The Growth Ceiling

Your two best reps are carrying 60% of your revenue.

One of them just turned 58. The other has been outperforming her peers for years and has to be wondering what's next.

You've tried throwing money at it. More headcount. More marketing spend. A new product launch that was supposed to change everything.

It didn’t.

Growth stayed flat. You’re stuck at a plateau.

You’ve gotten this far on vibes and good timing. That's not an insult- it's how most companies grow. But vibes don't scale well.

THE INSIGHT

When growth stalls, companies usually blame the market ("customers are price-sensitive"), the team ("we need better salespeople"), or the product ("we need to innovate").

Sometimes those are true. Usually, they're just easier to say out loud than the real thing...

You've scaled as far as instinct and luck will take you. Going further requires systems you haven't built yet.

Your best people know how to win, but ask them why, and they'll say something like "I just know my customers."

Cool. Very helpful. Let me just write that in the playbook: Step 1: Just know them.

You can't replicate what you can't explain, and right now, your secret sauce is "vibes" and "30 years of pattern recognition." Good luck onboarding that.

When you can't grow by throwing money at the problem, you have to grow by getting better at what you already do, and that means finally articulating what your best people actually do.

The full piece is here.

LOVE YOUR WORK

I’ve been a fan of Kyle Porter and a paid subscriber to his Normal Sport publication for quite a while now. He takes the absurd natures of golf and life and mashes them together in a comical but meaningful way.

He’s inspired me in a lot of ways, but particularly, I notice how often he studies non-golf creators. He studies first principles rather than just trying to pick up tips from other creators.

I’m going to do more of that. You should too.

For instance, instead of studying closing techniques, read about the psychology of decision-making. Rather than downloading another email template, study copywriting.

There’s more to come on this in a future piece, but I thought this was a fitting way to signal some subtle changes you’ll see in this newsletter going forward.

THE SHOUTOUT

My #ThankfulThursday post this week was about Doug Branson.

If you've ever heard me on a podcast, Doug is likely the reason why. He's been "the man behind the glass" for over 1,000 episodes with coaching, guidance, and support. Not just cashing the check and publishing on schedule.

The best advice he ever gave me: "Most people are listening through earbuds. You're literally as close to their brains as possible. You have to respect that."

That reframed everything for me. We could all use more Dougs in our lives.

THE CLOSE

The ceiling is real. But it doesn't have to be permanent.

Do the work. Break through.

Cheers,
JB

P.S. Not sure if you've done the work or just think you have? I built something for that. 14 questions, 10 minutes, free.