Scaling beyond the founder.
Frameworks and operating notes for consulting firms and B2B SaaS building real commercial engines. Written from the trenches — not the deck.
Three frameworks you can use today.
The diagnostic tools I run with paying clients, surfaced here so you can score yourself before the conversation starts.
The 9-area Sales Engine score
Score yourself against the nine areas of a mature sales engine — ICP, positioning, lead gen, qualification, discovery, pipeline, closing, CRM, and team rituals. The same matrix I run in paid Diagnostic engagements.
Discovery Call scoring rubric
The six-block, 30-minute structure I run on every discovery — one anchor question + three probes per block, then five-dimension scoring within ten minutes after. The scorecard tells you to send a proposal, follow up, or disqualify.
Healthy / At Risk / Stuck rubric
The 60-minute weekly format with the criteria that make the three labels mean something — next step scheduled, champion identified, last touch under 7 days, no structural blocker. Deals stuck more than two weeks get triaged that meeting.
Reading is good.
Measuring is better.
These articles describe what a healthy sales engine looks like. The 5-minute diagnostic tells you how close yours is — scored against the same nine-area framework I use with paying clients.
12 questions · 5 minutes · See your score on screen