
Why do you think even after years of its formation,
Michael Dell, Bill Gates are still running their
companies whereas Hewlett, Packard, Paul Allen
have opted out?

What determines survival of a firm? And that of the
founder?

Are those interlinked?

The very behaviors and habit patters of
entrepreneur that leads success in one stage can
lead to failure at the next one?
Three distinct stages: Initial Growth,
Rapid Growth, Continuous Growth.
 Mark the evolution of a firm after it goes
through a start up stage and becomes a
real company.
 In these stages there are severe changes
to your organizations, in terms of
products, services and even the type of
organization. Eg, Intel, IBM, Nokia



Develop Markets, products/ services, customers, and
strategies to win. (Niche Vs Cost Leader)
As your company grows you must alter from the “do
it yourself mode” to delegation.
› Develop internal process for planning, management and
workflow, as well as infrastructure to sustain expansion of
growth
› Develop teams and people to perform the tasks that
produce exceptional leaders
› Develop cultural environment that can embrace change,
and where people can work in teams
› Develop cultural environment that can
embrace change, and where people can
work in teams
› Change your leadership style to map the
stages of growth. (Exploration Vs
Exploitation) Balance is necessary. Xerox Vs
Microsoft.
› Balancing short term vs. Long term goals

Communicate well to produce alignment
between short-term, and long-term goals;
exploration and exploitation.

People are key assets. Gary Hamel’s
perception “ Management of Innovation
begins at managing the innovators, who
give eight hours each day of their lives for
your company”.

Learn from failures of other and your own.
Visionary and Pioneering not only a
company but an idea.
 Great at seeing possibilities where others
don’t
 Passionate and Energetic
 Creative and innovative idea generators
 Proactive and future focused
 Risk taking
 Problem solvers
 Determined to create wealth and make
change.

Dominate the
Industry
Lead the Market
Drive Sales
Develop product
Continuous Growth
Rapid Growth
Initial Growth
Startup
Change Catalyst/
Organization
Builder/ Strategic
Innovator
Team Builder/
Coach / planner/
Communicator
Delegator/
Direction setter
Doer/ Decision
Maker
Continuous
Growth
Rapid Growth
Initial Growth
Startup
Reinventions in the company.
Successful firms reinvent themselves. Eg. IBM, HP,
starbucks, Amazon, Intel, Apple
Complex organization
Alliances, mergers, IPO
Widespread acceptance of its products
Gain Significant share in its market
Try to be a market leader
New Hires challenge in integrating them
Sales Driven
New or different Product launch to capture market
Fast faced, flexible, chaotic and Aggressive
Figuring out what products or Services to
offer
Drive Sales
Develop product
Initial Growth
Startup
Delegator/
Direction setter
Launch Differentiated Products
Capture market Share
Grow revenues
Doer/ Decision Maker
Leader

Launch a product that offers something
different. Low cost strategy may not be viable
for a new entrant unless you are the first one in
market.

Get Noticed by winning some impressive
customers, possibly business leaders.

Grow Revenues

Capture Market Share
Fast paced
 Highly flexible/ willing to experiment
 Fast exploration and exploitation time
 Chaotic
 Sales-Driven
 Close to customers
 Lacks structure

Not enough time
 Impossible to do everything
 Everyone wants your time and you can’t
seem to get it
 You don’t know which of multiple growth
opportunities to pursue
 Feel pressurized because you’re
managing all the risks alone.

Resented as a manager and a bottleneck.
 People will be de-motivated and wait for
you to make all decisions.
 The company will lose focus.
 Priorities will change in micromanagement
as one tends to adopt the ideas of the
moment philosophy
 Growth will be impeded.

Articulate and communicate your values
and visions
 Use resources creatively
 Watch Critical performance indicators.
 Integrate input from stakeholders with your
own perspective
 Hire multitalented people who share your
values and complement your skills
 Use Mentors







Manage proactively
Begin delegating responsibilities; establish
systems and a structure with clearly defined
roles, responsibilities and priorities.
Set up functional roles
Stop making all decisions
Stop solving all problems and answering all
questions
Trust others and make them accountable for
results.

Start planning for the future. (Bigger Picture)
› What other areas should we invest?
› What are our capabilities?
› In-source Vs Outsource?
Accept the need for processes and structure
 Share credit and limelight with others
 Consciously spend a portion of your time on
the big picture of your business, not just dayday operations.
