Each driver pushes on one thing: competitive position. Invest in the right combination, in the right order, and they compound into a defensible moat.
Hover or tap any driver for what it means.
Competitive position is the single thing every driver acts on. A company exists to earn returns above its cost of capital, which in practice means sustainable margins and unit economics: each new dollar of revenue is worth more than it costs to win and to keep. Growth compounds only when a move strengthens that position, so the six drivers are worth pursuing in the combination and order that builds it.
Products are the differentiation driver: fit between product and market, velocity, quality, and innovation. A differentiated product expands demand, supports pricing power, and opens adjacent segments, and it is usually where an early company's advantage begins. AI has lowered the cost of building, so the harder test now is differentiation rather than code.
Markets are where you choose to compete: new segments, verticals, geographies, and customer types, meaning your ideal customer profile (ICP) and its adjacencies. A larger addressable market gives an advantage you already hold more room to run. Expansion multiplies your existing unit economics, however, so it scales a weakness as fast as it scales revenue.
Partnerships provide reach and credibility you do not own yet: integrations, ecosystems, channels, and buyer communities. A credible partner lends trust a young company has not yet earned, which matters most in the early stages. Ecosystem and community partnerships tend to suit that stage, whereas channel partners serve existing demand rather than create it.
Business and pricing models are how you package, measure, and charge: freemium, charging by seat or usage, tiered, bundled, marketplace, platform, or product-led growth (PLG). Pricing flows almost entirely to margin and can open new segments faster than any other driver. It is also among the cheapest drivers to change, since designing the right model is a matter of analysis rather than capital.
Business processes are how work actually gets done, and they are the most sustainable source of margin because they live in systems and culture rather than in a single feature a competitor can copy. AI tooling has made automation and analytics affordable for small firms. That change turns process design into a driver that delivers high return at low cost, and one of the most overlooked.
Financing is how growth gets funded: retained cash flow, venture capital, debt, financing repaid as a share of revenue, and, in Canada, government funding that costs no equity, such as SR&ED tax credits and IRAP contributions. Financing creates no advantage on its own. It sets how fast and how far you can press every other driver, and how much control and margin for error you keep.
Figure 2: Dimensions of Growth