What changes between $10M and $100M
Growth runs in altitudes, and each one is a different operating reality. The Five Camps name the bands: Base Camp under $3M, Camp 1 from $3M to $10M, Camp 2 from $10M to $30M, Camp 3 from $30M to $100M, and the Summit above $100M. What you prioritize, how you spend, and where you put your best people all shift from one camp to the next. The Altitude Model is the frame for matching your moves to the altitude you're actually at.
Why the system that got you here stops working
When revenue outgrows the systems running it, you get the Operating-System Gap: leaders all working hard, no single system coordinating them, and a founder pulled into every decision. It reads as stalled growth and leaking margin. The gap gets blamed on people or communication, and the operating system is the thing that surfaces where the real problems live, so you fix the cause and the growth resumes.
What stalls a firm first
Three failures show up on the climb, usually in this order. Go-to-market caps first: the founder is still the sales engine, and the team can close but can't generate its own pipeline. Margin leaks next, as senior people do junior work and scope creeps under volume. And the leadership system strains last, when enough people are in the building that nothing self-organizes. Each one traces back to an operating system built for a lower altitude.
How to diagnose which camp you're in
Revenue puts you in a band, and two signals tell you the camp you're really operating: how your go-to-market actually runs, and how good your operating system is. If growth still depends on the founder's relationships and the leadership team works hard without one system coordinating it, you're operating below your revenue. That read is the starting point, because the move that opens Camp 2 looks nothing like the move that opens Camp 3.
Do you rebuild this yourself, or bring in help?
Some founders have climbed this exact hill before and can run the rebuild. Most are seeing a given altitude for the first time. The honest question is whether you want an outside frame or someone who has built the machine and will build it again with your team. The operator versus consultant decision walks that call, and the strongest signal is a track record of doing the exact work and moving the number.
