Humus & Shore · humusnshore.org/founders/scale
Pure Signal stages 5–6
Scale
Compound what already works.
Who it is for
Technical founders at $15M–$50M ARR, early Series B.
The problem
A referral lets the next buyer borrow trust instead of building it, yet advocacy is left to chance, and expansion follows industry labels rather than shared patterns.
The 165 days
Sprint 1 · Pilot · 30 days
Customer advocacy and values assessment
Turn existing customers into advocates, and measure how closely the company’s values match its buyers’ values. The first ten days are the diagnostic: success metrics and baselines, agreed with you.
- A ranked advocacy shortlist
- The value each shortlisted customer has realized
- A reference program, ready to launch, with its referral framework
- An organizational values assessment and gap analysis
- Pattern-driven expansion opportunities, including where other providers are the better fit
- The Sprint 1 diagnostic report
Sprint 2 · 45 days
Organizational values development
Align the company’s values with its buyers’ values, in hiring, roles, positioning and the sales path.
- A values alignment framework
- Values-driven hiring criteria and role design
- A documented sales path and first-seller handoff plan, with the founder stepping back to strategic moments
- Positioning and messaging built on shared values, set among the alternatives
Sprint 3 · 45 days
Advocacy generation and pattern-driven expansion
Generate advocacy systematically, and enter new markets by a verified shared pattern rather than an industry label.
- A systematic advocacy generation framework
- Referral pipeline creation and management
- An expansion strategy prioritised by shared KPI pattern, verified with advocates
- Market entry execution and measurement tools
Sprint 4 · 45 days
Sustainable values-driven growth
Keep values alignment intact while scaling across markets and levels, and feed what advocates teach back into the product.
- Leadership development and team scaling frameworks
- An advocate-to-product feedback loop
- A Pure Signal refresh: the best-fit customer re-derived from capabilities and realized value
- The 165-day success report and forward roadmap
Metrics you can verify in your own data
Baselines are set with you in days 1–10.
- Customers active as references or advocates
- New pipeline sourced from referrals and references
- Net revenue retention
- New segments entered where the KPI pattern is verified
- Sales path documented; founder joins strategic moments only
Terms
$100,000 over 165 days. Sprint 1, the 30-day pilot, is $20,000, invoiced at signature, and counts toward the total; Sprints 2 and 3 are $30,000 each, and Sprint 4 is $20,000, invoiced as each begins. Continuing past the pilot is the founder’s decision; the pilot is refunded in full if it does not deliver a ranked advocacy shortlist, the value each shortlisted customer has realized, and a reference program ready to launch. $12,000 of the final invoice is due only when the outcome agreed at kickoff is met. Engagements are limited because one operator does the work.