---
id: "claim-growth-value-multiplier"
type: "claim"
source_timestamps: ["§ Why Efficiency Isn’t Enough"]
tags: ["valuation-math", "revenue-impact"]
related: ["concept-multiple-expansion", "action-reallocate-inorganic-budget"]
confidence: "high"
testable: true
speakers: ["Shlomo Benartzi", "Randall Long", "Stefano Puntoni"]
sources: ["spine"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-spine"
originDay: 1
articleStem: "hbr-tier1-04-ai-for-growth"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/companies-are-using-ai-for-efficiency-they-should-use-it-to-grow"
sourceTitle: "Companies Are Using AI for Efficiency. They Should Use It to Grow."
---
# Modest Organic Growth Lifts Yield Massive Valuation Multiples

**Claim:** A sustained **+2 percentage-point** lift in organic growth rate (3%→5%) raises firm value **~50%**; a **+4-point** lift (3%→7%) raises it **~122%** — driven by expansion of the earnings multiple markets apply to sustained growth, not by earnings that have yet to materialize.

This is the quantitative heart of [[concept-multiple-expansion]] and the payoff of [[action-reallocate-inorganic-budget]].

**Enrichment.** Strongly supported directionally by market data: McKinsey's maturity study shows median revenue multiples jumping **14×→20× (+43%)** at level 3 and to **31×** at level 4, with revenue-per-employee up **52%** from level 3→4. The exact 50%/122% are wealth-management model outputs — consistent with observed growth-linked valuation jumps but not universal constants.