Ready, Fire, Aim summary

Meet Alex, a college student who has a tuition payment coming up. Alex needs to make $40,000 fast. So he turns to the Internet to do what many people are already doing – selling advertising space. But instead of selling space by preset sizes of banner ads and images, he decides to sell by the pixel.

There are a million things that need to be done to make his website perfect, but Alex opts for 48 hours of work and a website that’s“good enough.” He then gets to work selling, and the business far exceeds his goals. 

In stage one, we focused on selling. Now in stage two, it's time to shift gears a bit and focus on quickly creating multiple profitable products. We’re talking about getting from $1 million to $10 million in revenue.

At this point, you're likely breaking even or possibly losing money. The main challenge here is ramping up cash flow by innovating new offerings at a rapid clip. This stage is all about developing skills around speed and idea generation.

The transition from stage two to three can feel subtle, but you'll know you're ready for it around the $10 million revenue mark. At this point, processes start breaking and customers may express dissatisfaction – clear signals that it's time to shift from scrappiness to scalability.

Stage three is all about instilling order amidst the chaos and learning to put robust systems and procedures in place. You're effectively moving from startup mode into becoming a corporate leader.

Congratulations, you've made it to stage four. Now the adventure really begins, as you get to chart your own path forward. With revenues slowing or stalling out around the $50 million mark, you have some big choices to make.

Do you want to keep actively growing the business? Or are you ready to step back into a minimal or advisory role? Would you rather invest your wealth or sell your company to retire comfortably? The possibilities are wide open.