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Hey, it's Ryan… | In today's issue, I'm breaking down the three (3) skills that separate $1M founders from $10M CEOs, including: | How to run your company from a single page…in 14 seconds a week The delegation model that frees 10 - 15 hours of your week The 5-account cash system that turns cash flow panics into distributions How to know exactly who to hire next (Hint: it's not a VA or a COO) The map that instantly shows where your business is leaking money and momentum…and more.
| Let's get into it… | P.S. I'm looking for 5 business owners who want to work 1-on-1 with my team and me to install a custom "operating system" before the end of 2025 so your business can scale and so you can exit the day-to-day. Click here for the details. |
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Quick Hits |
Here's some other content from the Scalable network, plus some other cool stuff I liked and thought you might like, too: |
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The 3 Skills Every $1M Founder Must Master To Become a $10M CEO | READ TIME: 3 min. 8 sec. |
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Most founders get stuck somewhere between $1M and $4M. |
Not because they're lazy…but because they keep playing the same game that got them to $1M. |
After scaling eight companies to 8+ figures, here's what I know for sure: |
The skills that get you to $1M will NOT get you to $10M. |
If you want to stay unstuck, you need three new skills… |
Skill 1: Scoreboard-Based Leadership |
Between $0 and $1M, you're running on gut feel. |
Checking Stripe. Checking your bank balance. Making decisions based on vibes and instinct. |
And that works fine early on. |
But at $10M, you can't lead by intuition anymore…you're not in every room. |
You have to lead by the scoreboard. |
Here's how we do that... |
Step 1: Map Your Value Engines |
Think of your company as a factory with assembly lines: |
One for getting customers (Growth Engine) One for serving customers (Fulfillment Engine) One for building product (Innovation Engine)
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Until you visualize how the business works, you cannot optimize how it works. |
When you're done, it should look something like this… |
 | Example Value Engine |
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We call these simple flowcharts Value Engines, and they're the foundation of scoreboard leadership. |
Step 2: Build Scorecards That Mirror Those Engines |
Go step by step through each Value Engine, asking, "What metrics do we need to track to know if this step is working? |
Each stage of your Value Engine gets 1 - 3 metrics, and every metric needs: |
A GOAL (what "good" looks like) An OWNER (who's responsible for reporting and optimizing it) A STATUS (Green/Yellow/Red)
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Status rules: |
🟢 Green = on track 🟡 Yellow = behind but with a plan 🔴 Red = behind and no plan |
The difference between Yellow and Red is simple: Does the owner have a plan to get back to green? |
If YES, it's yellow. If NO, it's red. |
"Close" doesn't count. All that counts is, "Do you have a plan to get your metric back on track?" |
Step 3: Turn Red → Yellow → Green |
This is the real job of a CEO: |
See the constraint. Solve the constraint. Repeat. |
To do that, all you have to do is go to your scorecard and look for RED… |
 | Look for red…red = constraint. |
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IMPORTANT: It's not your job to have all the answers…it's your job to empower your team (the people who actually OWN the metrics) to actually own the answers. |
Scoreboard leadership forces clarity, accountability, and focus. |
Without it, you're steering your business with the lights off. |
Skill 2: Impact-Based Delegation |
Founders don't burn out because they're lazy. |
They burn out because they're doing everyone else's job. |
And when they try to fix it, they make two classic mistakes: |
They hire helpers who need more management than the work they're supposed to take off your plate. They try to hire a unicorn COO to magically "do everything." Spoiler: it never works.
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The fix is something I call Impact-Based Delegation using a 2×2 framework called the Critical Task Matrix. |
Here's how it breaks down: |
 | The Critical Task Matrix |
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Low Impact / Low Ability = DRUDGERY |
Stop doing these now. |
High Impact / High Ability = FLOW |
Protect this time ruthlessly. |
Low Impact / High Ability = MENIAL |
This is the delegation trap. |
You're tempted to hire VAs and other "helpers" to do these jobs for you, but when you do that, all you're doing is trading simple tasks for a new, more complicated task called "management." |
Don't do it… don't delegate these tasks… at least not yet. |
High Impact / Low Ability = CAPTIVE |
THIS is where the biggest leverage lives. |
The Captive Zone is your opportunity zone…the high-impact work you're not great at. This is where you need to make your next hire. |
When you do, you'll be hiring LEADERS…no helpers: |
Head of Marketing Head of Sales Head of Product Head of CS Head of Finance
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These folks cost more, but the ROI hits immediately because they free you from the high-impact work you're currently bottlenecking in your business. |
Skill 3: Cash Flow Management |
Revenue is vanity. Profit is sanity. Cash is reality. |
I've seen businesses doing $10M+ go broke while their P&L showed a "profit." |
Why? Because P&Ls lie. Cash doesn't. |
To stay safe, you need a simple Cash Flow Waterfall …a system with five bank accounts: |
Operating (1 month of expenses) Tax Savings Emergency Fund (3 months fixed expenses) Future Investments Distribution Account
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Money flows in this exact order: |
Operating → Tax → Emergency → Investments → Distribution |
 | The Cashflow Waterfall |
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Then, at the end of every quarter, you distribute 80% of whatever sits in the Distribution Account. |
I had a founder go from "broke every payday" to writing six-figure distribution checks every quarter… |
…and nothing changed except implementing this waterfall. |
Bonus Skill: Ask for the Fish |
$0 → $1M? Learn to fish. |
$1M → $10M? Ask for the fish. |
At scale, speed beats pride. |
Get in the rooms where people have already solved your problem… |
Buy them a beer…ask them how they solved it. |
You don't have time to "figure it out" anymore. You don't have time to "learn to fish." |
Just ask for the skinkin' fish!! |
⚡️ Action Step: Pick ONE of the three skills and implement the first step this week: |
Build your scorecard (and start turning "red" to "green") Fill out your Critical Task Matrix (and start delegating based on IMPACT) Open five bank accounts for your Cash Flow Waterfall
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Any one of these will create massive leverage on your path from 7-figures to 8-figures. |
Do all three, and scale stops feeling chaotic and starts feeling inevitable. |
Give it a shot and let me know how it works. |
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Ryan Deiss Co-Founder and CEO, The Scalable Company |
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P.S. I'm looking for 5 business owners who want to work 1-on-1 with my team and me to install a custom "operating system" so your business can scale and so you can exit the day-to-day. Click here to get the details. |
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