Operator notes.
Durable operating thinking from Andrew Moczygemba, grounded in running founder-led businesses.
Decision Debt Is Quietly Killing Your Business
Most companies understand financial debt and technical debt. Far fewer recognize decision debt, and it is quietly making the business harder to run.
Most founders don’t have a growth problem. They have a readiness problem.
Spending on growth before the business can carry it is how good companies run out of cash.
A growth plan without a capital allocation plan is just ambition.
Every growth decision is also a decision about where the cash goes. Most plans skip that part.
Revenue growth can hide a lot of bad decisions.
A rising top line covers for problems that get more expensive the bigger you get.
EBITDA doesn’t pay suppliers. Cash does.
Profit on the page and money in the account are not the same thing, and the gap is where businesses get hurt.
Market entry is an operating strategy, not a sales exercise.
A new market does not adapt to you. You earn the right to compete in it.
Strategy isn’t finished until the business can execute it.
Most growth plans don’t fail in the strategy session. They fail in the handoffs.
You can win the deal and still lose.
Winning a big customer can be one of the most expensive things a growing company does.
You cannot keep control and take the money too.
Founders preparing to sell often want both. The sale is where that choice gets made.