Scaling for customers:
It is good that you already have traction with some customers, but has your firm “crossed the chasm” and engaged with mainstream, conservative customers? Are you ready for this? Should we go for further market penetration, new market development, new product development or even diversification? In this session, we’ll dive into understanding the value proposition that your current and future target customers are seeking and work on what expansion should look like for your firm
Your Team and Scaling:
You cannot scale without growing your team with the right people, and without incentives, a structure and a culture that are aligned with your scale-up ambitions. This is your responsibility; if done too fast you run out of money; executed too slowly, you miss opportunities, incur burnout and never build a winning culture. Considering structures, processes, incentives, and strategy, we’ll discuss how you build and incent a scalable organization
Building a board that scales with your firm
Presumably, you have a good Board, but is your Board composed of the people who can help you scale? Does your Board have the right people, the right processes, and the right attitude for your next stage? How should you prepare for Board meetings?
Strategy, Execution & Exit:
At some point you may be considering an exit for your firm, the so-called “liquidity event” for your investors (and you). Building a strategy to get there, and executing it, isn’t just a series of tasks and activities. It requires rolling up your sleeves and working hard, but we need to be clear on the objective, how we create value along the way, and the steps needed to get to whatever that final moment is.
Partnering for scale:
It is unlikely as a startup that you can or should be doing everything yourself. What do the best partnership practices look like? Which activities should you own, which should you control, and which should be done with a partner? How do you negotiate a sustainable and profitable relationship?
Momentum and your scaling narrative:
You had a great pitch when you started. It brought you your first employees, customers, and investors. What is your story now? When you started it was about survival, and the only metric was “how much cash do I have?”. In this session, we’ll try to assure that your current and future stories match the momentum that you’re building and that you have the OKRs, KPIs, or gut feeling needed to assure that you’re progressing as you want.
Change leadership:
Something in our previous sessions will likely require a change in your team, or even the need to help your customers change so that they can buy and use your product. We’ll work on stakeholder management, influencing people that you have little power over, and understanding the psychology and process of change management, with you leading the change. We’ll close this session, and the program, with a graduation ceremony and dinner.
*The majority of the above sessions are preceded by an informal 30-minute discussion on topics chosen by the class, and led by the class (meaning we’ll actually start these sessions at 17:30). Examples have been customer segmentation, ESOPs, employee remuneration, and Board remuneration. This will be discussed with the class in the opening session.
Exact order and dates will be communicated based on the speakers’ availability. Also, the final content will be dependent on the needs of the participants, learned through our interviews with you. Those topics are applicable to all industries. Should you have a doubt, don't hesitate to contact us!