Dave Kashen explains the upper limit problem from The Big Leap, the unconscious beliefs that keep founders stuck at revenue ceilings. He argues that scaling requires shifting these internal barriers, not just fixing external business problems.
A lot of founders I work with come to me and they're stuck. They say, why can't I get my business past $500K or $5 million or $50 million in revenue? The issue is they're looking out there with the business. What they're not doing is looking in here. There's a book called The Big Leap, and they mention this concept of the upper limit problem. It's this homeostatic setting we have for how good things can be, how big we can become. And most human beings have such some hidden barrier, some belief about what happens if things get too good, that they'll be struck down, that they'll outshine people in their lives, that they'll be criticized and ridiculed. And so they're unconsciously committed to staying stuck at that level. And only when they address and look at those unconscious beliefs and shift them do they have that breakthrough that they've been wanting to have. So instead of looking out there, look inside yourself and get clear. What is your upper limit and how can you let go of beliefs that are in the way of you breaking through it?
