Atomic Scaling frameworks — 3P3R, HAAO, JTO and the operating models

The working set

Nine more frameworks we actually use

Each of these is a decision shortcut, not a theory. They are defined here and in theglossary.

Operating model

TTHG — Tiny Team, Huge Growth: Tiny Team, Huge Growth (TTHG) is the Atomic Scaling operating stance: scale performance and revenue per employee rather than headcount, so growth compounds instead of diluting.
EPIC — Employees, Profit, Impact, Cost: EPIC — Employees, Profit, Impact, Cost — is the Atomic Scaling hiring test: every role must improve all four at once, or it is headcount rather than leverage.
3V — Vision, Vehicle, Velocity: The 3V Framework — Vision, Vehicle, Velocity — is the Atomic Scaling replacement for the annual plan: a 36-month vision, a 12-week vehicle, and a weekly velocity check.
QDSAA — Question, Delete, Simplify, Accelerate, Automate: QDSAA — Question, Delete, Simplify, Accelerate, Automate — is the Atomic Scaling sequence for fixing a process before automating it, so that automation compounds a good system rather than entrenching a bad one.
Scale performance, not headcount: Scale performance, not headcount is the operating stance of Atomic Scaling: treat revenue per employee as the number to grow and headcount as a cost of last resort, so that adding capacity does not automatically worsen the economics.
Revenue per employee: Revenue per employee is the metric Atomic Scaling optimises for — total revenue divided by headcount, and the test of whether a company is scaling performance or merely scaling headcount.

Growth

BRAW — Big, Relate, Access, Want: BRAW — Big, Relate, Access, Want — is the Atomic Scaling market test: pursue a market that is Big enough, that you Relate to, that you have Access to, and that you Want to serve.
OBE — Own, Buy, Earn: OBE — Own, Buy, Earn — is the Atomic Scaling distribution model: traffic you Own, traffic you Buy, and attention you Earn, each run as a system rather than a campaign.
CPDTM — Customer, Problem, Distribution, Technology, Monetization: CPDTM — Customer, Problem, Distribution, Technology, Monetization — is the Atomic Scaling way of writing a startup as five explicit bets, so a pivot becomes a decision about which bet stopped being true.

AI-native organisation

H2H, H2A, A2A — Human-to-Human, Human-to-Agent, Agent-to-Agent: H2H, H2A and A2A are the three communication layers of an AI-native company as defined by Atomic Scaling: Human-to-Human, Human-to-Agent and Agent-to-Agent — with H2A the managerial craft that replaces prompting.
OPC — One-Person Company: A One-Person Company (OPC) is a business run by a single human on top of a full agent stack. Atomic Scaling treats it as the lower-ceiling alternative to a HAAO, where a small team plus agents removes the complexity ceiling a solo operator hits.

Diagnostic

Atomic Scaling Score: The Atomic Scaling Score is a free two-minute diagnostic that rates a company across the six pillars of the 3P3R Method® and names the single constraint holding growth back.