01 Growth Strategy
Build, Sell
or Explain?
Different problems need different growth systems.
The growth constraint system
Problem
The actual constraint limiting growth
Growth constraint
Build / Sell / Explain
Response
Investment matched to the constraint
Growth
Effort applied to the right problem
Most misallocated growth investment comes from applying the wrong response to the right constraint. Diagnose first. Invest second.
Why this matters
The question is not 'how do we grow?' — it's 'what is actually limiting growth right now?'
When growth is slow, three possible constraints are most commonly responsible — and each requires a fundamentally different response. The build constraint: the product doesn't yet solve the problem well enough to produce the retention and advocacy that drives sustainable growth. The sell constraint: the product solves the problem but the right people aren't finding it or converting. The explain constraint: the right people are finding it, but they don't understand it well enough to buy.
These constraints are not mutually exclusive — most companies have elements of all three. But at any given moment, one is usually primary: the one that, if addressed, would produce the most growth per unit of investment.
The most expensive growth mistakes come from misdiagnosing the primary constraint. Building when the problem is explanation produces a better product that nobody understands. Selling when the problem is product produces more conversations about something that doesn't work well enough. Explaining when the problem is sales motion produces better materials used in the wrong distribution approach.
Founder reality
Diagnose the primary growth constraint before allocating the next growth investment:
What do customers who churn or don't renew most commonly cite as the reason — product limitations, confusion about value, or comparison to a competitor they found through better distribution?
What do prospects who don't convert say when asked why — they didn't understand the product, they understood it but weren't convinced, or they never found the right person to talk to?
When existing customers refer the product to colleagues, what happens — do those referrals convert easily, or do they stall at understanding the product or finding the right buyer?
Is the retention rate high enough to sustain growth — or would faster acquisition simply accelerate churn of customers who aren't getting sufficient value?
What would need to be true for growth to double — and which of build, sell, or explain is the most direct path to that truth?
The referral question is often the most diagnostic. If referrals from happy customers don't convert, the problem is explanation. If referrals don't happen, the problem may be product value. If they happen but reach the wrong people, the problem is sales motion.
The diagnostic
Three growth constraints — and the signals that identify each
Use these signals to identify the primary constraint. Design the response for that constraint specifically.
01
Build constraint — the product doesn't yet solve the problem well enough
Signals: high churn, low retention, frequent feature requests that reveal fundamental gaps, customers who describe the product as 'interesting but not quite right', and advocates who are hard to find or reluctant. The build constraint is identified when customers who do try the product don't stay — regardless of how well they understood it before buying. Response: product investment before growth investment.
02
Sell constraint — the product works but too few of the right people are finding it
Signals: strong retention among existing customers, high satisfaction scores, low or declining inbound, and a pipeline that depends heavily on founder relationships and warm referrals. The sell constraint is identified when the product works reliably for the customers who find it — but the reach is too limited. Response: distribution investment, sales motion design, and channel development.
03
Explain constraint — the right people are finding it but not understanding or converting
Signals: reasonable traffic or pipeline volume, low conversion rates, prospects who 'need to think about it', sales cycles that are longer than the problem urgency would suggest, and customer descriptions that don't match the company's positioning. The explain constraint is identified when the audience exists but the message isn't converting it. Response: messaging, positioning, and explanation investment.
Common mistakes
01
Investing in distribution before resolving the explain constraint
More people encountering an unclear message produces more unconverted traffic. The explain constraint amplifies with distribution — it doesn't resolve with it. Explanation quality must precede distribution investment.
02
Adding product features when the constraint is explanation
The perception that customers aren't buying because the product lacks a feature is sometimes accurate. More often, the product has the features — but the explanation doesn't communicate them clearly enough. Test the explain hypothesis before building.
03
Hiring sales before resolving the build constraint
A larger sales team selling a product that doesn't retain customers produces more churn, more customer support load, and a damaged reputation faster. The build constraint must be resolved to a sufficient threshold before significant sales investment.
04
All three investments simultaneously without a primary diagnosis
Building, selling, and explaining simultaneously with no primary diagnosis produces scattered effort and no compounding. One constraint is usually primary. Identify it. Focus on it.
Example scenario
A technical founder with a 2-year-old SaaS product. Strong product metrics (NPS: 72). Slow growth. Board recommending a sales hire. Founder uncertain.
The constraint diagnosis
Retention: 94% at 12 months. Build constraint: ruled out.
Inbound: minimal. Existing pipeline: entirely founder-led and referral-driven.
Referral conversion: high — warm referrals converted at 68%. But referrals were rare.
Homepage conversion from cold traffic: 1.2%.
Explain or sell? Both signals present. Prioritisation needed.
The decision
Cold traffic conversion (1.2%) diagnosed as the primary constraint — because it was limiting the compounding of the sell investment that would follow.
Decision: explain investment first (messaging and homepage redesign), then sales hire.
Rationale: a sales hire at 1.2% cold conversion would require the founder's involvement in every deal to close. At higher cold conversion, a sales hire could operate more independently.
The outcome
Messaging redesign: 6 weeks. Cold conversion: 3.8%. Sales hire made. Sales hire closed 4 deals independently in first 2 months — without founder involvement. The sequencing — explain before sell — made the sell investment significantly more effective.
Takeaway
Diagnose the primary constraint. Invest in the response to that constraint specifically.
Build, sell, or explain — one is usually limiting growth more than the others. Find it. Fix it. Then reassess which constraint is now primary. Growth improves when effort is applied to the right problem.
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