The 75x Frameworks

Four Principles That Built a 75x Company

These aren't theories from a textbook. They're the operating principles Aaron developed over 26 years of building Delivery Drivers Inc. — and the same frameworks he brings to every client engagement.

Apply These Frameworks to Your Business
Framework 01

Build People Systems

Scale isn't about your business — it's about your teams.

Every entrepreneur wants to talk about scaling up. Aaron's answer is always the same: you already have systems for your product. What you need are people systems — structures that let your leaders replicate themselves, so the business grows even when you're not in the room.

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You can expand without expanding leadership, but you can't grow.

— Aaron Hageman

Core Principles

Leaders Who Replicate Themselves

The goal isn't to hire great people — it's to build an environment where great people develop other great people. When your managers can train managers, you've built a people system.

Move from Team-Building to Team-Building Systems

There's a difference between assembling a team and creating the infrastructure for teams to self-assemble. Hiring frameworks, onboarding playbooks, and leadership ladders are the difference.

Accountability Without Micromanagement

The 'parking lot' methodology — capturing open items, assigning owners, and reviewing weekly — creates accountability without surveillance. Your team knows what's expected because the system makes it clear.

Culture as Infrastructure

Culture isn't a ping-pong table. It's the set of unwritten rules that govern how decisions get made when no one is watching. Build it intentionally or it builds itself — usually badly.

How to Apply This Framework

Map your current org chart and identify every single-point-of-failure (roles only one person can fill)
Build a leadership ladder: what does it take to move from individual contributor to team lead to director?
Create a hiring scorecard — not just for skills, but for cultural fit and leadership potential
Implement a weekly 'parking lot' review: open items, owners, deadlines, no exceptions
Framework 02

Run It Like You'll Sell It

From day one.

You can't reverse-engineer a good exit. But you can start a company and run it, from day one, like someone someday will want to buy it. Great hiring process, incredible records, a culture that values healthy and happy employees — this doesn't just make your business better to run. It makes it better to sell.

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I didn't plan to sell DDI from the start. I just ran it like someone would want to buy it.

— Aaron Hageman

Core Principles

Clean Records Are a Competitive Advantage

When a buyer does due diligence, they're looking for surprises. The business with clean financials, documented processes, and organized HR files commands a premium. The one that scrambles to find invoices does not.

Transferable Value

A business that only works because of you isn't worth much to a buyer. The goal is to build a business that runs on systems, not on your personal relationships, institutional knowledge, or daily presence.

The Culture Premium

Buyers pay more for businesses with low turnover, high employee satisfaction, and a documented culture. Happy employees aren't just good ethics — they're a line item on the valuation.

Documented Processes

If it only exists in someone's head, it doesn't exist. Every critical process — from onboarding to client delivery to billing — should be documented, tested, and transferable.

How to Apply This Framework

Conduct a 'buyer's eye' audit: what would a sophisticated buyer find in your business today?
Document your top 10 most critical processes — the ones the business can't run without
Clean up your cap table, contracts, and financial records now, not when you're under LOI
Build a client relationship map: which relationships live in the business vs. in you personally?
Framework 03

Inches, Not Miles

Measure success in fractions.

In business, people love fairytales — the founder who launches, kicks ass for three years, and exits in year four. That's not most stories. Most successful entrepreneurs are decades-long overnight successes. Aaron measures goals to the tenths of percentages. Moving from 96.2 to 96.3 percent means you made progress. Keep moving the ball.

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I measure success in inches, not miles. Keep moving the ball.

— Aaron Hageman

Core Principles

The Compound Effect of Small Wins

Moving from 96.2% to 96.3% client retention doesn't sound like much. Over 12 months, compounded across every metric in your business, it's the difference between stagnation and scale.

Reject the Fairytale Narrative

The overnight success myth is the most dangerous story in entrepreneurship. It makes founders feel behind, take unnecessary risks, and abandon strategies that are working slowly. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.

Precision Measurement

You can't move inches if you're only measuring miles. Build a KPI dashboard that tracks the metrics that actually matter — not vanity metrics, but the leading indicators that predict future performance.

Celebrate the Tenth of a Percent

Culture follows what gets celebrated. If you only celebrate big wins, your team will only take big swings. Build a culture that recognizes incremental improvement and watches it compound.

How to Apply This Framework

Identify your 5 most important business metrics and set targets to the decimal point
Build a weekly scorecard that tracks progress against those metrics — not monthly, weekly
Create a 'wins board' that celebrates incremental improvements, not just big milestones
Set a 90-day goal that feels almost too small — then hit it, and build from there
Framework 04

The Ripple Effect

Throw bigger rocks.

Aaron grew up throwing stones at a lake, counting the rings, hoping each one would go a little further than the last. Beyond growing wealth or having more control over your time, he believes that when you create even one good job for someone else, you begin to change the world. Building through people isn't just good business — it's the whole point.

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When you create even one good job for someone else, you begin to change the world.

— Aaron Hageman

Core Principles

Business as a Force for Good

A thriving business doesn't just create wealth for its owner. It creates livelihoods, stability, and opportunity for every person on the payroll. That's the ripple — and it extends to their families, their communities, and beyond.

The Bigger the Rock, the Bigger the Rings

Scale isn't just about revenue. It's about impact. The more people you employ, the more clients you serve, the more communities you touch — the further the rings extend. Build bigger so you can throw bigger.

Legacy Over Exit

An exit is a transaction. A legacy is what remains. The businesses that endure — that get acquired and continue to thrive — are the ones built with the ripple effect in mind. They're built to outlast their founders.

Purpose as Competitive Advantage

Teams that believe in what they're building outperform teams that are just collecting a paycheck. When your people understand the ripple — that their work creates opportunity for others — they bring a different level of commitment.

How to Apply This Framework

Write a one-paragraph 'ripple statement' — what does your business create beyond revenue?
Share that statement with your team and make it part of your onboarding process
Map the downstream impact of your business: how many families depend on the jobs you've created?
Set a 5-year goal that's about impact, not just income — and build your strategy around it
Ready to Apply These Frameworks?

These Frameworks Work. We've Proven It.

Book a strategy call and Aaron will show you exactly which framework your business needs most — and how to start implementing it this week.