There ain’t no party like an S-curve party: Why success is never a straight line

Every founder thinks their scale-up ride will be different – smoother, smarter, maybe even easier. Bollocks. Growing your business from 20 to 150 people is more like strapping yourself to a rocket: thrilling at liftoff, but just wait until the G-forces hit and the control panel starts to smoke. There’s a reason Harvard experts depict growth as an S-curve – a predictable rise and plateau where nothing grows forever and diminishing returns eventually kick in. But what the academics don’t mention is the emotional shitshow awaiting founder-CEOs on this ride.

Consider this your no-nonsense map through the Monkhouse Seven-Stage Founder’s Curve (my take on Harvard’s expertise). We’ll go from the giddy startup days to the brink of collapse (that I’ve affectionately termed “no man’s land”) and, hopefully, to a hard-won renewal on the other side. From exciting startup buzz to disillusioned burnout, the emotional journey of scaling can be tough.

Startup

This is base camp on the S-curve. At startup, everything is exciting. You’re running on caffeine and sheer optimism, doing all the jobs because, well, who else will? There’s a scrappy little team rallying around a big idea. Every day brings a new problem, but you tackle it with adrenaline and a smile. Revenue? Minimal. Process? Non-existent. But who cares – you’re too busy feeling alive.

In these early days, your naivety is your superpower. You don’t know what you don’t know, which keeps fear at bay. You’re enthusiastically selling your vision to anyone who’ll listen, convinced you’re on the brink of being the next Apple. The energy is palpable. Just don’t get too comfy – the rush of startup frenzy is about to hit a wall.

Investment – the first hurdle

You’ve got customers, some cash, and a hint of product-market fit. Congrats – you’re now barrelling towards the first hurdle on the S-curve. What got you here won’t get you there. When you reached 10 employees, you really had 9 people helping you chase your goals. From 10 to 30, your managers will start to emerge – those who can help you build.There’ll be profitability dips in this stage too, which can be scary. Many companies see little ROI on employees 17-25 or so, and retreat back into the bushes never to try scaling again. Suddenly, you find that you need specialists, maybe even a real management team and external funding.

This is a gut-check moment. Do you double down or cling to the DIY approach? Many founders hesitate, and that’s when growth stalls. But those who get over this hurdle reap the rewards. You invest in product, people, systems – and suddenly the business starts firing on more cylinders. What’s more, you’re better prepared for the next time you face the challenge presented by the rule of 3 and 10, where companies hit growth challenges whenever they grow by a factor of 3 or 10. Emotionally, the transition is from frantic startup hustle to a burst of confidence. You start thinking, “Hell, this might actually work!”

Lift off

This is where your growth curve shoots up like a bloody rocket. You’ve poured fuel on the fire, and now things are scaling fast. Sales are multiplying, customer demand is surging – the business is no longer a cute startup; it’s a beast picking up speed. This is the steep climb of the S-curve, where growth goes exponential.

How does it feel? Equal parts exhilarating and terrifying. Imagine driving a Ferrari in the fog at night – engine roaring, visibility near zero. One moment you’re celebrating new contracts; the next, you’re scrambling to handle them. The organisation creaks under the weight of success. You’re adding headcount every other week, communication misfires, and you see unfamiliar faces in the office.

This is when hubris creeps in. The company’s on a roll; you feel validated. Maybe you finally draw a decent salary, treat yourself to a nicer office or fancy car. After all, you’ve “made it”, right? Just be careful: that euphoria is fleeting. Great founders use this phase to think ahead, but many are just hanging on for dear life. A lot of founders have raced up this hill only to find there’s a cliff at the top.

Validation

This is the crest of the first S-curve – that brief plateau where your early bets have paid off and the world acknowledges it. The market likes your product, revenue is solid, maybe profitable. You might get written up in TechCrunch or speak at industry events. Enjoy the applause – you earned it.

Psychologically, this stage is a mixed bag. You feel vindicated – all those naysayers can go lick a lamp post. But something sneaky happens: complacency. After running ragged for years, you ease off the throttle. Take a holiday. Upgrade your lifestyle. The business is humming; maybe it can run on momentum while you catch your breath?

Here’s where I splash cold water on your face: validation is a stage, not a destination. Right when you think you’ve mastered this thing, reality shows up with a folding chair and whacks you in the back of the head. Your company is getting too big for you to keep doing what you’ve always done.

Frustration

Welcome to founder purgatory. This is where all the good mojo from validation flips. The very success you achieved brings new problems, and suddenly nothing works like it used to. The strategies and hustle that got you from zero to here are no longer effective. It’s as if you’ve been expertly driving a go-kart, and now you’re behind the wheel of a double-decker bus – crashing into curbs on every turn.

