I talked to someone today who was an early employee at a now publicly traded company. He shared an observation that stuck with me: some companies won’t ever be more than what they are today because they won’t (or can’t) level up.

He elaborated on this: Having big goals and dreams are great. But to do the impossible and enjoy outsize success, you must level up as a founder and as an organization. If you don’t level up, you will stall or struggle. As an early employee of a company that went on to be worth billions and to be publicly traded, he saw firsthand what it means to level up and how it can lead to success.

I totally agree. A buddy framed it well: the biggest throttle on your success is how fast you can improve yourself. This applies to founders and to companies.