Sofos Concept-to-Category System™
Most founders are building hard at the wrong thing for where they are. Not because they lack ambition — but because no one named what this stage actually requires.
the problem isn't effort.
it's sequencing
Become the default choice.
Founders we work with
Innovation comes in different shapes, forms, and sizes. From batteries to electric jet engines, AI-driven energy management to cooking oil recycling, underwater robots to sustainable packaging.
Companies we work with span across all these domains, enabling technologies and business types.
5
Fintech
6
Industrial /
Manufacturing
10
Energy /
Mobility
diverse domains
3
Climate /
Sustainability
4
Agriculture /
Food
13
Digital / Cybersecurity
/ Data + AI
12
Deep Tech / IOT / Robotics
emerging technologies
6
Trade /
Services
3
Multi-sided Platform
21
Product
business model types
2
Social Enterprise
Why it matters
You can be busy winning and still be building something that won't hold.
Revenue is coming in. The team is growing. But every quarter, growth feels harder. Deals take longer. Margins don't quite make sense. The team needs to be told.
That's not a growth problem. It's a stage problem.
The solution isn't more activity. It's knowing what this stage needs, and what it takes to get there. Get that right, and growth gets easier. Miss it, and growth creates drag that gets harder to reverse.
What's your Growth Drag?
the Sofos Concept-to-Category System™
One system. One path.
The Roadmap shows you exactly where you are in the growth sequence —
from early traction to category leadership.
The four stages show you what must be true at each point to move forward.
Not intentions. Not activity. Evidence.
Get the sequence right and growth gets easier.
Get it wrong and growth creates drag.
Compounding progress. Higher growth velocity.
Flow, not drag.
recognise any
of these?
Most sales still require heavy founder involvement. Revenue is growing but margins are shrinking. Priorities reset every week — decisions keep reopening. Wins rely on relationships, not a repeatable system. Teams are micro-managed.
These aren't random problems. Each one is a signal. The Sofos Concept-to-Category System™ names them precisely — so you know exactly which stage you're at and what to fix next.
We work with
Programs, Projects, and Services for a Category Leader.
Investors
Make stage progress predictable, so growth capital buys acceleration, not fixes.
Startups
Cross the chasm with a focused go-to-market that brings predictable revenue without building Scale Debt.
Scaleups / Business Units
Build execution that holds through scaling, so progress builds toward category advantage and becoming the default choice.
Clients
Collaborators
NOT SURE WHICH STAGE YOU'RE AT?
That's the most common place to start. A Stage Review is a free, 60-minute conversation. We look at where your company actually is — Traction, Economics, Execution or Category Advantage — name what's creating drag, and agree what needs to happen next.
You leave with:
-
the stage you're in, based on evidence, not ambition
-
the one or two things slowing you down most
-
a clear next step, and an honest view on whether we're the right fit to help
Straight answers. No hype. Someone in your corner.
Founder FAQ
1. How do I know which stage my company is at?
Look at the evidence, not the effort.
Traction: you can't yet win the same kind of customer again and again without being in the deal; customer requests are pulling your product in several directions; sales and product are out of step; or you're chasing several customer segments at once.
Economics: revenue grows but margins don't; your pricing doesn't match the value you deliver; or it costs more to win and serve a customer than you charge.
Execution: the team is busy but you still have to check everything with the leadership team; priorities, goals and measures of success aren't clear for the company, each team and each person; or the team can't deliver on a target without the founder micro-managing.
Category Advantage: buyers see you as one of many options; they compare you feature by feature; you're asked to bid in a category someone else leads; or what makes you different is easy to copy.
Most founders see signs of all four, and that's normal. The question is which one is the root cause for your stage, and which signs you can live with for now because they'll ease once the root cause is fixed. That judgement, and the order to fix things in, is what a Stage Review gives you in 60 minutes.
2. Our revenue is growing, but I'm still on every sales call. What's going wrong?
Usually nothing is wrong with the team. The wins depend on you, not on a repeatable way of selling. That's a Traction problem, not a hiring problem. Underneath it is a strategic decision most founders haven't made yet: which market segment to win first, why that one, and which one comes after it. Without that decision, every deal is a different shape, and new salespeople add cost before they add pipeline. Make the decision, win that segment predictably yourself, then write down how you do it so a salesperson can follow. Until then, you can't forecast revenue with confidence.
3. Should I hire a fractional COO, or fix our growth sequence first?
They do different jobs. A fractional COO runs the people and the workload day to day, using their own experience. We work on the system the whole company grows by, so it holds no matter who is in the seat. The two can work together.
4. Scaling Up, category design or Crossing the Chasm — which do I need?
Each is built for a different stage and a different problem, and from my work implementing them with clients, each has its limits. Crossing the Chasm helps you choose which customers to win first, and which next. Scaling Up helps you scale the team and run the business in a repeatable way as it grows. Category design helps you become the default choice in a new market by defining the problem and the story around it as you scale. Used at the wrong stage or in the wrong context, a good approach creates drag. The Sofos Concept-to-Category System™ places each one where it fits.
5. What happens in a Stage Review, and what does it cost?
It's free and takes 60 minutes on Zoom. We work out your stage from what's actually happening in the business, name the biggest source of drag, and agree the next step — including an honest view on whether we're the right fit to help. There's no obligation to go further.
6. Who do you work with?
Founders and leadership teams of innovation-led startups and scale-ups, and the investors and accelerators who back them. The largest client groups are digital, cybersecurity, data and AI, and deep tech, IoT and robotics, alongside energy and mobility, industrial, fintech, agriculture and climate.
7. Do you hand us a report, or work with our team?
Neither. It isn't a report, and it isn't an hour of advice. It's active work: you and your team work through the decisions with us in workshops, do the work between sessions, and learn the method through short videos, so the thinking stays in your business. What that looks like for you depends on your stage, and we agree it after the Stage Review.
Hear it from a founder: Elliot Donazzan, Founder and CEO of Payble, on working with us (video). In his words: "...practical and outcome focused. I find the process fun and effective."
8. Is category design too early for my startup?
You can start early, but it won't be what moves you forward. Defining a category, even before revenue, has some benefit: it sharpens how you describe the problem. But at the Traction stage, what moves you forward is customers and revenue you can repeat. If you can't yet win the same kind of customer again and again without being in the deal, your price doesn't hold without discounting, your unit economics don't work yet, or the team can't execute consistently with a system, a category story promises more than the business can prove. Fix the earlier stage first; the category work lands harder when you do.