What factors matter most for scaling a startup rapidly?

Cyriac Roeding

Co-founder, CEO · Earli

Awesome team

Cyriac Roeding says if he had to choose one thing only, he would choose awesome teams, because awesome teams are the secret ingredient of every success.

The answer starts at 36:07.

Andy Frisella

Chief Executive Officer · 1st Phorm International

Tolerance for mistakes

Andy Frisella says a leader scaling a company must consider their tolerance for mistakes, since mistakes made in good faith should be seen as an investment in employees' skill set.

Vivek Vaidya

Co-Founder/CTO · Kana

Keep building and selling

Vivek Vaidya says that when in doubt, a founder should keep building and keep selling, since there is going to be a lot of doubt.

The answer starts at 2:10.

Andrea Baronchelli

Co-Founder & CEO · Aspire

Small cross-functional squads

Andrea Baronchelli says the way to keep a growing startup fast is small cross-functional squads—small, independent units that can deliver on new things while separate teams run the core business, because they encourage entrepreneurship and avoid slow large teams.

The answer starts at 22:43.

Eoin Hinchy

Founder and CEO · Tines

Trusting the people

Eoin Hinchy says trusting the people was important to them, because they wanted board members they trusted who understood the business and fought their corner, not meetings they dreaded.

RL

raul luis

Co-Founder

Start small

Raul Luis says to start small and not go big, because you have to crawl before you walk and there is a lot of overhead.

The answer starts at 25:04.

Matthew Wilson

Co-founder and CEO · Jack and Jill

Great team

Matthew Wilson says building a great team is one thing needed, saying the quality of the team fuels product quality, adoption, revenue growth and capital.

The answer starts at 44:13.

Gustav Bang

Co-founder, CEO · Complir

Big market size

Gustav Bang says a big market size matters: building into something very large makes it easier to raise funds and attract great people.

The answer starts at 8:23.

Mirko Novakovic

Chief Executive Officer · Dash0

Revenue growth

Mirko Novakovic says revenue growth is the key metric for scaling, advising founders to focus on it because other metrics do not matter if growth is high.

Saahil Goel

MD & CEO · Shiprocket

Right people

Saahil Goel says the more important keyword is the right people, calling it under-indexed; he adds that 'right' differs by company and purpose-driven people are needed when building a startup.

The answer starts at 49:06.

Harshit Omar

Co-Founder & CTO · FluidCloud

Clear distribution strategy

Harshit Omar says founders need a very clear distribution strategy built in parallel with the product, saying that if content is king, distribution is God.

Strong infrastructure

Max Hodak says strong infrastructure is key, arguing that speed is determined by infrastructure and determines success or failure, and that getting company foundations right makes everything else easier.