Growth Model - This refers to a business model in which the company's management focuses its efforts in growth rather than achieving a net profit during the company's early or development stages. Emphasis is placed on sales and marketing and the company may have a large sales and marketing staff, which can be scaled back once it reaches certain goals it has set.

Companies that use a growth model are usually well-funded.  Large Venture Capital firms can easily fund several million dollars and wait 2 to 3 years for the a net profit, but most other investors will not be that patient. 

By contrast, companies that are not using a growth model are focusing on net profits first and growth second. They may not be well-funded and therefore need to carefully watch their costs and expenses. They may be micro-managing their costs and expenses.  They may not have investors lined up to fund them, possibly because investors don't believe in their business model.  If they can prove their business model by showing a net profit for two or three consecutive quarters, however, investors will be lining up.