4 steps to 2X startup growth: RWMC

Many startups are flying blind when trying to grow revenue. It’s understandable; most don’t ever go to college to learn how to run a business in the first place. Most founders build a startup for one of two reasons. One, they want to make money. Period. The other reason is because they’re passionate about solving a problem. Sometimes, it’s both.

Either way, startup founders usually follow a pattern their first time around the block. They burn through cash chasing shiny objects, pivot at the first sign of trouble, and mistake hustle for strategy. The problem is that this chaotic, ego-driven mess often leads to failure.

But what if there was a simple, no-BS way to pinpoint precisely what’s working, what’s broken, and where your real opportunities lie?

Any time you need to refine your focus to reach your revenue goals, this is the real deal. Here’s your practical guide to RWMC: what it is, how to use it, and why you’d want to.

RWMC:  a Bingo Game for Recurring Revenue

Most startups don’t fail because they have a lousy product or service. They fail because they don’t have clarity. RWMC is an exercise that forces you to look at your startup with ruthless objectivity. No fluff. No corporate jargon. No hurt feelings. Just straight-up truth.

RWMC stands for:

• Right – What are we doing well?
• Wrong – What are we doing poorly?
• Missing – What do we lack?
• Confused – What’s unclear or causing uncertainty?

And it’s framed in the lens of RECURRING revenue.  Or else you’re targeting sales OR what feels good.

This isn’t an “everybody gets in a circle, has their say, and sings kumbaya” kind of exercise. When you approach your startup from a data perspective, RWMC becomes a brutally effective diagnostic tool that drives action. It’s designed for startups that need to grow their revenue fast without running in circles to do it.

RWMC Separates Facts from Feelings to Target Revenue Growth 

When startups first launch, it’s easy to rely on intuition and a whirlwind of to-dos. As you grow, revenue operations get more complex. You have to think about marketing campaigns, product enhancements, sales targets, customer retention, and more.

Now you’re drowning in decisions:

• Should we double down on marketing or hire more sales reps?
• Are we focusing too much on new customers and not enough on keeping the ones we have?
• Is our pricing strategy in line with our customers’ willingness to pay?

RWMC cuts through the noise. This exercise helps you prioritize your next moves so you aren’t guessing.  Here’s why it works:

1. It forces prioritization. Since you can’t fix everything at once, RWMC requires you to focus on the most important revenue-impacting areas first.
2. It removes the guesswork. Instead of operating on gut feelings, you categorize every part of your business into what’s working and what needs fixing.
3. It creates accountability. No more vague action plans. RWMC assigns responsibility, so every issue has an owner and a timeline.
4. It aligns the entire company. Everyone sees the same picture and works toward the same goals, regardless of department.
5. Most startups waste time trying to be great at everything. RWMC makes sure you focus on being great at what actually matters.

Revenue Growth Done Right in Three Drafts

RWMC isn’t a theory. It’s a process, and just like any process, there’s a way to do it to get the best results. Here’s how:

The First Draft: Capture Everything

• Open a spreadsheet and create four columns labeled Right, Wrong, Missing, and Confused.
• Get your team to brain-dump their observations into each category.
• Include everything tied to revenue growth: marketing, sales, pricing, customer retention, product adoption, etc.
• Keep it unfiltered. Write down every thought: long paragraphs, quick notes, or even gut feelings. The goal is to capture as much as possible.

Example:

• Right: “We have really solid leads with inbound marketing.”
• Wrong: “Our follow-up time on leads is too slow.”
• Missing: “We don’t have a structured referral program.”
• Confused: “Who owns customer retention? Sales or customer success?”

This is your raw data. It’s messy, honest, and packed with insights.

The Second Draft: Refine and Simplify

1. Condense and simplify the list into clear, actionable points.
2. Group similar ideas together. For example, if multiple people mention problems with lead follow-up, merge them into one clear, focused statement.
3. Identify patterns. If several issues stem from the same root cause (e.g., a weak sales process), flag them as a major priority.

At this stage, your RWMC list should be clear, concise, and directly tied to revenue.

The Third Draft: Make the Results Measurable

Remember, this isn’t a brainstorming exercise. RWMC is a concrete action plan, and the success of those actions should be measurable. We’ve qualified the opportunities; now, we quantify what a good result is. How do you do that?

