THE TRAPPED GROWTH INTENSIVE
Turn an underused asset into a real commercial opportunity in 15 business days.
In 15 business days, we uncover one underused asset inside your company, build a commercial opportunity around it, and launch the first real market test with your team. $30,000 USD upfront. Done with your team.
Download the Written OfferFounder Results
Our team has built and exited companies, repositioned businesses, developed new commercial motions, and turned existing capabilities, relationships and market access into revenue. This offer is new. The work is not.
Insurance Technology
The asset was an existing offer and the commercial capability to deliver it. We refined the rollout strategy and offer positioning, and brought on a BDR who booked and handled appointments. Live sales activity began within roughly two and a half weeks. Over the following three months, the company generated more than $250,000 in additional revenue. Our work contributed through positioning and sales execution.
Healthcare Staffing
The company already had an experienced staffing team, customer accounts and the capability to serve healthcare organizations. We helped sharpen its commercial narrative, account strategy and growth path during six months of exit preparation and repositioning. The company added more than $2 million in topline revenue, and the acquisition offer multiple moved from 1.5x to 4.5x. Multiple factors contributed to these results.
Technology Services and Staffing
The company already had technical delivery capacity and established customer relationships. We helped develop and pressure-test a commercial channel for that capability, including a route through investment funds and their portfolio companies. Over 12 months of implementation, the company added approximately $2 million in topline revenue. Our contribution was channel development and commercial execution alongside the company’s team; multiple factors contributed to the growth.
Insurance Sales Team
We brought in nine sales development representatives (SDRs) for an insurance sales team in three weeks, adding prospecting and appointment setting capacity to support the team’s commercial execution.
Insurance Distribution
The business already had carrier relationships, licensed producers and an operating support platform. The underused asset was that existing distribution and delivery capacity. We identified how a front end growth channel could put it to work, developed the commercial plan, mapped the people, tools and producer handoffs, and built the cost budget. The result was a concrete, budgeted path to activate the asset, with a defined first test and criteria for further investment.
These are our accounts of earlier engagements, over the timeframes stated, with multiple factors contributing. They are not results from this new Intensive or forecasts for another company. Before you decide, you can ask for a conversation with a past client about what we did, how the work ran and what changed. We arrange the introduction with their consent and availability.
Request a past-client referenceWhy We Do This
I spent five years building a service business by finding more value in the customers, capabilities and relationships already in place. Finding that value, figuring out what it could become and putting it to work is something I enjoy and know how to do.
I also want university students to have access to meaningful paid work, coaching and real responsibility, the kind of opportunity I wish I had. Hicks Channel Integration was built around that ambition.
Trapped Growth starts inside the company. We find an underused asset, build a commercial opportunity around it and put it into the market. Where that work creates a need for the kind of implementation HCI provides, the two can work together.
How the Work Connected to Implementation
With an insurance technology company, we used the Trapped Asset offer to develop a commercial opportunity and move it into action. We then used Hicks Channel Integration to bring a team member into the implementation. We have already carried out that commercial handoff.
Some Trapped Growth clients may never need HCI. The Intensive stands on its own and includes launching the first market test with the client’s team. Any HCI implementation is separately scoped when it fits the work.
Our goal is to help 1,000 companies unlock $100,000 or more from assets they already own, and to create meaningful opportunities for young people where the resulting work can support them. This is the ambition for the work ahead, not a past result or a guarantee for any company.
The Opportunity
Your customers already pay you for something valuable. Along the way, you have built expertise, processes, customer insight and relationships that may be worth more than the way you currently sell them.
Hiring more salespeople does not resolve an underused asset that buyers can’t see.
Building another product or pipeline adds work before you know whether someone will buy it.
A promising idea goes nowhere when the team cannot explain who would buy it, what gets sold or why it is worth doing.
Existing customers, capabilities and relationships may have value beyond the way the business currently uses them.
An existing asset can become a new offer, a customer expansion opportunity, a license, a bundle, a channel, a distribution relationship, a referral system, a partnership or a direct sale. We choose the route after understanding the asset and the buyer.
The task is to find that asset, put a commercial offer and delivery model around it, and launch a real market test. We do that work with you.
