The Revenue Stages of a Company Are a Lot Like Child Development
Why Your Company Behaves Exactly Like a Growing Child
“If you’re feeling frustrated, your company may simply be acting its age.“
As a CEO, you’re not just scaling revenue. You’re raising an organization through predictable developmental stages.
And just like children, each phase comes with behaviors, breakthroughs, and breakdowns.
Here’s what I see inside companies every day:
0 to 1M: The Infant Stage
Behavior:
- Needs constant care
- Survives on founder energy
- Every system is manual
- Everything feels fragile
Leadership Requirement:
You carry the whole thing. You are the lifeline, the nourishment, the safety.
1M to 3M: The Toddler Stage
Behavior:
- Takes first independent steps
- Wanders, experiments, touches everything
- Creates chaos but surprises you with brilliance
- “No” becomes a theme from customers, team, and systems
Leadership Requirement:
Guardrails. Structure. Consistency.
You can’t baby it anymore, but it’s not ready to self-regulate either.
3M to 10M: The Childhood Stage
Behavior:
- Curious, growing quickly
- More voices and opinions that still lack alignment
- Complexity ramps up fast
- Needs predictability and rhythm to feel safe
Leadership Requirement:
Culture imprints here.
Your company absorbs what you model, not what you say.
10M to 25M: The Preteen Stage
Behavior:
- Identity confusion
- Pushback on rules
- Wants freedom but can’t fully handle it
- Growth spurts followed by awkward stalls
Leadership Requirement:
You must evolve before the company can.
Alignment, communication, and recalibration are essential.
25M to 50M: The Teenage Stage
Behavior:
- Strong opinions
- Desire for autonomy
- Bold moves and equally bold mistakes
- Constant boundary testing
- Rising pressure to perform
Leadership Requirement:
Clear, steady leadership.
Empowerment with accountability.
This is where many CEOs start masking instead of leading.
50M to 100M and beyond: The Young Adult Stage
Behavior:
- Ready for bigger rooms but still needs direction
- Capable of major breakthroughs
- Can scale quickly or collapse under pressure
- Needs systems, communication pathways, and real governance
Leadership Requirement:
Mature decision making, experimentation, and strategic depth.
This is the shift from firefighting to architecting.
What It Really Means When Your Company Feels “Off”
If your company feels “off,” it may be acting its age while you expect it to act older.
The mismatch is the real friction.
If you want clarity on your next stage of growth, I can help you find it.
