Graduation Criteria

You’ll know you’re ready to move to the Market Leader stage once you meet something like the following:

  1. Positive Operating Leverage - Revenue growth is consistently outpacing expenses, indicating you can scale efficiently.
  2. Strong Departmental Structures - Each department (sales, marketing, dev, product, CS, etc.) has a defined leader, clear responsibilities, and measurable KPIs.
  3. Established Mid-Level Leadership - A tier of managers or senior individual contributors exists below the executive team, allowing the CEO to focus on strategy rather than daily operations.
  4. Robust Financial Controls - You can produce detailed forecasts, scenario analyses, and capital allocation plans. You have at least quarterly forecasting accuracy.
  5. Cross-Departmental KPIs - Department-level metrics tie directly into overall company objectives. You track them in a central system or dashboard, reviewed regularly.
  6. Consistent Renewals and Expansions - Your net dollar retention is strong, and you can reliably predict future renewal behavior.
  7. Market Presence - You’re getting noticed. Perhaps you speak at industry events, form strategic partnerships, or appear in analyst reports.
  8. Operational Targets and Tracking - You have a method to set goals (OKRs, VMOM, etc.) and measure progress weekly or monthly, aligning the entire org.

Ability to Absorb New Hires - You have a consistent onboarding process for employees. They can quickly ramp up without the CEO’s constant involvement.