Who It’s For
Founders, sales, and commercial leaders in US B2B companies doing $1M to $10M in annual revenue, with product-market fit and growth that has stalled. Our primary focus is majority founder-owned businesses, including companies funded no later than seed.
You have real customers who value what the business does, and evidence of the problems you solve.
You want to pursue an opportunity with meaningful commercial potential and teach your team how to repeat the work. We look for a credible path to $100,000 or more in first year revenue, as a selection criterion, not a promised result.
You bring decision authority, useful information, access to the relevant people and resources, and capacity to launch a test. Plan for about 50 combined client team hours. You do not need to arrive with a selected asset or a warm introduction.
Every Obstacle is an Opportunity
These are the reasons a valuable asset stays underused. Each has a response built into the work we do together.
We already sell everything valuable.
Look at what makes the customer outcome possible. The Unfair Advantage Audit examines capabilities, insight and relationships that are bundled into your current offer or used only inside the business.
Our advantage is not unique enough.
Find the buyer for whom it changes the economics. Offer Development connects the asset to a specific costly problem. Commercial Route and Buyer Assessment identifies who needs that capability and how to reach them.
We have too many possible opportunities.
Choose one using evidence. The Unfair Advantage Audit compares customer need, access, economics and delivery capacity. We choose the strongest opportunity and agree what to stop pursuing.
The product is not finished.
Start with what you can deliver now. Offer Development defines a useful paid outcome around an existing capability. Activation Planning separates what is ready from anything needed to run the first test.
This will distract us from our core business.
Use the strength your business already has. Commercial Economics tests capacity, cost and fit with existing operations. We work on one opportunity, with named owners and a clear limit on the initial scope.
We cannot explain what someone would buy.
Give the buyer a clear offer. Offer Development produces the customer outcome, scope, price and proposal. Your team can take a concrete commercial proposition into the market.
We do not know the right people.
Choose a route the company can credibly activate. Commercial Route and Buyer Assessment prioritizes up to ten relevant targets. Market Outreach Preparation connects the approach to their needs. A warm introduction is not required.
Our sales conversations go nowhere.
Make each conversation earn a decision. Live Meeting Facilitation and Evidence Review and Refinement turn the discussion into a clear next action, an owner and a date, or a decision to stop.
Turn the Remaining Obstacles into Action
We are not ready to lead a commercial conversation.
Learn through the live opportunity. The Implementation Workshops prepare your team to explain the offer, question assumptions and handle objections. Rylie supports the first relevant accepted market meeting when it is part of the test.
New opportunities take months to get moving.
Launch a focused first test. Activation Planning makes responsibilities, approvals and dependencies visible. Market Test Launch puts the opportunity in front of the market so the next decision can use actual evidence.
People want free work before committing.
Define the value exchange and limits before expanding delivery. Offer Development makes the buyer outcome and scope clear. Activation Planning sets the first test and the commitment needed for further work.
Our salespeople will not prioritize the offer.
Give the team a clear reason and a usable approach. Commercial Economics makes the value and delivery requirements explicit. The Team Playbook explains the buyer, offer and next action in language the team can use.
The economics are unclear.
Make the costs and potential return explicit. Commercial Economics models price, selling and delivery costs, capacity and any channel or partner share relevant to the selected route.
The wrong route could damage our reputation.
Check the buyer, delivery fit and commitments before expanding. Commercial Route and Buyer Assessment and Activation Planning expose dependencies while the first test remains limited in scope.
We cannot afford another growth hire.
Build the capability in the team you have. Implementation Workshops and Capability Transfer develop the founder or commercial lead while we do the work. The Team Playbook carries the method into the next opportunity.
Our team will not know how to repeat it.
Teach the reasoning while building the first opportunity. Capability Transfer requires your lead to explain the offer, check the economics and lead a rehearsal. The Team Playbook records what changed and how to refine the next test.
The Solution
By the end of the Intensive, your company will have the following seven deliverables. We guarantee the agreed work and launch of the first test. Demand, buyer decisions and revenue remain outcomes to validate.
- One priority underused asset identified, selected from the capabilities, customer knowledge, relationships, distribution, IP, positioning or infrastructure the company already owns.
