Raj Patel

Raj Patel, COO of Atlas Commerce, shares his philosophy on building achievable plans and why promising less can sometimes deliver more.

**On board expectations:** "The board wanted 3x. That's what they always want. But I had to be the adult in the room and say: Here's what I think we can actually do."

**The discipline of realistic planning:** "I gave them a plan for 2.5x growth they could actually hit. It was well-researched, based on historical data, and conservative about market dynamics. And we hit it."

**Why this matters:** "When you hit your plan, you build credibility. When you miss your plan, you lose it. It's better to underpromise and overdeliver than to overpromise and underdeliver."

**On the temptation to overcommit:** "There's a lot of pressure to be optimistic in growth companies. But optimism isn't the same as discipline. Discipline is saying: Here's what I believe will happen based on evidence."

**Building a credible planning process:** "We use bottoms-up forecasting. Every team is accountable for their piece. We sanity-check against comparables and historical trends. We identify the key risks and how we'd manage them."

**For operators managing upward:** "Your board will respect you more if you're honest about what you can deliver than if you overpromise and scramble. And your team will perform better if they're working toward a plan they believe in."

**Looking ahead:** "The next phase is margin expansion. We've proven we can grow. Now we need to prove we can grow profitably. That's a different discipline entirely."