It’s January. Goals are set, dashboards are being rebuilt and metrics are top of mind for every scale-up leader I’m working with right now. Most founders assume the usual performance metrics have them covered. But in reality, an entirely different class of metrics is needed too -- the ones that determine whether your newly minted 2026 strategy is actually doing what you expect it to. The Signal You’re looking at dashboards regularly. The numbers are mostly moving. Meetings include updates…...
13 days ago • 4 min read
This week, we’re focusing on conscious calendaring, because no matter what stage your business is in, your scarcest resources aren’t big ticket clients, breakthrough ideas or great people… your scarcest resources are your time, energy and attention. This is the final Signal Report of 2025, and the timing matters. A new year creates a rare pause. Calendars are already in motion for the new year. Patterns are about to get locked in. This is the moment when small, intentional choices can...
20 days ago • 5 min read
You can set strong company goals and still end up stuck in the middle of everything, not because the goals are wrong but because the bridge from vision to execution never gets built. This issue is about building that bridge so that goals stop living in decks (or, worse, in your head) and start driving performance and guiding decisions, without overwhelming your team, degrading day-to-day execution or pushing everyone toward burnout. The Signal (your clue that there’s work to do) You have...
about 1 month ago • 6 min read
If you haven’t set your 2026 goals yet, you’re not alone. And you’re not too late. Most scale-up founders delay, dilute or avoid goal setting not because they don’t care or don’t see the value, but because they’re already overloaded and can’t shoulder another heavy lift. But intentional goals are how you protect yourself from another year of reactive decision-making. This issue gives you a fast, founder-friendly system for setting goals without burning hours and energy you don’t have to...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
Last week, we dove deep on Decision Filters -- the guardrails that help your team internalize your tradeoff calculations and make decisions the way you do (without asking first). This week, we’re expanding on the natural next layer: Escalation Triggers. Even with strong filters in place, your team still needs to know exactly when a call is no longer in their lane. Without that clarity, fear and decision paralysis creep in, putting everything back on your plate. The Signal: Your clue that...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Until your team has internalized the tradeoffs that matter most for your business, you either need to be in every decision or you need to be ready for a lot of unintended consequences. Decision Filters close the gap by giving your team practical guardrails to make aligned, confident decisions at scale. The Signal (your clue that there's work to do): You’re still the go-to for every signficant decision because your team can't confidently navigate the tradeoffs that keep coming up as you scale....
about 2 months ago • 6 min read
THE SIGNAL You thought you delegated clearly: “Can you pull together a quick deck on X for next week’s meeting?” Three days later, you’re reviewing a 40-slide masterpiece that took your best strategist and a graphic designer the better part of three days to build. It’s beautiful. It’s also extreme overkill for what you actually needed: five simple slides to drive a decision. Or the opposite: You ask for “a plan” and get three bullet points in Slack with no tradeoffs or clear direction. You...
2 months ago • 4 min read
The Signal You’re overwhelmed. Not from doing too much, but from deciding too much. Some days it feels like your brain is actually melting. Your team asks for your input on everything from vendor selection to pricing tweaks to copy edits. You jump in because it’s faster, you know the context and you can’t afford mistakes. That might have worked at the beginning... but it’s not faster anymore. You’ve become the bottleneck. Projects slow down waiting for your approval. The team hesitates...
2 months ago • 4 min read
The Signal When things start to wobble, founders instinctively reach for control. You tell yourself: If I stay closer to the work, we’ll grow faster. So you review more, approve more and reinsert yourself in decisions you thought you’d already delegated. It feels responsible. It feels like leadership. But here’s the paradox: The more you grip, the slower it goes. Every extra checkpoint, every “just to be sure” correction quietly communicates to your team that progress depends on you. And that...
2 months ago • 4 min read