For most of my career I was in sales

For most of my career I was in sales. Selling, building pipeline, coaching people to close. I was good at bringing revenue in. I did not really understand how the business was built.

That changed when more of the P&L came my way. I sat with finance for hours, line by line, until it clicked.

Revenue is the headline. It is not the score. What is left after the engine runs, after the cost to serve, the terms, the discounts, the channel cut, that is the score.

A founder told me last year they had their best quarter ever. I asked what it did to the bank account. Long pause.

Once you have run the full number, you never look at a top line the same way again.

What does your best quarter look like after the engine runs?