THE ESSENTIALS.
Six pages. Why scale-ups break, what waiting costs, and when to read.
How many of your
KPIs are green
while two can't
hold together?
Every function can report on target while a break forms between two of them. It reaches the report late, and as a financing event: a bridge, a covenant breach, a new forecast.
One read, one report, the same for investor and company: a Capital State, the root cause, and a release plan, gate by gate, with an owner for each.
Read the paper · PDF →One read, one report, the same for investor and company: a Capital State, the root cause, and a release plan, gate by gate, with an owner for each.
Twelve ways
a scale-up breaks.
A scale-up rarely breaks in a new way. Under more load, a structure breaks along patterns this industry has seen before, drawn from four eras of its history. Each is defined in advance and read in three layers: by design, right now and under load.
Which of these have you seen?
Which of these have you seen?
01
Scaling Mirage
Growth outruns execution.
02
Regulatory Cliff
Someone else sets teh timeline.
03
Pilot-to-Scale Chasm
The economics don't survive scale.
04
Commoditization Cliff
A bigger player sets teh price first.
05
Founder Density Trap
Too much rests on too few hands.
06
Over-Acceleration Bias
Speed exceeds capacity.
07
Ecosystem Lock-in
Too few customers or partners.
08
Tech Validation Lag
Works in pilot, not in production.
09
Compliance Drag
Governance can't keep up.
10
Project Finance Gap
The capital structure blocks teh next round.
11
Subsidy Dependency Trap
Viable only with subsidies.
12
Market Window Closing
The window shuts first.
Download the Essentials →
NAME THE BREAK.
OR THE RUNWAY WILL.
OR THE RUNWAY WILL.
TALK TO US
Forty-five minutes
with Robert.
One illustrative read, start to finish. Bring the one you’d rather not show.
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Read UnderLoad.
Essays by Robert Kellner on where companies break, and what it takes to read it early.
Read UnderLoad →