The Arcs that Build Great Companies — And Why Progress Comes First

Every founder I know wrestles with a persistent question:

Are we actually getting better?

It’s not just about doing more or making more money. It’s about whether or not you’re evolving and making real, meaningful progress as an organization.

Think about this for a second: In nature, evolution is how species survive. In business, evolution is how companies scale with purpose. Either way, it isn’t optional — because entropy never stops. If you’re not evolving, you’re falling behind. And that’s the real game we’re playing as founders.

There’s a framework I often come back to called the Four Arcs, which include Possibility, People, Systems, and Justice. These arcs aren’t about chasing ideals. They’re about building the kind of structural momentum that leads to real, lasting change. Arcs show the direction things naturally move over time. They help us spot patterns and shape them into better outcomes. (Seth Godin has his own take on the Four Arcs, pointing to Capitalism, Technology, Connection, and Justice.) 

And yet, for founders, I believe one arc is missing from these frameworks, the one that enables all the others: Progress.

Progress is where it all begins — and where we'll start.

Progress: Where to Start

Progress isn’t an optional part of business building. It’s the oxygen of your organization — the one thing everything else depends on, the difference between momentum and stagnation. And for founders, it has to come first.

Real progress starts with an obvious problem — something painful, inefficient, or misaligned. Then comes the part where a lot of founders struggle: the discipline to stay with the problem as it evolves. It’s inevitable that markets shift, needs morph, and priorities change over time. But the core problem should stay close. It should become the territory you know better than anyone else.

The founders who can adapt and stay disciplined are the ones who win the long game. They’re the true visionaries. Not because they could see the future, but because they kept evolving in service of a problem worth solving.

That’s where the Four Arcs come in. They’re the real forces that help you build something great. But none of them can move without progress. It doesn't replace the other arcs — it activates them. It clears the path to make everything else possible.

Possibility: Seeing What Could Be

When you start solving real problems, new doors open — ways of thinking that weren’t visible (or believable) before. This is possibility. It’s what allows us to imagine what could be, not just what is.

Possibility opens our minds and motivates us to keep going when things get hard. It’s that shift from “Is this even going to work?” to “What if this actually changes everything?”

But without progress, possibility shifts from aspiration to fantasy. To make the vision a reality, you need both a team who sees it too and the necessary systems to support it. 

When we honor what's possible, not just what already exists, we give ourselves and our teams permission to dream. And that's where true innovation takes hold and momentum begins to build.

People: Who Carries It Forward

Founders may be the ones who spark the vision and bear the weight of it in the early days, but it’s people who carry it forward.

To build something enduring, you need people who are drawn to the game itself. Not the perks or the prestige. The Work — with a capital W. The kind of people who show up not just to solve the problem but to refine it, master it, and win.

They’re your early missionaries. Your culture-carriers. The ones who set the tone and raise the bar. When the right people are in the game for the right reasons, progress starts to compound.

Here’s the honest truth: Even great people struggle inside broken systems. Passion and experience aren’t enough. That's why your systems matter. But make no mistake, who you invite into the game will define how far you can go.

Systems: Scaling What Matters

Systems either create the conditions for us to thrive or push us closer to burnout.

In nature, organisms evolve within ecosystems. In organizations, people evolve within operating systems. These systems include everything from our goals, strategy, and data to our agreements, feedback loops, and conversations.

These are the things that give shape to our work. And they have the power to either accelerate our progress or become bureaucracy.

A good system supports the Work. A great system evolves with the company and it's people.

Because in the end, your system is your environment. And environments shape everything.

Justice: Making the Culture Make Sense

Justice isn’t about abstract fairness. Inside a company, it shows up as clarity.

Clarity of roles. Clarity around agreements. Clarity of consequences. And above all, clarity of culture.

When things are clear, people know how to act. They know what matters, what gets rewarded, and how decisions actually get made. 

Without clarity, even A-players struggle. Not because they don’t believe in the vision, but because the rules of the game stop making sense. That’s when trust breaks down.

So how do you know if you’ve built justice into your system? The culture needs to be: 

• Explicit: It’s written down, reinforced in meetings, and embedded in the way you run the business — not left to chance or memory.
• Resonant: Your people not only feel it in their day-to-day work, they believe it’s worth protecting.
• Coherent: What’s written and said actually lines up with how decisions get made and how the organization functions under pressure.

Justice isn’t about being nice or fair. It’s about making the culture make sense. And when the culture makes sense, people can do their best work, even when it’s hard.

The Domino Effect of Progress

When the arcs work together, they create real momentum. But it all starts with progress.

Progress starts by clearing the path...

→ which opens the door to possibility

→ which attracts the right people

→ who thrive inside healthy systems

→ which stay aligned through cultural justice

Miss the first arc, and the rest lose their shape. But when progress leads the way, they all come into focus. 

Remember, you’re not just building a company. You’re building something designed to endure — an organization that learns, adapts, and evolves faster than the forces around it.

So keep your eye on the arcs. But always start with progress.