In my work advising high-growth companies, I often see founders hit an invisible wall, typically around the $25 million ARR mark, where the very instincts that made them successful begin to stifle their company’s growth.

A recent example illustrates this “Operator’s Trap”: the CEO, a brilliant leader, was still approving every proposal and personally reviewing customer tickets. While from the outside the business looked strong, the problem crystallized when a competitor made a strategic move no one on his team saw coming. And the reason became painfully clear—the leader responsible for scanning the horizon was buried so deep in the day-to-day that he could no longer see beyond it. READ MORE