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by Jakob Michaelis (Author)
Most businesses don't fail suddenly. They drift.
Warning signs hide in everyday decisions, team dynamics, and balance sheets, and they go unread until it's too late. The problem is rarely effort or talent. Most entrepreneurs simply have no reliable way to read what's happening under the surface of their business while there's still time to respond. That is, until now.
Over two decades working with founders and executives, entrepreneur and advisor Jakob Michaelis kept watching the same forces decide which companies lasted and which came apart. Vital Signs connects the work of more than 75 leading thinkers across six disciplines that rarely speak to each other, and examines the outcomes of more than 45 real companies, from breakout successes to public downfalls. The result is a traceable pattern. The Vital6(TM) are six elements that determine the health of any business, in any industry, at any stage.
The Vital6 are Mindset, Strategy, Market, Execution, Finance, and Leadership. Strength and balance among all six elements are the new measurement of business vitality. Balance without strength stalls growth; strength without balance collapses companies. Monitoring these six elements is how you pick up on the signals long before the numbers on a scorecard catch up.
Across three parts, Vital Signs builds a practical, repeatable skill:
- Part I reveals why business failure follows a predictable pattern, and how the six elements function as one interconnected system.
- Part II builds your fluency in each element, with the tools, mental models, and diagnostics to read any business, including your own.
- Part III puts the Vital6 in motion, showing how the system embeds in your team and moves through the seasons of growth to build something that lasts.
Whether you're launching a startup, running a small business, or scaling a company toward its next stage, you'll learn to diagnose your business honestly, act on the signals early, and lead with clarity.
The pattern has always been there. Vital Signs teaches you to read it.
