Slow sustainable growth > fast inefficient growth
I hit $1M ARR in record time with my last startup, but looking back, I’m not sure it was worth the initial high or the speed.
We were pumped with every new signing—so much so that we’d take a shot of tequila after each close. Well… we did for the first ten before realizing that wasn’t exactly sustainable.
The problem with saying “yes”
Our sales calls went something like this 90% of the time:
Prospect: “Can you do this? Can you do that?”
Us: “Yes, yes, and yes.”
We promised everything—and while we delivered, it came at a cost. We found ourselves stuck in a vicious cycle:
Acquiring the wrong customers
Spending time inefficiently
Hurting team morale
Instead of focusing on our ICP of 1, we took on every customer that came our way—each with different needs, expectations, and one-off requests. This forced us to constantly build net-new things we’d never use again.
As a staffing company, this meant placing roles that weren’t even in our core offerings or taking on custom consulting projects just to close a deal.
I’ve since realized that the best companies hyperfocus on their ideal customer and core offering without chasing quick, easy wins.
Hypothetical example
Imagine a B2B creative agency that specializes in branding and design. Now, say a potential client asks them to also handle their paid search marketing.
Early on, they might say yes just to add cash runway. But if they do this too often, they end up in a losing situation.
Why?
They have to hire new staff
They need new tools and processes
They get distracted from their core expertise
And on top of that, clients will inevitably churn when the agency can’t deliver at the same level as a true paid search expert.
Saying yes to everything might give you a revenue bump, but it kills efficiency, distracts the team, and lowers long-term success.
Real world examples
Shopify is a great example of this. When they first launched, they could have gone after large enterprise clients right away, customizing their platform to land big deals. Instead, they stayed laser-focused on small and mid-sized businesses, making their product simple and scalable.
Eventually, once they built dominance in that space, they expanded into Shopify Plus to serve larger brands, but on their own terms. Had they spread themselves too thin early on, they likely wouldn’t have become the e-commerce giant they are today.
Stripe took a similar approach. They could have tried to compete with PayPal, Venmo, or Cash App in consumer payments. Instead, they focused solely on helping businesses accept online payments. By sticking to their niche—developers and online merchants—they built a powerful B2B payments infrastructure that powers companies like Amazon and Shopify.
Both companies had opportunities to take on work outside their core focus, but by saying no, they built far more scalable and profitable businesses in the long run.
What I’m doing
With my new startup, GrowthPair, I’ve turned down over $1M in potential revenue and I have zero regrets.
I’m 100% focused on placing full-time offshore marketing roles for my ideal customer.
This means I’ve had to say no to:
Clients wanting non-marketing roles
Clients asking for large customizations
Clients outside my ICP
I’m not against custom work, but I’m hyperaware of the fine line between small tweaks and completely losing focus.
Before saying yes, ask yourself these three questions:
Can I help this customer 110%?
Do they fit our ICP?
Is their request something we already offer?
If the answer is no to any of these, it’s probably best to walk away.
Power of an ICP of 1
I learned this from Alex Lieberman, one of GrowthPair’s advisors. He pushed me to lock in on an ICP of 1—something I had heard of but never truly implemented.
What is an ICP of 1? It’s not just a general ideal customer profile (ICP)—it’s one specific person that represents your perfect customer.
For GrowthPair, my ICP of 1 is a CMO at a business doing over $1M ARR.
To get even more specific, I can literally point to an example on LinkedIn: Mayur Gupta, CMO at Kraken.
By defining this, I can quickly filter who’s a perfect fit versus who I need to say no to.
Saying no hurts
We’ve turned down over $1M in revenue in just the last three months.
And I know we’ll turn down another $10M+ in the future. But that’s okay.
Instead, I’m building a highly efficient company that:
Brings on customers we can help the most
Keeps my team laser-focused
Avoids churn and inefficiencies
Because at the end of the day, slow, sustainable growth beats fast, inefficient growth.
It’s tempting to chase every dollar—especially in the early days. But saying yes to the wrong customers will kill your momentum faster than slow growth ever could.
So next time you’re faced with a new opportunity, ask yourself:
Am I growing the right way, or just growing for the sake of growth?
The best businesses say no more than they say yes, and that’s exactly what I’m doing with GrowthPair.
Slow sustainable growth > fast inefficient growth.