Are you more likely to stop reading because my writing doesn’t hook you, or because you aren’t interested in the subject?

One is a packaging problem. The other an ICP problem.

To fix one I need the other to stay the same while I experiment.

As an agency founder you are chief problem solver (CPS). But there’s an uncomfortable truth (and I’m not just saying that to hook you).

As you grow, you need to assess different parts of your business for the value they bring.

To do that you need to try and see past the things outside their control.

Sales need to close deals, but you can’t blame them if all the leads are tyre-kickers.

Marketing needs to provide high-quality leads, but they need a good niche chosen by the founder.

Designers need to deliver high-quality work, unless the client is terrible, which is sales and marketing’s fault.

So you try to isolate these teams, set goals they are fully in control of, and judge and motivate them effectively.

You create a closed system, and there’s nothing wrong with that. People can thrive in one.

And you want to thrive as a leader too, right?

You don’t get one.

As founder, everything is your system. The quality of the work. The people you hired. The market you chose to serve. The culture. Your habits.

And things that are completely outside of your control, they sit inside your system too.

There’s no edge. Nothing falls outside.

Nothing is going to stay still while you solve a particular problem.

You’ll never isolate your own performance or find something that you aren’t accountable for.

Because the market will hold you accountable whether you like it or not.

And you need to get comfortable with that, because that’s the job. Owning that accountability without blaming yourself for how things go is the mindset.

The comfort of the closed system is not for you.

This is the path you chose, and there’s a bright side. With no limits to your system, you’ll never be more autonomous. The highs are yours too.

Someone once told me that running a business is like riding a tiger.

People look and say, “Wow, so cool. You’re riding a tiger.”

And you look back at them, and do your best to smile casually, whilst wondering if this was the best move, and thinking of ways to avoid being eaten.