Stage-Gate
Definition
A defined checkpoint within a strategic decision or capital deployment plan at which the company reviews whether the stated conditions for proceeding to the next phase have been met. Stage-gates are used to limit exposure to decisions that have uncertain outcomes: rather than committing all capital and resources upfront, the company commits to the first phase and evaluates at the gate whether conditions justify proceeding.
Common Misapplication
The most common misapplication is defining stage-gate conditions in qualitative terms that cannot be tested objectively. A stage-gate condition stated as 'positive market response' is not testable. A stage-gate condition stated as 'fifty qualified enterprise leads generated' is testable.
FFI Standard Reference
This term is defined and applied in Book 6, Section 6.2: The Strategic Decision Modeling Standard.
Related Terms
Citable URL
This term may be cited using the following permanent URL.
Full citation format: Founder Financial Infrastructure Standard, Beta v0.5, Glossary: Stage-Gate. https://ffistandard.org/glossary/stage-gate/. 2026.