Zooming in on growth for early-stage companies, this summer
Prioritising early-stage growth by solving, not just selling — with the right channels and a clear path to profitability. Some nuggets for founders.
“But everyone’s on LinkedIn!”
Maybe — but that’s not the same as saying your buyers are.
If you’re an early-stage founder deciding where to focus your limited time, budget, and energy, it’s worth zooming in. Here’s what Estee Chaikin and 4WARD CMO, Mehak Chowdhary encourage founders to ask before defaulting to LinkedIn cold outreach:
👉 Is your actual buyer spending time here?
👉 Are they engaging with brands like yours — or just scrolling?
👉 How are you building trust — not just visibility — in a crowded feed?
In a recent 4WARD.earth webinar on growing climate and sustainability ventures, they shared a better question:
“Is your ICP on LinkedIn?” is outdated.
“Where exactly are they making decisions — and how can you show up there differently?” is what really matters.
Have you built a Channel-Audience-Messaging (CAM) Matrix?
Climate and Sustainability - is your product building a new category?
If you’re building something new — a category, a mindset, a shift in how sustainability is done — talk to people. Especially early on. A lot of founders hesitate to go to market without a finished product. But in those first 12–18 months while the product is in being developed, you're not selling the product — you're selling the problem and your distinct way of framing it or solving it.
As a guest on Pascal Mason’s “Products for Impact” podcast, Mehak discusses a 3-step traction framework for early-stage companies.
3Ms of Go-To-Market readiness: Mindset, Motion, and Momentum
Mindset: Category creation comes into play here
Motion: From 100 sign ups to 1000, or from pilot to paying customer
Momentum: Momentum is what the market gives you back
The Scaling Paradox: Staying on mission and hitting market viability
4WARD founder and CEO, Matt Ward brings up something that should be on every founder’s radar: the tension between purpose and profit, what he calls the Scaling Paradox.
How do you keep your mission intact while doing what it takes to survive the market?
Because scaling isn’t just about “more.” It’s about being measurable — and brutally honest with what your numbers are telling you.
👉 CAC doesn’t magically decline: it gets managed, or it gets expensive
👉 Not all revenue is created equal: watch your margins early
👉 Track contribution margin, payback periods, or carbon impact per dollar: Not all of them, and not just top-line growth
It’s easy to stay “mission-driven” when you’re small. But the real test is whether your model scales with integrity — and without delusion.
About 4WARD.earth's Climate & Sustainability Consulting Services
Leveraging the world's largest climate professional community, 4WARD Consulting delivers specialized expertise to accelerate climate action.
Our services include:
For Startups: Fundraising support, grant navigation, go-to-market and growth
For Corporates: ESG strategy, net zero roadmaps, climate disclosure, LCAs
For NGOs: Partnership development, impact measurement, resilience planning