SC 019 — Squarely’s Squares: Gathering the Puzzle Pieces for Growth

Summary

Applies multiple business frameworks to structure Squarely as a real company. Uses EOS (Right People, Right Seats) to identify that two people need to fill eight organizational positions. Adopts Dan Sullivan’s front-stage/back-stage theater metaphor over traditional profit/cost center language. Maps Jobs To Be Done across six departments. Advocates growth loops over linear funnels for balancing acquisition, retention, and monetization.

Key Arguments

• Two founders, eight seats — honest assessment of capability gaps, especially marketing
• Front-stage (Marketing, Product, Customer Success) vs. back-stage (Operations, Finance, Data) avoids marginalizing support teams
• Growth loops create compounding competitive advantage; the faster the loop spins, the stronger the moat
• Frameworks are organizational “squares” — building blocks, not bureaucracy

Writing Style Notes

Framework-heavy but applied to a specific, small business context rather than theoretical. Honest about personal limitations (“there are many more qualified people than me for that seat”). The puzzle metaphor threads through — the frameworks themselves are puzzle pieces.

Connections

• 01-projects/squarely-puzzles/index — directly about structuring the Squarely business
• 01-projects/newsletter/index — part of the Sanity Check body of work
• 06-reference/2026-04-03-growth-loops-new-funnels — explicit application of the growth loops framework
• 06-reference/2026-04-03-the-e-myth-revisited — EOS/systems thinking for small businesses