The Hidden Pattern Behind Every Growth-Stage Failure (And How to Break It)
You just closed your best quarter ever. Revenue is up 40%.
But you can't sleep because you know the truth: you have no idea if you'll have enough cash to make payroll in 90 days.
Your CFO gives you reports. Your team shows you dashboards.
But nothing answers the question that wakes you at 3am:
"Are we about to hit a wall?"
What Your CFO Won't Tell You
The problem isn't your financial systems.
It’s that your leadership team is playing three different games with the same money.
Sales
Thinks cash is infinite and chases every deal.
Marketing
Can't prove ROI but keeps spending.
Operations
Hoards resources “just in case.”
Finance
Plays defense and says no to everything.
The Data That Should Terrify You
We analyzed 47 companies between $5M-$50M revenue. Here’s what we found:
73%
Couldn’t accurately predict cash position 60 days out.
68%
Had leadership teams working from completely different financial realities.
91%
Of those who hit a cash crisis saw it coming but couldn't get aligned fast enough to prevent it.
The 6-Month Failure Pattern
Month 1: Small misalignment
“Sales and finance just need to communicate better”
Month 2: Growing tension
“Why can't marketing prove their ROI?”
Month 3: First missed forecast
“It's just a timing issue”
Month 4: Cash squeeze
“We need to slow hiring”
Month 5: Panic decisions
“Cut everything that's not essential”
Month 6: Crisis mode
“How did we get here?”
The CEO Who Almost Lost Everything
Last month, I got a call from a CEO whose company went from $2M to $20M in 18 months.
Textbook success story. Featured in TechCrunch. Investors lined up for Series B.
Except he was 30 days from missing payroll.
No one saw that their largest customer was 120 days behind on invoices while burn rate had doubled. Sales celebrated the deal. Finance worried quietly. Operations kept hiring. Three departments. Three realities. One near-death experience.
Your 90-Day Transformation Path
Your pain? We understand. This is why we do what we do, and can provide you with an experience like no other.
Days 1–30: Measure
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Audit your financial reality (it’s worse than you think)
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Build the single source of truth
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Give every executive visibility into their impact
Days 31–60: Manage
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Implement predictive cash models
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Create early warning systems
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Build scenario planning that actually works
Days 61–90: Align
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Deploy unified dashboards
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Implement weekly financial pulse checks
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Watch your team transform from finger-pointing to problem-solving
What Changes When You Get This Right
Before
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“I don’t know where our cash went”
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“These numbers don’t match”
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“Whose fault is this?”
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“We need emergency funding”
After:
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“We saw this coming 90 days ago”
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“Everyone’s looking at the same data”
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“Here’s how we fix it together”
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“We’re fully funded for 18 months”
CEOs Who Broke the Pattern
“Russell is a unicorn for finance—combining sharp financial analysis, modern technology, and genuine leadership values. He gave our executive team confidence and clarity with real-time financial snapshots, modernized our tech stack, and energized our decision-making. His approach goes beyond numbers—he motivates alignment and results at every level.”
“Russell has been invaluable in optimizing our business model, pricing, and finance operations. His expertise guided us through a successful product launch and an equity raise, while his operational improvements saved time and money. Russell is the rare financial partner who delivers both strategy and execution—positioning us for lasting growth.”
“Russell helped us turn our business around after a major revenue loss—cutting costs from 10% to 2.5% of revenue and rebuilding trust in our numbers. His hands-on strategy strengthened our financial foundation, modernized accounting, and delivered a substantial increase in our company’s valuation. If you want clarity, efficiency, and sustainable growth, talk to Russell.”
Get the Complete Strategic Finance Roadmap
✓ The 5 warning signs you’re 90 days from crisis (page 7)
✓ The exact dashboards that saved 12 companies from cash catastrophe
✓ The weekly meeting structure that aligns teams in 15 minutes
✓ The 10 metrics that predict success or failure
✓ Templates you can implement tomorrow
You Have Two Choices:
Choice 1: Keep hoping your financial chaos sorts itself out.
- Keep waking up at 3am. Keep making million-dollar decisions with thousand-dollar visibility.
- Keep watching good companies with worse products beat you because they have financial clarity.
Choice 2: Fix it before it breaks you.
The scariest part? Every CEO I work with says the same thing:
- “I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know how wrong until it was almost too late.”
- Don’t be the CEO who calls me 30 days from disaster.