We analyze mindset, finances, execution, and scalability to unlock real growth. Apply only if you're ready to stop improvising and lead like a true CEO.
Built a $3M Business? Here’s Why It’s Not Scaling
You Don’t Need More Tactics. You Need A Strategic Diagnosis.
A Clear Action Plan to Scale With Confidence, Precision, and Control
Scaling Up Execution
Founders get stuck in every decision, causing chaos. The fix? A clear plan, better systems, & a team that runs without you.
CFO Financial Strategy
Growing without control is like driving blind. You need clear cash flow, strong margins, & smart decisions for lasting growth.
Exponential Thinking
Working harder alone won't get you past $10M. To scale, leverage automation, AI, and smarter business models.
Why Scaling From $3M–$10M
Is The Danger Zone For Founders
Scaling isn’t just about revenue growth.
It’s about transforming how your business runs — and how you lead.
And for most founders, this is where it gets dangerous.
Here’s what the data tells us:
📉 96% of businesses never grow beyond $1M
📉 Only 4% ever reach $10M+
📉 Founders who don’t evolve their systems and leadership hit a wall — then burn out or stall
📉 Most growing companies hit their first real crisis around 50 people or ~$5M–$10M in revenue — and fail to break through because their systems haven’t caught up with their scale
This Is The $3M – $10M Trap:
- You have a team — but you’re still the bottleneck
- You’re growing — but cash is inconsistent
- You’ve done everything right — but something still feels off
And the truth? Most founders try to scale with the same mindset, structure, and habits
that got them to $3M — and that’s exactly what keeps them stuck.
But when you shift into strategic CEO mode — and align vision, systems, cash flow, and
execution — scaling becomes repeatable.
The 4 Shifts Every $3M – $10M Founder Needs
To Scale Beyond Survival
Uncover the execution, cash, or team constraints limiting your scale — and walk away with a clear, strategic roadmap tailored to your next growth stage.
Diagnose where your leadership model needs to evolve. Step out of the weeds and into the role of a focused, strategic CEO with a team you can trust.
See exactly where your time and cash are leaking — and identify smarter systems, better delegation, and high-leverage fixes to reclaim momentum.
Ensure your growth is not just tactical — but meaningful. We reconnect your business model with your long-term vision, values, and purpose so scaling feels aligned and intentional.
What Makes The Strategic Growth Audit Different
Most growth programs treat the symptoms — more hires, more marketing, more hustle.
But real scale starts with clarity — and clarity only comes from diagnosis.
The Strategic Growth Audit reveals what's actually keeping your business stuck across the 4 pillars
of scale— so you can move forward with confidence, precision, and control.
& Mindset
We connect your long-term vision to how you're actually leading — exposing the hidden disconnect between who you are today and who your business needs you to become next.
We diagnose exactly where execution is breaking down — misaligned teams, inconsistent KPIs, unclear priorities — and ground everything in actionable next steps.
We audit your financial infrastructure to give you clear cash flow visibility and margin control — so every strategic move is backed by numbers, not guesswork.
We surface where your time, team, and tools are under-optimized — revealing delegation gaps, missed automation, and systems that need redesigning before you scale.
Why Start Here?
"You cannot scale chaos.
You cannot scale uncertainty.
You can only scale what is clear,
aligned, and ready."
Before scaling with clarity, profitability, and freedom, you need a complete picture of where you are — and where the real obstacles are hiding.
The Strategic Growth Audit is Phase 1 of the Ascend Growth Pathway. It gives you the clarity and alignment to build from a solid foundation — not assumptions.
What You Achieve On The Ascend Growth Pathway™
The Ascend Growth Pathway helps you scale beyond $10M — not by working harder, but by designing a
business that grows without chaos, founder burnout, or fragile systems.
Through three powerful phases, we
unlock the four outcomes every founder needs to scale with clarity, confidence, and control:
4 Core Components Of The Strategic Growth Audit
Deep-Dive Interviews
We begin with targeted interviews across five dimensions: your mindset, financial visibility, systems, strategy, and team dynamics. This is where the real bottlenecks surface — not just operationally, but in how you're thinking and leading.
Guided Reflections & Founder Self-Work
Between sessions, you'll complete structured exercises designed to help you see your role differently — where you're still in the weeds, what you're tolerating, and what needs to shift for the next version of your business to emerge.
Hands-On Workshop with Your Team
We facilitate a live working session with your leadership team to align on gaps, surface operational friction, and establish clear execution priorities. This isn't just diagnosis — it's buy-in and action.
Blueprint Review & Strategic Planning
You'll receive a custom Scaling Blueprint built from everything we uncover — and we'll walk through it together. We'll challenge your assumptions, prioritize the next 90 days, and define the path to sustainable scale.
" Scaling isn't just about adding revenue.
Scaling is about expanding leadership, installing financial intelligence, building strategic moats, and multiplying impact — without losing your soul."
"The Strategic Growth Audit gives you the clarity to begin that journey — intelligently, strategically, and sustainably.
PRICING
Your Investment
Is This Right For You?
You've built a real business — $3M+, a team, loyal customers — but scaling feels heavier, not easier.
You’re still pulled into the weeds every day.
Cash flow feels tight, even with solid revenue.
Your team is busy — but still leans on you for every decision.