• Take each bullet point, whether it’s something you’re doing Right or Wrong, or something Missing or Confused, and decide how to quantify progress.
  • Example Metric: Instead of “Our retention sucks,” say, “Increase customer retention from 70% to 85% in the next 6 months.”
• Assign ownership. Who’s going to oversee the item? Who’s responsible for the results? Whether it’s the sales team, marketing department, or the product group, everyone should know their role.
• Set deadlines. As we all know, if it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t get done. If you have some arbitrary deadline (we’ll get that done eventually), you might as well forget it now. Instead, set dates. Our example metric gives us 6 months to raise customer retention by 15%. When we check-in, we have:
  • a metric (customer retention)
  • a focus (15%)
  • and a timeline (6 months)
• Prioritize based on impact. Not all items carry the same weight. First, focus on the items that will significantly affect revenue, such as opportunities with customer retention initiatives.

RWMC Innovates Enterprises with Startup Agility 

A lot of startups only have a couple of people, so RWMCs are just a matter of getting together at a table and working it out. What about once you have several people on your team? What then?

Well, a tool that’s only useful for a short time isn’t much of a tool. RWMC can be used by startups, established businesses, and enterprise-level organizations.

Instead of your five-person team, you’ll send RWMC to each department. Each department will complete the three drafts, and the leaders will bring the findings together. The leaders then:

• Look for overlapping issues or successes across teams.
• Merge similar action items, just like you would for smaller teams. If all your departments say your CTAs are lacking, for example, this is a major red flag.
• Decide which tasks or projects to tackle first based on their direct impact on revenue growth.

This final step keeps everyone moving in the same direction with consistent metrics and goals. It also keeps any department from going down a rabbit hole—like creating a new product feature no one asked for or doubling down on expensive ads that don’t bring qualified leads.

From Insights to Action

Remember, RWMC is not just a brainstorming session—it’s a roadmap for measurable improvement. Turning “feelings” into “figures” is the heart of the process. Here are some tips to ensure that your RWMC exercise translates into actual results:

• Set Realistic Timelines: Break major goals into smaller milestones that can be reviewed weekly or monthly.
• Hold Regular Check-Ins: Revisit the RWMC board to confirm whether items in each column are improving (Right), being fixed (Wrong), addressed (Missing), or clarified (Confused).
• Stay Open to Updates: Your market, customer needs, and internal operations can shift rapidly, especially in a startup. Don’t hesitate to revisit and revise your RWMC columns as new information arises.

RWMC Will Sharpen Your GTM in the Dominican Republic

Dominican startups often begin with big ideas and a can-do spirit. They have talent, grit, and big ideas, but they don’t know the tools for structured growth and revenue strategy. So, they dig fence holes with spoons, while their competitors use Caterpillars.

That’s the problem. RWMC is the beginning of the solution.

Unlike in the U.S., where startups are laser-focused on clear financial goals and precise execution from day one, too many Latin American startups rely on hustle alone. They operate on instinct, letting different team members handle sales, web development, and public relations without a tight strategy to tie everything together.

The result? Unfocused efforts, wasted time, and revenue targets that are more wishful thinking than reality.

RWMC provides a simple, repeatable, strategic advantage that transforms raw effort and a can-do attitude into scalable revenue growth. And if you’re serious about growth, profitability, and long-term sustainability, you need to master the ability to:

• Identify what’s working
• Locate the gaps
• Learn the best way to fill those gaps

RWMC is a powerful exercise that turns scattered conversations into concrete plans. It helps you keep your eyes on the prize—and what’s the prize?

• A growing customer base
• The ability to retain and upsell existing clients
• The knowledge to continuously refine your offerings
• While reducing unnecessary costs.

Final Word: Stop Swinging the Spoon

Latin American startups don’t fail because they don’t have enough talent or put in enough effort. They fail because they’re fighting with the wrong tools.

Whether you’re an early-stage venture or an established startup, RWMC gives you a clear lens to examine your operations. That clarity helps you transform vague hunches into actionable insights.

Get clear on your numbers, optimize your revenue growth, and execute with precision.

The next time you’re unsure why this project is stalling or if that opportunity could have opened a needed door, start with a simple spreadsheet labeled Right, Wrong, Missing, and Confused. You’ll be amazed at how quickly clarity emerges—and how much easier it is to direct resources where they’ll have the greatest revenue impact.

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Jonathan J. Mentor is a renowned revenue scientist, growth strategist, and advocate for underrepresented startups. As the Founder & CEO of Successment, he enables recurring revenue for startups with RevOps Science®.

In 2024, Successment’s #ProvokeVisibility Campaign was nominated in the Dominican Republic for the United Nations World Summit Awards.