52 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 3
different North American B2C and B2B
markets.
In every case, they looked at the new
markets and asked “What do we change
and what do we keep the same.” To get
the right market fit and performance, they
tailored the scaling strategy – because the
markets demanded different things from
the business model.
Adjust Your Management Valence
Achieving significantly higher growth rates
in new markets is a major shift from the
startup status quo. When you scale, you
and your team become ambidextrous –
managing the existing enterprise while
you lead the scaling initiative.
The hardest part of this dual focus is
weaning the CEO from thinking that only
they can make crucial decisions. In the
continual firefighting of early stage
startups, CEOs keep their hands on every
moving part of the business model and
jump in to fix whatever needs fixing. After
years of operating like that, they usually
become wed to the idea that they must
be involved in nearly all decisions — from
pricing strategy to hiring decisions.
Getting them to let go of that mentality
and mode of operation is tough.
But it’s essential: While that may have
been an important ingredient for success
in the company’s earlier stages, you can’t
scale with that model. It keeps the CEO
entrenched in the original business and
insufficiently involved in the new scaling
initiative.
Instead, the board and management team
need to accept some new responsibilities
and do the heavy lifting in the existing
business. That requires robust operating
processes: A business model that requires
constant tinkering and intervention by the
CEO and leadership team won’t do well
when the executives are distracted and
partially consumed with scaling. In their
ambidextrous management role, the CEO
and executive team need to focus on how
the business is running, and step away
from being involved in running every as-
pect of the business. And at some point,
every startup will need to add specialized
staff, such as a CFO, to keep things run-
ning smoothly and ensure the CEO is not
involved in every decision.
Final Advice: Go Fast and Make Things
Speed has tremendous value when you
are scaling. It makes your cash last longer,
generates results that energize your team,
and makes your company more attractive
to funders. That’s why we coach entrepre-
neurs to “go fast and make things.”
You can move quickly and make real pro-
gress. But you need to avoid jumping the