An open measurement standard
Results are measured. Commercial capability is harder to see.
A measure of whether a company can win and keep customers, and what’s stopping it. It indicates the stage and root cause behind the constraint, points to a relevant support category where needed, and can be taken again after at least 90 days to show movement before it appears in the accounts.
The method is published in full. Read it, check the arithmetic and run it yourself.
Growth Score shows what to fix and what changes over time.
Illustrative only: 198 companies in a programme, not observed figures. Our current counts appear below.
Current state
Counts as at 30 July 2026, excluding test and duplicate records. Thirty-one measurements are enough to illustrate a company-level result. They are not enough to compare companies reliably, so no peer benchmark is published. The threshold for publishing one is set out in the method.
The problem
Activity is counted early. Outcomes arrive late. The commercial middle is harder to see.
At the front, the attendance register: applications, attendees and companies supported. It tells you who arrived and what was delivered, but not whether commercial capability changed.
At the back, the accounts: revenue, headcount and survival. They are real outcomes, but often arrive after the relevant decision and do not show what to work on next.
Between them is the missing middle: where commercial capability can be measured while there is still time to act.
Counted at the front
- Applications received
- Companies supported
- Attendees and introductions
- Workshops completed
Useful for reporting activity. It does not show whether commercial capability changed.
Counted at the back
- Revenue
- Jobs
- Funding raised
- Survival
Real outcomes. They do not, on their own, show what to work on next.
The missing middle
- Can the company create qualified demand?
- Does it know who it is selling to and why they should buy?
- Can it progress and close a deal?
- Is the way of working repeatable?
- Is commercial capability producing movement?
Measurable now, while there is still time to act.
Why the method is public
The method is published so it can be inspected.
The method is published in full: the questions, scales, arithmetic, version record and conformance tests can be read and checked before an organisation relies on it.
- You can read every question and scale before anyone answers one.
- You can reproduce the arithmetic by hand from the published rules.
- You can verify determinism yourself against our public test vectors.
- You can check any deployment against the version it claims to run.
- What stays ours is the diagnostic library, the routing, and the register of who has been measured.
The model
Four stages, four root causes, sixteen cells.
A company answers 37 questions: 32 on what it has built and 5 on whether it is producing output now. The answers populate the grid below.
The stages show where a constraint appears. The root causes indicate the underlying discipline. The two views answer different questions. Select a cell to see the worked example.
The 16-cell structure is fixed. The questions that populate it adapt to the company’s business model and one of three maturity levels. A subscription software company and a direct-to-consumer brand may therefore provide different evidence. See how that works.
| Demand | Sales Process | Closing | Expand |
|---|
Values shown are the worked example published in the method. Darker cells indicate lower scores.
Each cell is scored from two questions on a five-point scale. The stage score is the average of its column and the root-cause score is the average of its row.
The two halves
What you’ve built, and whether it’s running.
The headline score combines two separate measures. The gap between them can be more useful than the headline itself.
Capability is the engine: what the company has built and can evidence. Thirty-two questions populate the sixteen cells above.
Momentum is whether that capability is producing output now. Five questions assess current output against the conditions the company needs to meet.
A single average can hide the distinction. A company scoring 70 on capability and 30 on momentum has a different operating problem from one scoring 30 and 70; both measures remain visible.
| Capability | Momentum | Possible reading |
|---|---|---|
| Low | Low | Capability and momentum are both low. Start with one stage and establish the basics. |
| Low | High | Output is present, but may depend on effort rather than a repeatable system. |
| High | Low | Capability is in place, but current output is low. Check who inspects the work and how often. |
| High | High | Capability and output are both strong. Focus shifts to durability, retention and expansion. |
Both measures are reported separately on every result and tracked again at the rescore.
What a company receives
Eight minutes in. This out.
Not a percentage and a suggestion to try harder. A position, the stage where the problem shows up, the cause underneath it, and the first thing to do about it.
The same company-level result can feed the aggregate report an institution licenses. One result, two reporting uses.
From result to support
Two ways to act on a diagnosis.
Some results point to work the company can carry out itself. Where the licensed action layer is in use, it provides three specific actions, each with an owner, a date and evidence to review at the next measurement. Where a person is needed, the result indicates a support category. The loop is measure, act, record evidence and rescore.
Some work needs a person. In that case, the stage and indicated root cause point to a support category. The institution chooses the provider from its own provision, and the company receives the relevant route. The institution keeps its providers; Growth Score does not name or select one.
This helps an institution distinguish between work the company can take on and support a person may provide. The report records the route selected and what preceded the next measurement. It does not establish that the action or intervention caused the movement.
- Measure. 37 questions, about eight minutes, free to the company
- Diagnose. The stage where the constraint appears and the root cause indicated by the answers
- Fix. Actions the company can take, with an owner, a date and evidence to review
- Route. Where a person is needed, to the relevant support category and institution-selected provision
- Rescore. Movement reported alongside the action or intervention that preceded it
Routing indicates a support category. It does not ration support or make an eligibility decision.
What licensees receive
Which customers are building capability
A dated view for each customer, before the financial outcome appears.
Public bodiesMovement, not throughput
One instrument across delivery partners, so movement can be compared across programmes.
UniversitiesEvidence for the next bid
A baseline at intake and a rescore at exit, reported by cohort and year.
InvestorsPortfolio movement
The same instrument at agreed intervals, starting with the portfolio baseline.
Take the measure. It is free to the company.
About eight minutes, with no obligation. The company receives its result whether or not it later speaks with a provider.