Successful Venture Scaling – The Learning Series
While the success of corporate venture building is undeniable, a significant gap remains in guiding founders through the critical scaling stage. Recognising this, we have crafted a unique framework for venture scaling, distilled into an accessible and comprehensive book. This resource encapsulates decades of expertise in both corporate and independent venture building, offering a straightforward approach to scaling ventures alongside insights into all relevant business dimensions for scaling success.In a bid to share this knowledge widely, we're launching a series of more than 50 mini-blogs, each spotlighting a specific sub-dimension of these business dimensions. Whether you're seeking the full breadth of our scaling framework or wish to engage our experts directly, this series—and the book it draws from—provides the guidance you need for successful venture scaling.
Introduction to the Strategy Dimension
The first scaling framework dimension is strategy. This dimension sums up everything that gives your venture a longer-term perspective. Starting from the vision and leading to investor relations, the subdimensions of strategy are often the venture founders’ responsibility. The topics in this chapter are unique; they are the only topics that must be known throughout your entire venture, from the beginning of the building phase to long after the scaling phase. They give direction and can unify your venture if prepared and communicated correctly. Make sure you plan for that communication part, maybe more than once. Your employees must understand the common goal everyone is working for.
The blogs in this dimension are:
- Vision and Mission
- Strategy
- Value Proposition
- Market and Competition
- Business Model
- Business Plan
- Investor Relations
Market & Competition
We have already looked at your target market when assessing if you have reached your product-market fit. Your market needs to be clearly defined, as this is the foundation of all your marketing and sales standardizations and automation. If you determine your market incorrectly, your marketing and sales efforts will diminish. This would also be toxic for your product/service development as you would probably develop for the wrong customer group.
You also have to understand your target market size, customers, and relevant revenue in your offering area. Without this information, you cannot set realistic revenue and profit targets for your teams, and all your business plans will become useless.
The same goes for your competition. You need to understand who else might currently (or in the future!) serve your customers with similar products/services. In understanding the competition lies the opportunity to distinguish your product to win over your customers, and it can influence your goals, as well.
Market and competitor analysis is a typical task to outsource. Usually, a thorough analysis is done every two to three years and is easily manageable as a short-term project. If you have a free resource, you can do it internally. However, sometimes, an outside perspective freed from bias can be beneficial.
Questions to Guide Your Analysis
- Have you analyzed your target market and its size?
- How does your product-market fit relate to this market?
- What dimensions are you using to analyze your competitors?
- How do these dimensions relate to your value proposition, USP, and customers’ pain points?
Next Steps
Understanding the dynamics of your market and the competitive landscape is essential for any venture aiming to scale successfully. This knowledge not only informs your strategic decisions but also positions your venture for sustainable growth. For ventures looking to deepen their market insights or seeking personalized guidance, our team of experts is here to assist. Reach out to explore how we can support your venture's strategic development and scaling efforts.Stay tuned for our next piece in this series, where we will explore another critical dimension of venture scaling, equipping you with the knowledge and tools needed to navigate the complex landscape of corporate venture building successfully.
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