- A commercially defensible opportunity built around that asset, with its assumptions explicit.
- The buyer, use case, value and economics defined, including pricing, direct costs and delivery capacity.
- A commercialization route selected for its fit with the asset, buyer and available resources.
- The required offer or activation materials built for the selected route.
- A real market test launched with your team, using the agreed scope and audience.
- Clear evidence and decision criteria for what happens next, including whether to continue, revise or stop.
The 15 business day clock starts at the first working session after readiness is confirmed. The scope covers one selected opportunity and its first real market test.
The Three Phases
1 Unfair Advantage Audit
Use A.S.S.E.T.: Asset, Specific problem, Sponsor, Economics and Test. Surface assets from the company’s capabilities, customer evidence and existing resources.
2 Asset Selection
Select one asset using buyer need, economics, rights, delivery capacity and the fastest credible route to a test.
3 Offer Development
Define the buyer, outcome, scope and reason to buy. Build the first offer around the chosen asset.
4 Economics and Route
Model price, costs and capacity. Select the commercialization route and document the assumptions that need testing.
5 Activation Materials
Build the required proposal, messages and other materials. Prepare the team to present the opportunity and make the next decision.
6 Market Test Launch
Put the selected test into the market with named owners, an agreed audience, scope and decision criteria.
7 Evidence Review
Review responses and other evidence. Record what changed, what remains unknown and whether to continue, revise or stop.
8 Capability Transfer
Your lead explains the economics, practices the next conversation and owns the playbook and next action plan.
Five 90 minute working sessions support Surface, Structure and Activate. Research, writing, activation preparation and market activity take place around them. Each phase develops your team’s ability to lead the next one.
What You Get
You get the method, the work to build the opportunity, hands on support to launch the first market test, and the capability to do it again. Everything below is included in the engagement.
The Trapped Growth Method and Toolkit
You learn the method on your own business. The A.S.S.E.T. worksheet examines the Asset, Specific problem, Sponsor, Economics and Test. The conversation guide gives you the questions to ask. The decision and action log keeps the commercial work moving.
Understand what each step is for, what evidence matters and what decision comes next.
Use the tools in the working sessions and retain them for your next opportunity.
Shared Implementation Work
We take your asset and build the commercial offer together. The workshops are where you learn and make decisions; the written work below develops those decisions into material you can use.
Five Implementation Workshops. Five 90 minute working sessions with Rylie. Complete the Unfair Advantage Audit, choose the opportunity, sharpen the positioning and practice the commercial decisions your team will need to make.
Offer Development. A written offer and proposal for the chosen opportunity. We develop the buyer outcome, scope, contributions and message, then refine them using the response to the test.
Commercial Economics. A working model of pricing, incremental delivery and selling costs, capacity and the economics of the selected route. Your team can explain what the opportunity could earn and which assumptions still need testing.
Commercial Route and Buyer Assessment. Choose the most credible path to market and assess up to ten relevant buyers, accounts or channel relationships for the first test. Compare need, access, decision authority, fit and delivery requirements.
Evidence Review and Refinement. Three reviews of meeting notes, transcripts, recordings or other test evidence you are authorized to share. Within two business days of receiving the material, we identify the obstacle, the next move and any change to the offer or test.
Live Commercial Execution
We work alongside your commercial lead to put the chosen opportunity in front of the market and learn from the response.
Market Outreach Preparation. Prepare tailored opening messages and a follow up sequence for the selected audience. We show your lead how to connect the asset to a reason for that buyer to act.
Live Meeting Facilitation. Rylie works with your team in the first relevant live buyer or market meeting when that meeting is part of the selected test and the other party accepts. We clarify the commercial questions and next decision, then debrief so your lead can improve the next conversation.
Activation Planning. Build one practical plan for the selected test: desired evidence, scope, contributions, owners, decisions and dates. Where another organization is involved, make its commitments explicit before expanding the work.
Market Test Launch. Build the required offer or activation materials and launch the agreed test with your team. Work through the commercial scope, economics, payment and delivery responsibilities relevant to that test. The test can use a direct offer, customer expansion, licensing, a channel, a partnership or another credible route.