Your team has grown, but not everyone’s on the same page. Communication breakdowns everywhere. You find out after the event that key clients have been upset for weeks. New hires keep asking for direction or, worse, doing conflicting things. You’re putting out fires daily. Issues unthinkable when small – like why no one empties the dishwasher – start popping up.

Frustration festers. You feel oddly out of control of the business you created. You used to know every customer, sign off on every expense, chat with every hire. Now there are projects and people in motion you didn’t touch, and it makes you uneasy. Instead of being the bold visionary, you’ve morphed into a frazzled manager, drowning in meetings and Slack messages.

If unchecked, frustration morphs into full-blown stress. The fun is officially over. Those “good old days”? Gone. You’re working harder than ever but feel like you’re running backwards. Profits might dip as efficiency tanks. This is where founder burnout looms.

No man’s land – the second hurdle

This is the valley of death in the scale-up journey – the second hurdle. By now, you’re deeply disillusioned. You’ve grown a “successful” business – maybe tens of millions in revenue – yet it doesn’t feel successful at all. The company’s too big to be small, too small to be big. You’re stuck in between, burning cash and time just to stand still.

Growth has flatlined. The team is bloated with people whose contributions you’re dubious about. You’re sinking more investment with no return. Maybe you’re hiring expensive “fixers” or pumping money into new marketing channels, but nothing moves the needle. Your business entered quicksand – lots of struggle, not much progress.

You, the founder-CEO, are exhausted. Stress has taken its toll; the thrill is long gone. You catch yourself reminiscing about the early days when things were simpler and actually fun. Now it’s spreadsheets, admin, and headaches. Many business owners give up at this stage – close their doors or sell the business. No man’s land is littered with founders who said, “Sod this, I’m out.”

If you’re here, you know why it’s called no man’s land. It’s lonely. Your friends don’t get it. Your partner is tired of your late nights. Your employees look to you for a grand plan, and you’re fresh out of ideas. Some companies tread water here for years, neither growing nor dying. It’s the make-or-break point.

Future

Future is the promised land on the other side of the second brick wall – a new S-curve, a fresh growth phase requiring transformation. If you’ve made it this far, you’ve been battered and humbled. The arrogance of the inflection point is gone; naive startup excitement is a distant memory. Future is about getting your mojo back – but doing it differently.

To achieve advanced growth beyond no man’s land, you need to reinvent how you run your company.

Strategy (product) – Stop chasing shiny objects and clarify your product roadmap. Know what you are, what you aren’t, and how you’ll keep offering something people want to buy.

Marketing & sales (channels) – Build reliable, scalable channels that consistently bring in the right customers. No sales, no company – so get this flow sorted.

People & structure (org chart) – Design a functional internal structure where everyone knows their role and the right people are in the right seats. Time to build the A-team.

Process & cadence (management system) – Strategy isn’t a once-yearly discussion. You need regular planning, reviewing, and pivoting as the new normal. Think agile, continuous improvement.

Scalability (assets & documentation) – Transition to an asset-driven business model with systems, automation, documented processes. The business can’t be a personality cult around you. Make yourself eventually replaceable – it’s the only way to truly scale.

This is easier said than done. Each demands painful changes and learning. You might need to unlearn being the hero and learn to be the coach. It is often about the founder’s personal evolution as much as the company’s. Can you step back and let your leadership team lead? Can you shift from working in the business to working on it?

I’ve seen founders go from the brink of quitting to reigniting their passion at this stage. When you put those building blocks in place, you reconnect with the original vision and set your company on a path to advanced growth rather than plateau or decline.

One caveat: This isn’t a one-time deal. Think of it as jumping to the next S-curve – there will eventually be another set of brick walls and inflection points. The difference now is you know the game. You’ve been through the founder’s journey and come out the other side. You’re scarred but infinitely wiser.

The reality check

Scaling a company is hard f**king work. Most people will never even attempt it. You did. And if you’ve made it to renewal, you earned the right to be a little irreverent about the whole process. Just remember, humility is the best policy. As soon as you think “I’ve cracked it,” the universe has a way of smacking you with a new challenge.

This rollercoaster of startup → hurdle → lift off → validation → frustration → no man’s land → future is the natural lifecycle of a founder-led scale-up. Wherever you are on the curve, wear it like a badge of honour. Feel like you’re in the fog? That’s normal. Hitting a wall? Time to learn and adapt. Climbing again? Enjoy the view.

The S-curve journey isn’t for the timid, but for those crazy founder-CEOs who embrace it, it’s the ride of a lifetime. Onwards and upwards – and see you on the next curve.

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Written by business coach and leadership coaching expert Dominic Monkhouse. You can order your free copy of his book, Mind Your F**king Business here.