In the latest episode of the Burn Rate Podcast, we discussed a question that’s on the minds of many founders today: how do you convince your board that growth still makes sense, even when investors are pushing for profitability? The answers reveal how much the founder’s role has evolved: from pure visionary to strategic operator.

It’s a familiar scene in 2025. A scale-up is growing steadily, revenues are up and suddenly the board demands profitability. Investors cite the market, rising interest rates, and a tougher fundraising climate. The founder, however, feels this is precisely the moment to accelerate. Growth instead of braking.

This is where true leadership shows. Founders who argue only with emotion — “If we slow down now, competitors will overtake us!” — lose the room. Investors don’t hear ambition; they hear risk. Growth can’t be sold on hope, only on causality: If we invest X, Y will happen, leading to Z.

The best founders speak this language. They demonstrate how growth creates long-term value, grounded in clear data and realistic scenarios. They understand their unit economics, know when their CAC starts to break, and can pinpoint which initiatives have the highest leverage on profitability.

Because growth and profitability are not opposites, they are a sequence. Sustainable growth only works when product-level profitability is established first. Control isn’t the opposite of courage; it’s the foundation of it.

The new growth formula isn’t “bigger, faster, louder,” but “smarter, measured, intentional.” Founders who can show their board they’d be profitable within six months if they had to earn credibility. Those who then explain why they’re choosing a deliberate growth scenario, with a clear ROI and a defined path back to profitability, earn trust.

That’s the mindset that defines 2025: growth under control. No blind flight, no panic, just disciplined scaling as a strategic choice, with eyes open and a steady hand on the controls.