From Startup to Scale-up

Client Overview

A FinTech company providing automated accounting and financial management solutions for small businesses. With rapid growth from 45 to 120 employees in 24 months and $14M in ARR, the founding team was struggling to evolve their leadership approach.

The Challenge

As the company transitioned from startup to growth stage, the founding team's hands-on management style became increasingly ineffective. Decision bottlenecks, unclear accountabilities, and inconsistent execution were limiting the company's ability to capitalize on market opportunities.

Key issues included:

Founders involved in virtually all significant decisions
Department leads lacking clear authority and accountability
Strategic goals lost in day-to-day operational focus
Inconsistent communication creating confusion and duplicate efforts
New managers receiving minimal coaching or development
Increasing employee frustration with decision delays

Our Approach

We implemented our Scale-Up Leadership Program focused on organizational effectiveness:

Leadership Assessment:
- Conducted leadership style and skill evaluations across the team
- Mapped decision processes and bottlenecks
- Assessed organizational structure against growth requirements
- Evaluated communication effectiveness across the company
Leadership Framework:
- Developed decision rights matrix across leadership levels
- Created accountability model with clear metrics and expectations
- Designed strategic planning and execution methodology
- Established leadership development pathways
Implementation:
- Facilitated founder role transition planning
- Implemented management operating rhythm
- Deployed OKR framework for strategic alignment
- Created manager capability development program
Reinforcement:
- Established leadership effectiveness metrics
- Created peer coaching circles for ongoing development
- Implemented regular leadership retrospectives
- Developed succession planning for key roles

The Results

Within 8 months of implementation, the company achieved:

Decision velocity increased by 42% for strategic initiatives
Strategic initiative completion rate improved from 40% to 83%
Employee satisfaction regarding leadership clarity improved by 48%
Management confidence in decision authority increased by 65%
Founder time shifted from 70% operational to 65% strategic
Revenue growth accelerated to 65% year-over-year

The leadership evolution enabled the company to successfully navigate their growth phase while building the organizational foundation needed for scaling toward $50M ARR and beyond.

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