An independent, confidential second opinion on your growth plans — for owners, boards and CEOs, before the decision is taken. With no follow-on work to sell.
A new business ties up capital and management attention for years. Yet the decision is usually prepared by voices that all have a stake in the yes: the sponsor who wants the venture, the team that wants to build it, advisers who want to sell the implementation, banks that want the transaction.
The Growth Check adds a voice without that stake. I sell no follow-on project, no transaction and no platform — and over nearly three decades I have seen where such ventures fail, and how early it can be seen.
An honest view before the investment decision — not after the second budget round.
Clarity on where and how to grow — and whether the organisation is ready to let a new business succeed.
A clear recommendation: go, go with conditions, a different route, not now — or no.
For a fraction of what a failed venture costs, the board decides with more confidence — and, where needed, says no early and cheaply rather than late and expensively.
The Growth Check brings together four questions that are usually answered by different people at different times — if at all. Where should we grow? How should we grow: build, partner, invest or acquire? Are we ready? And can this specific venture work?
The third question is the Growth Readiness Test: commitment, autonomy, funding rule and leadership. The fourth is a stress test of the venture itself — its killer assumptions, the business case, and a staged learning plan with stop criteria agreed in advance.
There is an ambition to grow, but no agreement on where.
A concrete venture is on the table and needs an independent view before the board decides.
A venture is already under way, absorbing resources and raising doubts.
The pace is yours. Growth decisions often need time to mature — the Growth Check can be compact, or aligned with your board calendar.
I lead every conversation myself. No team of consultants, no juniors, no hand-offs — an experienced counterpart who asks the uncomfortable questions and gives honest feedback.
Where a question calls for it, selected experts join from my international network — for example innovation leaders from the Stanford ecosystem, faculty from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, actuaries or former executives.
A one-page board memo with the answers to the four tests and a clear recommendation.
A readiness profile and the killer assumptions, with a plan to test them quickly and cheaply.
Strict confidentiality: under NDA from the first conversation, interviews anonymised, no report to third parties without your consent.
The Growth Check grows out of my article “Searching for Growth? Take This Test First” — and out of my own experience of watching a strong idea fail inside a large organisation.
A confidential, no-obligation conversation along the four tests — to see whether a second opinion would help, and what form it should take.
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