February Update from Hedgehog Growth ☃️

Happy February to my friends and partners!

Being disciplined in both thought and action is hard work. Recently I've been reflecting on how highly effective organizations systematize discipline to create their own luck. They demonstrate discipline across 4 key areas, creating a “system” for operating well.

Highly effective companies approach their vision and mission with intentionality, avoiding haphazard direction. They demonstrate:

• Strong clarity on the problem they exist to solve and focus on how specifically they create value for their customers.

• Shared alignment across all levels of the team around their purpose and reason for existence.

• Inspiration; exothermic leadership imbuing the organization with urgency, motivation and drive.

• Uniqueness, clearly separating companies from peers, championing a unique perspective.

• A specific time horizon pulling the mission into focus and adaptability in the possible paths to victory.

• Intentional and consistent evangelism of the vision and mission both internally and externally to create a shared fantasy of what’s possible.

The People & Values are selected strategically and not corporate wallpaper.

• Values are specifically selected, explicitly stated and calibrated to what’s required for the mission. They guide tactical decisions frequently by offering guidance on tradeoffs. They consistently appear in daily behaviors, meetings, and interactions

• Trust is high, enabling healthy tension and conflict. Ideas are openly, regularly debated in a meritocratic way.

• Feedback is shared frequently, quickly and empathetically in a clear, direct way that replenishes, not diminishes, relationships. Coaching happens regularly and organically. Performance management is a constant exercise against explicit standards, not a quarterly or annual consideration.

• Hiring is highly structured, scorecard-based and equally focused on technical skills, aptitude to learn and personal collaboration style.

• Firing is done quickly and unsurprising to the impacted. It is done for both skills and culture mis-fits. It recognizes that fault often lies with the organization for hiring poorly.

The Operations and Cadence are predictable, reliable and deliver consistent execution.

• Big Bets are regularly made in tight alignment with the long term vision to advance the mission.

• The top priorities of the organization are clear and visible. All contributors can trace their work to the top priorities. Priorities are distilled into time-boxed, specific goals which are consistently attained with 80% or greater frequency

• A specific and consistent cadence of goal setting and attainment is the connective fabric stitching bets, priorities, goals and reliable attainment together.

• Adaptability shines through as teams independently problem-solve to achieve goals on time and within budget.

• Budgeting and Forecasting are fully integrated disciplines. Teams regularly demonstrate consideration of the budgetary implications of decisions frequently scenario modeling as part of strategic planning.

The Functional Performance of departments are important, but come last. Functional excellence cannot overcome hazy vision, arbitrary culture or inconsistent operating cadence.

• Functional teams are self-motivated craftspeople, seeking out industry innovations and developments to hone their work, seeking to improve themselves and their work.

• Teams cross-functionally self-organize to deliver initiative and solve problems in alignment with the big bets and declared goals.

• Processes are documented and standardized where possible. Technology is regularly used to create internal efficiencies and save money.

• Data-informed decision making guides tradeoffs, but leaves room for taste. Data is accessible and reliable. Decision makers feel deeply insecure making non-evidenced decisions.

Please share this 'tool' with founders and CEOs who may find it a helpful litmus test and diagnostic for their organizations’ performance.

The Strategic Narrative work I’m doing with a Series A startup is bearing fruit. We’re still getting customer feedback on positioning, but so far it’s overwhelmingly positive, especially on the topic of counter-positioning against the “old world” way of solving this problem.

If a startup in your life is struggling to tell their story in a way that resonates with prospects, investors or customers and drives action, I’d love to share more about this approach.

🦔 I’m headed to Houston, TX next week to continue supporting Clarke Bynum’s fundraising for Jelawai Productions. Clarke is currently seeking investment in a ~$1mm search fund for the acquisition of a Asia-based content distributor (streaming platform). This company will serve as the foundation of a production and distribution company with this mission of creating durable, high-quality content while ensuring equitable compensation for screenwriters.

🦔 Joe White and I reconnected where I congratulated him on his NBJ article, convincing Zap to invest and his acceptance to Project Healthcare. Joe’s the right guy to create a more efficient marketplace, matching clinicians and health organizations to fill staffing needs. His operator mindset and capital efficiency is exactly what’s required to build a company in 2025.

🦔 Betina Evancha and I met for coffee where I momentarily confused her with an overly-enthusiastic recommendation of Paprika. The spice is great, but the app is better. She’s building Brim Analytics, 10x-ing the identification of clinical trial participants, accelerating pharmaceutical research.

🦔 I reconnected with some old friends at XOi and congratulated them on on raising $230mm to fuel their strategic acquisition of Specifx, a HVAC data provider, enabling XOi to materially increase the on-platform value of their solutions. XOi powers the field service industry building tools for the folks who keep equipment running.

🦔 Clint Smith and I meandered through Lipscomb’s campus and reflected on the challenges growth companies face in 2025. As capital retreats to “safer” alternatives than VC and PE, many companies are undergoing a painful and difficult pivot to profitability. I help with that. We also reflected on the applicability of SaaS lessons to non-tech business and his experiences with Barrel Stock Trading Co. 

🦔 I’ve gotten to know Wes and Patrick at Raise Financial. Raise makes large investments in the S&P500 on behalf of their subscribers, giving all returns back to users. This brings wealth creating within reach for a new generation of investors by fundamentally rethinking existing financial solutions. Read more on Raise’s website.

🦔 Kevin Mosley and I talked about his growth equity firm, Jurassic Capital, and furthered my conviction that many companies need a “fractional fixer” to help implement the systems and discipline described above. It’s a difficult time to be a venture-backed company if you’re not in AI or Cybersecurity.

🦔 I’m honored to have been asked by CEDNC to help their entrepreneurs prepare for CED's annual Venture Connect Summit on March 25-27. I’m eager to learn more about their businesses and support their performance in the pitch competition. CEDNC supports the ecosystem of startups, investors and community partners across North Carolina.

🦔 Ben and I caught up on the latest FourTop developments. Follow their news page for an exciting announcement soon, about how they’re advancing their positioning to solve essential problems in the restaurant tech space. I’ve appreciated Ben’s commitment to a principles-first approach in a space where many other pursue value extraction above solving the deep problems which create durable customer value.

🦔 I reconnected with Dan Pascone, now building Tailored Wealth. Dan and I met in previous careers and have since both ventured into entrepreneurship. Dan helps high-income professionals maximize the value of complex equity compensation, build retirement plans and navigate tax considerations.

🦔 Julie Sellers kindly shared wisdom from her journey building Ellevated Outcomes where she helps small, creative businesses transition from unsure & overwhelmed to focused, energized and confident by applying many of the same principles shared above. I’m grateful to Julie for sharing her experience and reminded that Nashville is a special place.

🦔 Aaron Pomerance told me all about his new company FloQast, but more importantly about his trip to Chilean Patagonia last month. FloQast automate accounting, saves time and reduce audit fees.

🦔 Tyler Welton and I finally found got together at one of our old LeanKit haunts (and Fresh KDS customer!) The Coffee House at 2nd and Bridge. He’s building Untamed Theory to make cloud & app security accessible. If you’re into that sort of thing, they do SAST, IaC, SCA, SBOM artifact generation and hard coded Secrets detection…. and you thought I liked acronyms.

I don’t have any current asks but am always eager to support readers of this periodical. Let me know how I can help!

Wishing everyone the best, until next month.

Warm regards,

Michael

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