In the early days of a startup, there’s tremendous latitude to change your mind. Your goal isn’t to launch the perfect startup—it’s to learn what startup to launch. You value learning over execution. Each release shows you can overcome the biggest risk your company faces; then you can discover the next one. To do this, …

Continue reading “Scale and the shoemaker”

Scale-stage companies have to cross a perilous chasm. They’re big enough to attract the attention of powerful incumbents, but not yet well-enough entrenched to defend themselves in the marketplace. They need an unfair advantage. There are two ways such organizations can find that advantage. The first is to introduce differentiated product offerings; the second is …

Continue reading “The unfair advantage to scale”