From signal to system: what it takes to reach Series A

Introduction Only 15% of seed-stage companies make it to Series A. By the time the numbers explain why, the break is already months old. Most companies don’t fail all at once. They drift, while everything still looks like it’s working. The Gap There’s a window between when the system breaks and when anyone realizes it. In that window, the metrics look fine, the team feels productive, and the story still holds. Until it doesn’t. Quant vs. Qual Lenses Jordan Hill, CEO, Growth Partners shows you what to look for and how to interpret the patterns before they before they become metrics. Marcelo Ceron, Founder, MISSING LINK shows you why those patterns exist and what made them inevitable. One company. Two lenses. Quant shows where to look. Qual shows why it happens and how to fix. Walking the Arc We take you on a startup's journey from Seed to Series A. Key moments. Subtle shifts. What to notice and what to track. Naming the point where things go wrong. Seen through both lenses, in real time. Where to Act The companies that survive aren’t the ones that move the fastest. They’re the ones that see earlier, and know what to fix before it compounds. You won’t just see the gap. You’ll understand where to act before it closes. Q&A Join us for a lively discussion after the talk. About Growth Partners At Growth Partners, our team of startup finance experts has supported 75+ ambitious companies through growth. We specialize in startups with $1M–$10M in annual revenue. Through strategic fractional CFO support, the right finance tech stack, and timely, relevant reporting, we help founders understand and trust their numbers. Our approach combines proven playbooks, strong processes, and the right tools to keep your finances running smoothly, saving you time to focus on what matters most. We empower your growth, and always lead with a human first approach. About MISSING LINK MISSING LINK helps businesses run like brands and turns brands into powerhouses. We work at the intersection of brand, growth, and operations, across every stage, from founder-led teams to $6B enterprises. One pattern holds: companies don’t underperform because of bad decisions, they underperform because of inconsistent ones. MISSING LINK turns strategy into a decision system: aligning what you believe with how you decide so it compounds in what you do. Strategy sets direction. Results reflect outcomes. Decision systems determine everything in between. Toronto Tech Week is a citywide celebration of the people building what’s next. From May 25–29, 2026, founders, investors, and builders come together for hundreds of community-led events across Toronto, connecting tens of thousands of people around Canadian tech. Torontotechweek.com