Team Capability and Reuse
The work should leave you with a stronger team. We turn what your people learn into a method they can use again.
Team Playbook. Document the asset, offer, buyer, selected route, conversation flow, objections, economics, evidence and follow up. Record why the approach changed, so your team can refine it instead of repeating words without understanding them.
Capability Transfer. Your commercial lead explains the opportunity and economics, leads a rehearsal and builds the next action plan. Where conversations are the selected route, that includes a plan for the next ten. We give specific feedback on the gaps and what to practice next.
The scope covers one selected opportunity and the stated deliverables. The service guarantee completes any unfinished Hicks work; additional sales cycles and ongoing implementation require a separate written scope.
Move Within 72 Hours and Get These Bonuses
When an Insight meeting is used to confirm the Intensive scope, sign the agreement and pay in full within 72 hours of that meeting, by the deadline in your written offer, and we include all three bonuses. A website visit or Fit Call does not start this deadline.
Bonus 1 Outreach for Your First Three Market Meetings
We take an active role in outreach, follow up and scheduling for the first three relevant market conversations. Your team approves the approach, provides the agreed access and attends accepted conversations. We commit to the booking work; another person’s attendance or decision remains theirs.
This adds hands-on booking to the outreach preparation included in the core engagement.
Bonus 2 Two team enablement sessions
Two additional 60-minute sessions for the people who will sell the new offer. They practice explaining the value, asking the commercial questions and handling objections using the playbook built in the Intensive.
Your wider team practices using the commercial opportunity and materials built during the Intensive.
Bonus 3 Fifteen days of launch content
We write 15 posts that explain the commercial opportunity, the customer problem and a reason to start a conversation. You receive the copy, calls to action, a publishing sequence and one consolidated revision. Your team approves and publishes it.
All core services and both guarantees apply even when the 72-hour bonus window has passed.
The Investment
$30,000 USD upfront.
One payment for the full engagement, done with your team. Plan for approximately 50 combined client team hours over the initial 15 business days, including the five working sessions.
Hicks brings the analysis, opportunity development, commercial work and coaching. Your team brings the information, rights, access, decisions and implementation capacity. We agree named owners for the work before starting.
Our Guarantees
Seven Day Unconditional Guarantee
You have seven calendar days from the first working session to decide whether the work is creating a meaningful commercial path for your company. Email rylie@hicks-enterprises.com within that period for a full $30,000 refund. No proof of failure or participation condition is required.
Implementation Service Guarantee
If Hicks has not completed its agreed work within 15 business days, we finish that work at no additional fee. This applies to the scope below, with your team providing the agreed access, inputs and decisions.
Asset, offer and economics: complete the selected asset assessment, written opportunity, buyer and use case, pricing model, commercial route and activation materials.
Working sessions and evidence review: deliver the five implementation workshops and three reviews included in the offer.
Activation and learning: launch the agreed market test with your team, support the first relevant accepted market meeting when it is part of the test, and record the evidence, open decisions and next actions.
Team capability: finish the playbook and coach your lead to use it.
To keep that commitment working, your team must:
- Attend the working sessions and reviews, or reschedule in advance.
- Provide the agreed information, rights, access, approvals and decision maker.
- Complete the agreed repositioning, activation and test work. If your team cannot act on an agreed step, work with us to agree an alternative before changing the plan.
- Complete agreed actions and decisions on time, and bring the results back for review.
If inputs, access or third party availability delay affected work, we agree revised dates for those tasks. The service guarantee ends when the scoped Hicks work is delivered; continued sales support is agreed separately in writing. These participation requirements apply to completion of the work, not to your seven day unconditional refund right.
What the Commercial Result Means
We select for meaningful commercial potential. A six figure opportunity has a documented case for at least $100,000 in revenue over its first twelve months if the assumptions prove true. That is an economic selection criterion, not guaranteed revenue or a promise that a buyer will say yes within 15 business days. Projected revenue, signed commitments and collected cash remain distinct.
What We Guarantee
We guarantee completion of our agreed work. We do not guarantee a third party’s decision or a fixed amount of revenue on a fixed timeline.