• Table of Contents

  • Growth Strategy & Execution
  • Why Most Growth Strategies Are Just Fancy To-Do Lists
  • The Three Fatal Flaws of Weak Growth Plans
  • What Real Growth Strategy & Execution Looks Like
  • 1. Strategic Positioning That Actually Positions
  • 2. Growth Loops, Not Funnels
  • 3. Execution That Moves Like a Startup, Thinks Like a CMO
  • Case Study: The $10M Pivot That Wasn’t in the Deck
  • Truth Bomb
  • Next Steps: Burn the Playbook, Build the Machine

Growth Strategy & Execution

Let’s get one thing straight: growth isn’t a KPI—it’s a warpath. And most companies are bringing a butter knife to a gunfight. At MarkCMO.com, we don’t do “safe.” We do smart, sharp, and scalable. Growth strategy & execution isn’t about chasing shiny objects or duct-taping tactics together. It’s about building a machine that doesn’t just move—it accelerates. If your current plan looks like a Frankenstein of disconnected campaigns and quarterly panic meetings, it’s time for a strategic intervention. This article will break down what real growth strategy & execution looks like when it’s done by someone who’s been in the trenches—and won.

Why Most Growth Strategies Are Just Fancy To-Do Lists

Let’s call it out: most “growth strategies” are just glorified backlog items with a few buzzwords sprinkled in. They’re reactive, not strategic. They’re built for optics, not outcomes. And they die the moment the market shifts or the CFO asks for ROI.

Here’s the truth: if your growth strategy can’t survive a boardroom grilling or a budget cut, it’s not a strategy—it’s a wish list.

The Three Fatal Flaws of Weak Growth Plans

• No North Star: If your team can’t articulate the one metric that matters, you’re flying blind.
• Channel Chaos: Throwing money at every platform like it’s a Vegas slot machine isn’t a strategy—it’s desperation.
• Execution Paralysis: Endless planning cycles with zero velocity. Strategy without execution is just expensive procrastination.

What Real Growth Strategy & Execution Looks Like

Let’s rebuild this from the ground up. A real growth strategy is a living system. It’s not a deck. It’s not a roadmap. It’s a machine with three core components:

1. Strategic Positioning That Actually Positions

If your brand sounds like everyone else in your category, congratulations—you’re invisible. Strategic positioning is about owning a space in the customer’s mind that no one else can touch. It’s not about being better. It’s about being different in a way that matters.

• Define your enemy. (Hint: it’s not always your competitor—it might be inertia.)
• Craft a POV that polarizes. If no one disagrees with your positioning, it’s not bold enough.
• Align your messaging, product, and pricing around that POV. Consistency is the new conversion rate.

2. Growth Loops, Not Funnels

Funnels are for pouring coffee. Growth loops are for compounding value. The best companies don’t just acquire users—they turn them into acquisition engines.

• Acquisition → Activation → Referral → Retention → Repeat
• Each step feeds the next. No dead ends. No leaky buckets.
• Examples: Dropbox’s referral loop, Notion’s team onboarding loop, Figma’s collaboration loop.

Funnels end. Loops scale.

3. Execution That Moves Like a Startup, Thinks Like a CMO

Speed without strategy is chaos. Strategy without speed is irrelevance. You need both. That means:

• Quarterly OKRs tied to one growth metric
• Cross-functional pods that own outcomes, not tasks
• Weekly sprints with ruthless prioritization (kill your darlings)
• Real-time dashboards that show signal, not noise

Execution is where strategy goes to live—or die. Build a culture that ships, learns, and iterates faster than the market can blink.

Case Study: The $10M Pivot That Wasn’t in the Deck

One of our clients—a B2B SaaS company stuck at $3M ARR—had a “growth strategy” that looked like a buffet menu. Every channel, every persona, every possible feature. No focus. No edge.

We killed 80% of their campaigns, repositioned them around a single pain point, and built a growth loop around customer success stories. Within 12 months, they hit $10M ARR. No new funding. No new headcount. Just ruthless clarity and execution.

Truth Bomb

If your growth strategy doesn’t scare you a little, it’s not bold enough to work.

Next Steps: Burn the Playbook, Build the Machine

Here’s your challenge: audit your current growth strategy & execution. If it reads like a committee wrote it, start over. If it’s not tied to a single, measurable outcome, start over. If it doesn’t make your competitors nervous, start over.

Then build a machine that compounds. One that turns customers into advocates, advocates into marketers, and marketers into revenue. That’s not a dream. That’s what happens when strategy meets execution at full throttle.

And if you need help lighting that fire? You know where to find me.

Mark Gabrielli
Founder, MarkCMO
[email protected]
www.linkedin.com/in/marklgabrielli