The SVC Growth Framework, developed by Strategic Venture Consulting, offers a systematic approach to planning and executing growth initiatives in any industry, focusing on ROI and risk management. It emphasizes understanding customer needs, assessing internal capabilities, and developing targeted strategies while identifying potential risks and opportunities. This framework aims to enhance business performance by aligning market offers with customer expectations and streamlining operations.

1. Growth Framework
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2. The SVC Growth Framework has been developed and validated in
software and IP-based industries, but the driving principles are
relevant for any industry.
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2SVC Growth Framework 0713a © StrategicVentureConsulting 2012-2-13 all rights reserved

3. ROI.
• Growth is about ROI – magnitude and timing.
Growth other than profit growth can reduce
company value.
• Risk/return profile of shareholders and
investors determines growth goal and strategy
boundaries. Discuss early & often.
Growth is risky, but no growth is riskier.
3SVC Growth Framework 0713a © StrategicVentureConsulting 2012-2-13 all rights reserved

4. Delivered
Values vs.
Competition
Market Offers
vs.
Competition
Customer
Needs
Time for
Effective
Action
Financial
Resources
Team
Strengths
& Weaknesses
Growth Framework Links External and Internal
Customer assessment,
targeting, strategy
Benefits, Advantages,
Functions, Features
Packaging, pricing,
communications,
partnerships
Assessment, training,
recruiting
Business planning, risk
assessment and
management
Market Intelligence
4SVC Growth Framework 0713a © StrategicVentureConsulting 2012-2-13 all rights reserved

5. Set Growth Targets
• How much growth
can you afford?
• What is your
risk/reward profile?
• What are the
opportunity costs?
Investment Margin contribution
Time
$$$
Financial Performance of Growth Initiative
5SVC Growth Framework 0713a © StrategicVentureConsulting 2012-2-13 all rights reserved

6. Assess Customer Needs Trends
• Review “Lessons Learned.”
• Develop possible alternative growth initiative scenarios.
• Get close/r to target customers and explore detail
assumptions.
 Validate and iterate
How “close” or “different” a new customer profile is from your
current customer profile drives costs of understanding and
delivering to their needs.
6SVC Growth Framework 0713a © StrategicVentureConsulting 2012-2-13 all rights reserved

7. Assess Internal Assets and Liabilities
• Agree on industry/market KPIs and
benchmarks
Product Development and Delivery
Marketing and Sales Enablement
Customer Success
Finance and Operations
• Review each function in context of Strength,
Weakness, Opportunity, Threat
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8. Decide on a Growth Strategy
• Choose the one with the highest expected ROI
consistent with risk/return guidelines and timeframe.
Use discussion guides such as Lean Canvas business
model approach.
Talking about “product” blurs an important distinction between
promises (offers to the market that you can already fulfill) and
fulfillment (value delivered to the market enabling new promises).
Each market offer and value-delivered has its own risk/return
profile; each needs to be evaluated and then aggregated in a
practical initiative. Some growth initiatives do not require value-
delivered changes, but all value-delivered changes should drive
new or modified promises - market offers.
8SVC Growth Framework 0713a © StrategicVentureConsulting 2012-2-13 all rights reserved

9. Develop Focused Business Plans
• Model each initiative over three investment phases:
preparatory, delivery, sustaining
Itemize value deliverables, model investment
Itemize market offers, model investment
Itemize requirements on team including competencies and
opportunity costs with current profit-producing initiatives
Establish success criteria, metrics and milestones
Qualify and quantify critical risks
9SVC Growth Framework 0713a © StrategicVentureConsulting 2012-2-13 all rights reserved

10. Select and Execute Growth Initiative
• Compare risk/return profiles of alternative initiatives.
• Choose initiative and set go/no-go risk criteria.
• Periodically track and re-plan vs. goals and criteria.
Growth = Change Management. Better to have the whole team well
coordinated to understand, drive and support a good initiative than
have a disjointed team working on one or more perfect initiative/s.
10SVC Growth Framework 0713a © StrategicVentureConsulting 2012-2-13 all rights reserved

11. Growth Failures
Delivered
Values vs.
Competition
Market Offers
vs.
Competition
Customer
Needs
Time for
Effective
Action
Financial
Resources
Team
Strengths
& Weaknesses
Unclear target, not close
enough to customers,
assessment lacking rigor
Failure to deliver to need
in quality, quantity or time
Unrealistic ROI goal,
Changing market conditions
Misread of market
Misread of competitive
strength/weakness,
Team design problems
Under-estimate risk,
change in committed
financing
11SVC Growth Framework 0713a © StrategicVentureConsulting 2012-2-13 all rights reserved

12. Keys to Reducing Growth Risk
• Systematic process integrating assessment, strategy, team
development and execution to reach goals within company
guidelines
• Sharp/er focus
• Simple/r plan
• Test, iterate and scale investments, especially fixed costs
12SVC Growth Framework 0713a © StrategicVentureConsulting 2012-2-13 all rights reserved

13. How SVC Can Help
• Systematic approach to planning and executing
growth initiatives for higher ROI at lower risk
 Market
 Product/Technology
 Team/Skills
• Been-there, done-that experience base to
anticipate problems instead of clean up after
• Hands-on capability to jumpstart, bridge and help
fill key team roles
13SVC Growth Framework 0713a © StrategicVentureConsulting 2012-2-13 all rights reserved

14. About SVC
Bob Kimball developed SVC’s Growth Framework during his career as a software/internet, IP-based and Engineerd-
Products executive. Starting as an electronic design engineer, Bob’s interests shifted to marketing and software based
on his conviction that well-conceived and marketed software has the power to greatly improve the effectiveness of
business and the quality of people’s daily lives. Bob received an MBA in Marketing from UCLA’s Anderson School of
Business and a Product Management position at Hewlett-Packard and has been an avid continuing student of software
and human behavior since.
Bob’s experience and perspective on keys to successful growth derive from serving in roles including product manager,
product line manager, marketing director, business director, VP Marketing, VP Sales and Marketing, VP Business
Development, Chief Technology Officer, President and CEO in companies ranging from venture-backed early stage
ventures to F1000 including Hewlett-Packard.
Some of the results Bob has achieved by applying the principles underlying SVC’s Framework for Growth:
• Increased software sales run-rate from $4MM to $16MM in three years and repositioned company to support sale
• Reversed declining software business unit, growing sales from $20MM to $30MM in one year by focusing value
delivery and market offer together
• Saved and rebuilt crash+burn software startup to profitability in 18 months, taking run rate from almost zero to
$5MM by focusing market offers and streamlining sales and service
• Developed two strategic new product lines with small outsource team, one progressing from concept to delivery in
less than six months, leading to sale to pre-IPO company
• Saved a failing venture backed software startup by changing market offer and reducing burn rate, achieving
profitability in nine months.
• Doubled clean tech company sales from $4MM to $8MM in one year by focusing the strategy and the team
• Saved venture-backed SaaS software company at nadir of dot-bust by improving value delivery and market offer
clarity
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15. Contact
15SVC Growth Framework 0112a © StrategicVentureConsulting 2012 all rights reserved
SVC is based in San Francisco, California.
Reach us by phone/txt: 415.504.2564
Email: bob@strategicventureconsulting.com
Skype: robert_r_kimball