Traction Is Not Repeatability

The dangerous assumption

You've signed customers. Revenue is growing. The board is excited. It feels like product-market fit.

But here's the question no one's asking: could someone else close these deals the same way you did?

If the answer is no—or "maybe"—you have traction, not repeatability. And that distinction matters more than most founders realize.

What traction looks like

• Deals closed through founder relationships

• Custom scoping for each customer

• Pricing that varies deal to deal

• No clear pattern in who buys or why

• Success depends on heroic effort

What repeatability looks like

• A defined ICP that sales can articulate

• Consistent deal size and sales cycle

• A pitch that works without the founder

• Clear qualification criteria (and disqualification)

• Predictable time-to-value post-sale

Why it matters now

Traction gets you funded. Repeatability gets you scaled.

If you hire, expand, or raise on traction alone, you're building on sand. The first real stress test—a bad quarter, a key departure, a market shift—will expose the gaps.

The bridge

The path from traction to repeatability isn't more selling. It's more clarity. On who you serve. On what you actually deliver. On why customers expand.

Get that right, and scale takes care of itself.