How to move from startup to scaleup: key strategies for scaling a business model

Securing the first customers, validating a value proposition and demonstrating that there is a genuine market need are milestones that every startup pursues. However, achieving product–market fit does not mean that the most difficult stage has been overcome. In fact, for many innovative companies, the real challenge begins precisely at that point. If you are still at the validation stage, you may be interested in reading our post Early validation: the secret to product–market fit, in which we examine how to check that a solution meets a genuine market need.

Although product–market fit is often regarded as the key indicator of success in the early stages, it represents only part of the journey. In addition to demonstrating that there is genuine demand for the product, startups must find sustainable acquisition channels, a profitable financial model and a market large enough to support growth. The combination of these factors, known as the Four Fits, helps explain why some startups manage to become scaleups while others struggle to maintain their expansion.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a scaleup is a company capable of maintaining annual growth of more than 20% in employment or turnover for at least three consecutive years, starting with a minimum workforce of ten people. Achieving this level of growth means building an organisation equipped to grow sustainably.

Startups that manage to become scaleups tend to overcome, progressively, challenges relating to the sustainability of their business model, their organisation’s ability to grow and the availability of resources to drive expansion. In other words, scaling requires more than having a product that appeals to the market: it means building a company that is ready to grow consistently.

Why do some startups manage to multiply their revenues, expand into new markets and become scaleups while others stagnate or disappear in the attempt? The answer does not usually lie solely in the product, funding or technology. Growth requires complex strategic decisions about people, processes, operations and priorities.

As a company grows, new questions begin to arise. Is it the right time to hire? How can the value proposition be maintained without losing scalability? Which processes need to be professionalised? Which activities generate genuine value, and which consume resources without driving growth? And perhaps the most difficult question of all: what do we need to give up in order to keep moving forward?

Moving from startup to scaleup involves much more than increasing turnover or expanding the team. It means evolving from an organisation designed to experiment and validate hypotheses into a company capable of growing consistently, efficiently and sustainably. What worked in the early stages will not always work in the next phase. Some strengths will need to be consolidated, others transformed and some abandoned altogether.

In this post, we analyse the main keys to managing this transition. We look at when it makes sense to bring in new talent, how to adapt the value proposition as the company grows, which aspects of the business should be strengthened to drive growth and which practices or dynamics may become a constraint. Because scaling means building an organisation that is ready to grow without losing its focus, agility or competitive advantage.

When to hire: grow at the pace of the business, not at the pace of expectations

One of the most delicate decisions during the growth of a startup is determining when to bring new people into the team. Before achieving product–market fit, hiring decisions usually respond to an immediate need: developing the product, acquiring customers or solving operational problems. However, once the company begins to grow, the logic changes.

Hiring too early can undermine financial sustainability. Hiring too late can limit growth and place excessive pressure on existing teams. Finding the right balance requires assessing whether the business has achieved sufficient traction and whether there are bottlenecks preventing further growth.

Common signs that a startup is ready to expand its team include growing demand that cannot be met with current resources, a recurring increase in critical tasks that always depend on the same people, or difficulty maintaining service and quality levels as activity increases.

This phase also often sees the emergence of what is known as management debt. This concept refers to the organisational problems that accumulate when a company grows faster than its processes, structures or leadership capabilities. A lack of clearly defined responsibilities, excessive dependence on the founders or the absence of coordination mechanisms can become a barrier to growth, even when the product is working and sales are increasing.

New hires should answer one very specific question: will this person help us scale, or will they simply alleviate a temporary need?

Scaleups often begin replacing generalist profiles with specialists. Heads of sales, marketing, operations, human resources and finance emerge, capable of building processes, systems and methodologies that enable the organisation to grow without continually depending on the founders.

This is also the time to anticipate the capabilities and profiles the company will need in the next stages of growth. 

However, growth does not depend solely on adding new capabilities. As the organisation evolves, so must the way in which it creates value for its customers.

Adapting the value proposition: from solving problems to dominating a market

Many startups are founded to solve a very specific problem for a small group of customers. This specialisation enables them to validate their product, gain a better understanding of market needs and attract their first users.

However, when the time comes to grow, the value proposition must evolve too. The challenge is to preserve what makes the company different while extending its reach and targeting new customer segments.

