I help founders discover hockey stick revenue growth.
The smart way.
Get my fascinating research study of 172 successful startups.
Learn More
The Book
Starting and growing a company isn’t a paint-by-numbers endeavor that happens at the speed of light if you just hustle. High growth success isn’t that simple, that fast, or that smooth of a ride. The Hockey Stick Principles shows you how to navigate each stage of growth — especially The Blade Years — why challenges arise, how to solve them, and how to move through each stage more smoothly.
An honest, detailed, practical look at the realities of building a hyper-growth startup.
Josh Kaufman
bestselling author of The Personal MBA: Master The Art Of Business
The Hockey Stick Principles is relevant, practical, and action-oriented. This book clearly articulates the entire journey of a growth company — from hatching the idea to landing first customers to scaling growth and beyond. Bobby Martin goes into the nitty gritty with extreme detail and the result is a powerful guide for entrepreneurs.
Cam Houser
CEO, 3 Day Startup
Entrepreneurs should reread Hockey Stick Principles each year as they launch and grow their business because this sage advise will keep on giving as the reader's perspective changes and evolves.
Erich Schlenker
Managing Director, Transportation Insight Center for Entrepreneurship, Appalachian State University
Companies are utilizing predictive analytics to scale specific areas of their business, so why not use it for creating the companies themselves? Bobby’s analytical method to determine the stages that a company must reach to scale their growth and achieve success is a great example of using data to drive smart, impactful business decisions.
Shashi Upadhyay
CEO Lattice Engines
Readers find 92 Hockey Stick Principles to ponder and execute on but there are hundreds of ideas inside gleaned from both years of research and interviews and Bobby’s personal experiences in business. This will not only be a bestseller but a soon-to-be classic. Most importantly it is a must read for anyone wanting to start, nurture and grow their business.
Jack Hubbard
Chairman and Chief Sales Officer of St. Meyer & Hubbard
Every student interested in entrepreneurship should read The Hockey Stick Principles. It’s jam packed with real life lessons and true stories of how businesses were built.
Jeff Reid
Founding Director, Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative
Bobby Martin dispels many common startup myths and provides powerful, practical business advice for every stage of the entrepreneurial journey...This is a must read for anyone who wants to know what it really takes to succeed in business.
Bryan Toney
Associate Vice Chancellor for Economic Engagement, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
This book is like the friend by your side making you successful. It’s fun to read, conversational, and helpful.
Joan Seifert Rose
president at Council for Entrepreneurial Development
Bobby Martin is by far one of the smartest entrepreneurs I have ever met. The Hockey Stick Principles culls his knowledge and pulls from the domain knowledge of other successful entrepreneurs. I love this book.
Brian Hamilton
founder and chairman of SageWorks
Bobby Martin shows through his own and other founders' stories that the challenges faced during those early formative years are the very essence of what makes an entrepreneur successful. Inspiring. Practical. Highly recommended!
David Cohen
Co-founder of Techstars
If you are considering starting your own business, these ninety-two “Hockey Stick Principles” will help you avoid the pitfalls in which founders unsuspectingly plunge. And if you are an established executive, you’ll find this book incredibly funny, engaging and realistic.
Darren Pierce
founder of etailinsights
If you’re considering starting a business, this book is a [hard hitting], real-life view of what it’s like. It sets your expectations better than any other business book I’ve seen.
Lee Demby
cofounder of BoardRoomInsiders
Bobby captures so much of what it’s like to be an entrepreneur, and his examples and anecdotes will help those of us who are building businesses get on---and stay on---the right track. This book is readable, instructive, and packed with great insights.
Craig Wortmann
Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, CEO of Sales Engine, Inc.
The Hockey Stick Principles is packed with lessons learned the hard way. The chapter on exiting a business is worth the cost of the book alone.
John Warrillow
author of "The Automatic Customer" and "Drilling for Gold", coauthor of "Built to Sell", and former founder and CEO of Warrillow and Associates
In The Hockey Stick Principles, Bobby Martin has crafted an original piece of work chock full of great advice that could only come from someone who has actually done it. This excellent book should be read and taken to heart by everyone who owns or aspires to own a business.
Bo Burlingham
Editor-at-Large of Inc. magazine and author of "Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead of Big" and "Finish Big: How Great Entrepreneurs Exit Their Companies on Top"
Revenue Growth Study
Take a look at these startups' revenue growth charts. The companies are different sizes and from a wide range of industries, yet their revenue growth follows a predictable pattern. In my study of 172 startups, all but eleven companies had hockey stick-shaped growth curves. As a startup entrepreneur, you should aim for hockey-stick growth and also be aware of the challenges presented at each stage. Read more about this fascinating study in my blog post.
FROM THE BLOG
Why Can’t You Make It Work with Spaghetti?
In which convincing buyers of your value proposition is maddening…and what to do about it. When researching The Hockey Stick Principles, I felt that the founder of software firm Sageworks, Brian Hamilton, was the most profound with his explanations for startup challenges. Especially thoughtful was his analogy for how difficult it is to convince customers of […]
The Five Essential Commonalities for the Entrepreneurial Spirit
What does it take to be successful starting an innovative company? While writing The Hockey Stick Principles, I identified five fundamental elements of what I’ll call the “entrepreneurial spirit” that seem to be those that are most important in allowing founders to make it through the confusing, chaotic building process:
The Successful Entrepreneur’s Yin and Yang
In a video documentary about tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, a film crew followed the sisters throughout 2011, recording how they practice, prepare for tournaments, deal with injuries, and manage their busy day-to-day activities.