Risks
Stabilize Stage | $1-5M ARR | 10-30 headcount
Main challenge: Making growth repeatable. First hires, handoffs breaking.
What Kills Companies
| Risk | What It Looks Like | How to Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Bad first hire | Rep can't close, marketing can't generate, CS can't retain | Hire for the stage, not the dream org |
| Process before repeatability | Building elaborate playbooks for a motion that doesn't work | Prove it works first, then document |
| Tool overinvestment | Bought Salesforce, Outreach, Gong, Marketo — and can't use any of them | Match tools to actual needs, not aspirations |
| Founder not letting go | Founder still in every deal, every customer call, every decision | Delegate explicitly, accept 80% quality |
| Losing customer closeness | Founder steps back too far, stops hearing customer voice | Stay in QBRs, read support tickets, do churn calls |
| Heroics over process | One rep crushing it, but nobody knows how | Document what works, make it repeatable |
The Hardest Part
Proving the motion works without the founder. First hires will fail some deals the founder would have won. The first CSM will miss things the founder would have caught. That's okay — the question is whether the motion is scalable, not just founder-closable.
Warning Signs
- First rep isn't hitting quota after 6 months
- Pipeline is still feast/famine
- Churn is higher than Build stage (should be lower)
- CRM data is garbage and nobody trusts it
- The founder is still the only one who can close