Mohanbir Sawhney
KIN - Kellogg Innovation Network Co-founder
THE PARADOX OF SCALING
The very strategies that fuel the early growth of startup companies become barriers to growth at scale. Startup companies need to reverse several aspects of their strategy as they seek to scale. I call this the “Paradox of Scaling”. In this talk, I identify five key strategy reversals that a startup needs to make in order to achieve 10x growth. These strategy reversals include the customer mix, go-to-market strategy, sales processes and the approach to marketing. I explain the logic behind each of these shifts and I offer guidance on identifying signals that indicate that it is time to reverse strategies and tactics. By foreseeing these shifts, startup companies can position themselves better for growth at scale. I illustrate these concepts with case studies and examples from my personal experience in advising dozens of growth-stage startup companies over the past 25 years.