About the letter

A business can look healthy in one set of numbers and feel completely different to the person running it. The point of this letter is to understand that gap.

That Doesn't Add Up is a weekly publication for owners who want to make better decisions about growth, profit, people, and capacity. I take familiar advice and ask what has to be true for it to work.

Sometimes the calculation is wrong. More often, a cost, constraint, or assumption has been left out.

We'll look at pricing, conversion, delivery, retention, cash, and the work that keeps finding its way back to the owner. The aim is to leave you with something useful to check or change, not just an opinion to agree with.

I'm Steve Kopshaw, founder of Metric Mentor Labs. My work focuses on installing revenue and operating systems in service and education businesses where fulfillment depends on people.

This isn't a stock-picking letter, a daily news digest, or an excuse to disagree with everyone. I'll show the reasoning, label hypothetical examples, and explain the conditions that could change a conclusion.