What it sounds like
Founders at this stage say the same things.
“Every deal in this company has my fingerprints on it.”
“I am the sales team, the product owner and the finance function.”
“I know exactly what to do next. I just cannot do it all.”
The work at this stage
- The first handover, chosen properly. Which decisions leave your desk first, who takes them, and the protocol that stops them quietly routing back to you within a month.
- A numbers rhythm outside your head. A weekly view of the five numbers that matter at this stage, written down, so the business stops being a feeling and starts being a machine you can read.
- Sales that can happen without your calendar. The parts of your sales motion that only work because you are in the room, identified and rebuilt so the pipeline stops being hostage to your diary.
- The £2M design, sketched before you need it. The two or three hires and structures the next stage will demand, planned while you still have the time to choose well.