Start-ups: Must-do steps to make the transition to scale-up!
I remember a challenge that I faced first hand way back during the dot.com boom of the late nineties and early noughties, when I worked with a couple of other guys to set up an online recruitment software company, Jobpartners. In order to progress beyond the garden shed where we got the product up and running, we really depended on some specialist advice. We found this in tapping into an advisory board of people who were much more experienced in the business and finance world as well as the industry we operated in! Now I find myself giving advice to new businesses being pioneered by a new generation. It is generally true that the most successful start-ups-come scale-ups combine the energy and ideas of young trendsters with the wisdom and experience of oldsters…even ones like me!
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Start-ups: Must-do steps to make the transition to scale-up!
- 1. Julian Kulkarni | CMO
- 2. Brit living in Dublin International/Entrepreneurial Start-ups, Scale-ups, Transformations Raised over €30M ..and have 3 daughters Boating Currently: CMO: Morgan McKinley | Ireland Previously: • CMO and founding team Easyfairs | Belgium • Head of European Marketing: FreeMarkets (Ariba, SAP) | Belgium • Co-founder & CMO: Job Partners (Taleo, Oracle) | UK • European Marketing Manager: Business Solutions | SAS Institute | Germany
- 4. • Get through start-up phase • New skill sets • Architects > builders • Add headcount with care • Recruit people who are the right cultural fit
- 6. [photo: toddler learning to walk]
- 7. • Conserve cash and spend wisely • Be aware that communication will become an issue • Migrations need a lot of thought • Be very careful on who you bring into the company • Personal chemistry matters
- 9. • Be keenly aware of the external market environment • Be open to consider new markets, target audiences • Question everything about your operating model • Accept that staff churn will happen and plan for it • Leapfrog past bigger competitors or beat them through strategic partnerships • Re-examine your business processes as you grow
- 11. • Get solid advice on locations • Find the right partner[s] • Select the right talent (relocation and local) • Global / local / glocal • Risk analysis is key • Might take several attempts
- 12. [photo: Julian ?]
- 13. • Even mature companies have to think and act like start-ups and scale-ups now and again • You only have a brief opportunity to pause, take stock and redefine your business • Otherwise, if you are not scaling up you are scaling down, like it or not • Not everyone will accept the new approach
- 14. • Hire well • Fire well • Hire great managers early • Outsource • Take time, take stock • Identify your market strengths and focus • Communicate effectively, internally and externally • Work with experts • Set regular milestones • Don’t try to beat bigger, better resourced competitors head-on
- 15. Keep in touch! Julian Kulkarni Twitter: @juliankulkarni #morganmckinley Email: jkulkarni@morganmckinley.com