Field Notes

What we see when we open the hood.

Patterns, costs, and hard truths about founder-led businesses. From the people who diagnose & fix them for a living. No theory. No fluff. Just what's actually breaking and why.

All Articles
Revenue up. Bank account flat.
Financials

Revenue Is Up But There's No Money in the Bank

You don't have a money problem. You have a problem you can't see.

5 min readRead →
Needs you to run? It isn't an asset.
Operations

Why You Can't Sell Your Business

A business that needs you isn't an asset. It's a job you can't quit.

5 min readRead →
The $1M ceiling is you.
Revenue

Why Your Business Stopped Growing at a Million

The plateau isn't a market problem. It's the size of one person.

5 min readRead →
Great hire. Nothing changed.
Team

You Hired Great People and Nothing Changed

Your team isn't the problem. The thing they're standing on is.

5 min readRead →
Revenue's up. Profit isn't.
Financials

Why Your Profit Doesn't Match Your Revenue

The four places the money quietly leaks.

10 min readRead →
Same number, every year.
Revenue

Stuck at the Same Revenue for Years? It's Not the Market.

The ceiling moved in with you. It's wearing your name.

4 min readRead →
Not a lead problem. A follow-up problem.
Revenue

You Don't Have a Lead Problem. You Have a Follow-Up Problem.

The leads are already in your pipeline. Dying.

4 min readRead →
Every call routes back to you.
Team

The Real Reason Your Team Can't Make Decisions Without You

It's not that they won't decide. It's that you never built the thing that lets them.

4 min readRead →
The priciest employee? It's you.
Team

The Most Expensive Employee in Your Company Is You

You're doing $200-an-hour work and $20-an-hour work with the same hands.

4 min readRead →
Two weeks off. Does it survive?
Operations

The Two-Week Test: Can Your Business Survive Without You

If it can't run two weeks without you, you own a job. Not a business.

4 min readRead →
A job, or a business?
Operations

Built a Job, Not a Business: How to Tell Which One You Own

The single line that separates an asset from a trap.

11 min readRead →
It's all in your head. That's the risk.
Operations

Why Everything in Your Business Lives in Your Head

If it isn't written down, it isn't a process. It's a liability with a heartbeat.

4 min readRead →
He documented his way out.
Operations

The Founder Who Documented His Way Out of the Business

A story about the most boring fix that changed everything.

4 min readRead →
Not the owner. The hostage.
Operations

Why You Can't Take a Vacation From Your Own Company

You're not the owner. You're the hostage.

4 min readRead →
70-hour weeks. Still flat.
Operations

Working 70 Hours a Week and Still Not Growing? Here's the Math.

More hours can't fix a structural problem. It just delays the bill.

4 min readRead →
Advice doesn't stick. Installation does.
Operations

Consulting, Coaching, or Installation: What Founders Actually Need

Why advice doesn't stick, and what does.

10 min readRead →
The market mirrors you back.
Revenue

What 'Be a Better Client' Has to Do With Scaling

The market mirrors you back. So does your team.

4 min readRead →

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