And deep down, you're wondering:
"Can we really grow…
without breaking me or
the business?"
This is for you if:
- ▼ You’re planning to scale, but stuck in daily operations
- ▼ You’re stressed about cash flow, margins, or financial blind spots
- ▼ You want a self-managing team — but don’t know how to build one
- ▼ You’re committed to both purpose and profit — and not willing to sacrifice either
Ready to see what's possible when your leadership, systems, and vision align?
Why Do the Audit?
✅ The Audit ensures that everything built in Foundations and Scaling Up Implementation is grounded in reality, not assumptions.
✅ It prevents wasting time, money, or energy scaling broken systems.
✅ It sets you up to scale with precision and soul—aligned to your deepest vision and highest potential.
Ideal Timing
The Strategic Growth Audit is perfect if you are:
- ● Preparing for aggressive scaling but feeling bottlenecked operationally
- ● Experiencing cash flow strain, leadership overwhelm, or stagnant margins
- ● Ready to create a more self-managing company but unclear where to start
- ● Committed to building a company aligned with both financial strength and mission-driven purpose
How to Get Started
Schedule a 20-minute Strategy Call — to confirm mutual fit and answer any questions.
Engage in the Strategic Growth Audit — 2–3 weeks, with guided document review, leadership interviews, and a final Blueprint presentation.
Receive Your Customized Scaling Blueprint — with actionable next steps, whether you continue with us or not.
Ready to see what’s possible when your leadership, systems, and vision align?
What Happens After the Audit?
If we’re the right fit, you’ll have the opportunity to implement the Scaling Blueprint with us through a full foundation and Scaling Up Execution program
— guiding you through 12 months of transformation.
But first, we get clear.
First, we diagnose.
First, we align.
MEET YOUR SCALING UP PARTNER
I’m Cruz, founder of Ascend Growth Ventures
Founder of Ascend Growth Ventures, blends 20 years of corporate finance experience leading billion-dollar strategies at GE with the lessons of building a startup from scratch.
Today, he helps founders stuck between $3M and $10M in revenue become strategic CEOs.
His approach combines Scaling Up, exponential thinking, and CFO-level financial discipline to scale not just the business — but the leader behind it.
TESTIMONIALS
Real Results from Scaling CEOs
“Helped Us Scale to Multiple Eight Figures”
Bobby Suarez
CEO, Sell to Bobby
Cruz Gamboa is an exceptional Scaling Up coach with extensive CFO experience. He has been instrumental in scaling our real estate investment business to multiple eight figures by enhancing our forecasting, business intelligence, and core values.
“Helped us zero in on what truly matters”
Rich Cohen
President & CEO of Elevate Packaging
Cruz’s strategic guidance and financial expertise have been pivotal in scaling Elevate Packaging to new heights, aligning our mission to eliminate plastic waste with effective business operations. His empowerment has been instrumental in our growth.
Strategic Growth Audit – Frequently Asked Questions
1️⃣ What exactly is the Strategic Growth Audit?
It’s a 4-week diagnostic that uncovers what's blocking your next level of growth. We evaluate your business across four key pillars—Vision, Financials, Strategy, and Leverage—and deliver a clear roadmap to scale beyond $3M–$10M+ with confidence.
2️⃣ Who is this for?
Founders of purpose-driven businesses doing $3M–$10M+ in revenue who feel stuck in complexity, are unsure how to scale next, or want to align strategy, cash, and execution for their next growth leap.
3️⃣ What areas of my business will you assess?
We evaluate four critical pillars:
✅ Vision & Mindset – Are you aligned, clear, and thinking 10x?
✅ Financial Infrastructure – Cash flow, pricing, margins, reporting.
✅ Strategy & Execution – Scaling Up frameworks, team design, accountability.
✅ Intelligent Leverage – Systems, automation, AI, and scalable workflows.
4️⃣ Who performs the audit?
I lead the audit personally—but I also bring in a AI systems expert and other experts to dive deep where needed. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all review—it’s a high-impact, cross-functional diagnostic.
5️⃣ Is this just coaching or is there a deliverable?
You’ll receive a Clarity Blueprint—a tailored scaling roadmap with clear priorities across the four pillars. Plus, you get 30 days of async support to ask questions, refine thinking, or explore execution options.
6️⃣ What if I already use EOS or Scaling Up?
Great—this will help you go deeper. Many clients come in using one of those frameworks but still feel stuck. This audit uncovers the hidden gaps in financial visibility, strategy, or leverage that aren’t addressed in basic implementations.
7️⃣ How much time will this require from me?
Expect 3-4 one-hour sessions over 4 weeks, plus around 2–3 hours to gather key inputs. We make it lean and laser-focused, so you get clarity without overwhelm.
8️⃣ What if I don’t implement the recommendations?
That’s up to you—but most clients start seeing results just from acting on a few high-leverage moves. We give you the blueprint. How fast you act is your call.
9️⃣ What if I don’t get value from the audit?
If you engage fully and feel the audit didn’t deliver clarity or insight, I’ll either keep working with you at no extra cost—or apply your fee toward another service. I stand behind the value.
🔟 What happens after the audit?
You can implement solo—or work with me further through coaching, implementation, or Strategic CFO services. There’s no pressure—just a path if you want deeper support.
