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Stage 4: Scale

Stage 4 of the Unavoidable Stages of Development is about building a company that grows without breaking—one that scales with discipline, speed, and sustainability.

By Stage 4, your business is no longer a startup—and it’s not just a fast-growing team. It’s an evolving, maturing organization that must balance growth with consistency, autonomy with alignment, and innovation with operational excellence.

In The 90 Way, Stage 4 is where strategy meets structure and execution meets scale. You’re no longer proving your business model; you’re now focused on multiplying what works—without creating chaos.

At this stage, what got you here won’t get you there. You need cross-functional alignment, robust systems, and empowered leaders at every level.

Scaling isn’t just doing more. It’s doing more with clarity, with discipline, and without losing your culture.

Overview

If Stage 4 companies don’t adapt to scale, they often face:

  • Breakdowns in communication across layers and teams
  • Leadership fatigue, as senior leaders become bottlenecks
  • Inconsistent execution, with process gaps across teams
  • Siloed thinking, leading to internal competition or misalignment
  • Diluted culture, as growth outpaces intentional reinforcement
  • Slow decision-making, as complexity increases without clarity

The 90 Way solves this by:

  • Building systems that enable fast, aligned decision-making
  • Installing scalable meeting rhythms and cross-functional syncs
  • Empowering leaders with tools to coach and drive performance
  • Deepening planning processes across departments
  • Strengthening culture through intentional feedback and development
  • Scaling execution with automation, delegation, and structure

Stage 4 is about growing up—without growing slow.

What Stage of Development is your business currently in? 

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Stages of Development

A sketched diagram showing five stages of growth: Start, Build, Grow, Scale, and Exit, represented as stacked blocks with arrows indicating progression from one stage to the next.

Next Steps

Education Journey: