First, a bit of pre-reading
We're ready to have a team discussion on Blitzscaling. We'll start by coming to some common ground on what Blitzscaling means to us, and then ask and . Before we do, we all need a common understanding of what Blitzscaling is. Pick your form of pre-reading and then we can reflect. Recommended: Read the .
To really grasp the blitzscaling framework and establish common ground with your fellow stakeholders, you'll need to . Short on time? Here's an outline.
Part 1: What Is Blitzscaling?
Blitzscaling: the framework and techniques that allow companies to achieve massive scale at incredible speed. Three key techniques of Blitzscaling: Business model innovation
Part 2: Business Model Innovation
"Design an innovative business model that can truly grow." Four key business model growth factors: Two key business growth limiters lack of product/market fit Proven business model patterns Principles of business model innovation adaption, not optimization
Part 3: Strategy Innovation
"Strategy innovation supports its own ecosystem of rapid growth in the face of risk and uncertainty." When should you blitzscale? a substantial & new opportunity use your first-scaler advantage When should you stop blitzscaling? Declining rate of growth (relative to the market and competition) Decreasing per-employee productivity Increasing management overhead Blitzscaling extends the simple three-step process of “Do Things That Don’t Scale” as follows: Step 1: Do things that don’t scale. Step 2: Reach the next stage of Blitzscaling. Step 3: Figure out how to do one set of things that scale, while somehow also finding a way to do a completely different set of things that don’t scale. Step 4: Reach the next stage of Blitzscaling. Step 5: Repeat over and over until you reach complete market dominance. Family: The Founder Personally Pulls the Levers of Hypergrowth Tribe: The Founder Manages the People Who Are Pulling the Levers Village: The Founder Designs an Organization That Pulls the Levers City: The Founder Makes High-Level Decisions About Goals and Strategies Nation: The Founder Figures Out How to Pull the Organization Back from Blitzscaling and Start Blitzscaling New Product Lines and Business Units
Part 4: Management Innovation
"One of the key features that sets global giants apart from those companies that flame out or implode before they can reach market dominance is an ability to evolve and optimize their management practices at each stage of growth." small teams to large teams generalists to specialists contributors to managers to executives single focus to multithreading scaling yourself - founder to leader 9 counterintuitive rules of blitzscaling hire Ms. Right Now, and not Ms. Right tolerate "bad" management launch a product that embarrasses you do things that don't scale
Part 5: The Broader Landscape of Blitzscaling
"While blitzscaling is probably most applicable to high tech, its techniques can benefit any industry in which opportunities can demonstrate strong growth factors (market size, distribution, gross margins, and network effects) and overcome the growth limiters (lack of product/market fit and operational scalability)." 4 advantages of established companies who want to Blitzscale 3 disadvantages of established companies who want to Blitzscale 3 options to defend against Blitzscaling
Part 6: Responsible Blitzscaling
"In an ideal world, blitzscaling organizations would embody all the virtues that society might desire from its businesses—a diverse and inclusive workforce, a strong sense of responsibility to shareholders and stakeholders, an ample supply of well-paying middle-class jobs, and executives who serve as moral role models and leaders of society. The unfortunate truth is that for all the good that blitzscaling produces, blitzscaling organizations can be guilty of the sins that afflict other types of companies, and actually face some inherent challenges even when trying to behave responsibly." Even shorter on time? Here are the highlights.
Blitzscaling: the framework and techniques that allow companies to achieve massive scale at incredible speed. You need to maximize four growth factors: market size, distribution, high gross margins, and network effects. You'll need to overcome challenges of product/market fit and operational scalability. Then, reflect & discuss
What stuck with you from the book? What kept you up at night? Add your top takeaways below.
What is blitzscaling?
