I think that is true in the case of the growth startup I work at; probably 25% of the leadership started out as early individual contributors, and if things go

I think that is true in the case of the growth startup I work at; probably 25% of the leadership started out as early individual contributors, and if things go as expected over the next few weeks, I will be making my first big step toward leadership after just six months at the company. I never had any internal career growth at other jobs in larger or more established orgs.