To achieve this, it is necessary to identify which aspects of the offering genuinely create value and which address the specific needs of early customers. That is why, at this stage, it is common to simplify products, standardise services or prioritise particular features in order to make the proposition more scalable and easier to replicate.

A common sign of maturity is that most new customers derive value from a relatively standardised proposition. When every sale requires bespoke development, complex customisation or different processes, growth tends to become more expensive and difficult to sustain.

At the same time, it is essential to maintain an active dialogue with the market. Understanding how customers’ needs are evolving and identifying new opportunities makes it possible to adapt the offering without losing relevance or the ability to grow.

Companies that successfully scale have a very clear understanding of what problem they solve, who they solve it for and what genuinely differentiates them from the competition.

What needs to scale

When a startup finds a formula that works, it is natural to want to accelerate growth on several fronts at once. However, resources remain limited and not all initiatives generate the same impact. One of the major challenges at this stage is therefore identifying which elements of the business have genuine scaling potential.

Before accelerating growth, it is advisable to ensure that the value proposition, the market and the business’s main indicators are showing consistent signals. If you have reached this point, you may be interested in our post I have an MVP—what next? Should I accelerate?, in which we examine the key factors for deciding when a startup is ready to take the next step.

In general, it is worth strengthening what has already delivered results. This involves analysing indicators such as the ability to acquire customers predictably, maintain high retention levels or generate sustainable recurring revenue. In practical terms, a startup is generally better prepared to scale when it can clearly explain who its ideal customer is, which channel it uses to reach them and how to turn that growth into profitability.

This reflection connects with the so-called Four Fits. Beyond product–market fit, companies that achieve sustained growth have usually also found a fit between the product and acquisition channels, between those channels and their financial model, and between the business model and the actual size of the market they are targeting.

This includes acquisition channels that attract customers consistently, processes that can be easily replicated and tools that make it possible to manage a greater volume of activity without increasing complexity.

Technology also plays a fundamental role. Having systems capable of supporting growth helps improve efficiency, optimise resources and maintain service quality as operations increase.

It also means strengthening what differentiates the company from its competitors. The competitive advantage that enabled the company to stand out in the early stages must continue to evolve in order to retain its value as the business grows.

Companies that scale successfully tend to focus their efforts on strengthening what already works, rather than spreading their resources by trying to grow in every direction at once.

What to abandon in order to keep growing

Growth involves making decisions. Some experts in business scaling refer to this process as the “discipline of renunciation”. It involves identifying activities, products, services or ways of working that were useful in earlier stages but no longer make a significant contribution to growth objectives. Scaling does not mean doing more things; it means concentrating resources on initiatives capable of generating the greatest impact.

As the company grows, new opportunities arise, responsibilities increase and challenges that did not previously exist emerge. In this context, it is essential to review which practices, products or ways of working continue to drive the business and which have lost their relevance.

Many of the dynamics that helped a startup secure its first customers work well in the early stages, when speed and adaptability are paramount. However, as the number of customers, the size of the team or the complexity of operations increases, some of these approaches begin to show their limitations. Centralised decision-making, poorly defined processes or solutions designed for very specific needs can hinder coordination and slow growth.

For this reason, companies entering a scaling phase tend to professionalise the way they work, delegate responsibilities and focus their efforts on activities with the greatest impact. This process is often accompanied by strategic decisions about products, services or markets that no longer fit the organisation’s growth objectives.

The most successful scaleups use their resources very selectively. Rather than trying to pursue every new opportunity, they concentrate their efforts on initiatives capable of generating sustainable growth and strengthening their value proposition.

Scaling without losing your essence

Moving from startup to scaleup requires finding a complex balance between growth, focus and execution capacity. Companies that overcome this phase understand what has brought them this far, but are also able to adapt their organisation to the challenges of a new stage.

Hiring the right talent, evolving the value proposition, strengthening the business’s core strengths and giving up what no longer creates value are decisions which, taken together, make it possible to build stronger organisations that are ready to grow.

Ultimately, scaling means increasing a company’s impact without losing sight of what made it relevant to its customers from the outset. Growth does not mean becoming a different company; it means developing the capabilities needed to take what already works further.