling Framework:
Calculating Whether We Are Ready
to Scale and How Fast 1
Phase 1 Product-Market Fit 3
Chapter 1 Is Product-Market Fit ... a Feeling? 5
Chapter 2 Defining the Leading Indicator
of Retention (LIR) 9
Chapter 3 Defining the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) 17
Chapter 4 Instrumenting the LIR Measurement
for Scale 21
Phase 2 Go-to-Market Fit 27
Chapter 5 The Product Fits, but Does the
Go-to-Market? 29
Phase 3 Growth and Moat 39
Chapter 6 How Fast Should We Scale? 41
