This document discusses challenges that startups face during periods of high growth and provides recommendations to address each challenge. It addresses issues such as understanding operating costs, stretching limited resources, changing team size, filling gaps as the startup grows, understanding new technologies, keeping customers as a top priority, and balancing budgets and risks. The recommendations emphasize financial awareness, staying true to core values, patience during team growth, having exit plans, prioritizing security when adopting new tech, remembering customers are behind growth numbers, and seeking outside perspectives on balancing budgets and risks.

1. The
Quiet Killers of Growing Startups

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The Growth Trap

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The Challenge:
Unsustainable Growth
The Answer:
Financial Awareness
High growth can overwhelm the existing
internal control of small teams.
1. Understand your operating costs, as well as how they evolve.
2. Know your day-to-day working capital needs.
3. Go beyond income statements to assess your true health index.

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Stretching Resources

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The Challenge:
Doing Too Much, Too Soon
The Answer:
Stay True To Core Values
Stretching limited resources for
the sake of growth may shift the
focus from quality to quantity.
If maintaining the quality that enabled
your success means missing an
opportunity, so be it.

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Changing Team Size

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The Challenge:
Your Team is Growing
The Answer:
Take Your Time
Your small team's decision making
used to be streamlined, but your growth
has made it slower and less organized.
Your growth took time, and your growing
team will need time as well. Stay patient,
hire the right fit, and tweak as you go.

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Filling the Gaps

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The Challenge:
Filling the Gaps of Your Growing Startup
The Answer:
Have an Exit Plan
It's often the CEO or team leader
with a bird's eye view that fills
the team's naturally-occurring gaps.
Know exactly who is filling what gap,
how long they will need to do so,
and what they will pivot to when they're relieved.

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Understanding Tech

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The Challenge:
There's So Much To Understand
The Answer:
Break It Into 3
Many growing startups, even those in the
tech industry, feel overwhelmed just trying to
keep up with what they should know and
what products they should be using.
1. Data: what would you use if cost didn't matter? Find an alternative to
meet that need.
2. Inertia: before relying on tech, have you optimized your team's decision-
making process?
3. Security: this tech issue can spiral into a reputation issue. Invest in this first.

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Keeping the Customer First

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The Challenge:
More Growth = More Support
The Answer:
Remember Your Roots
You're tracking your growth in numbers, but
forgetting that behind each number is a customer.
You will rise and fall based on two things:
your product and your customer. Strive to
keep both top of mind at every stage.

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Balancing Budget & Risk

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The Challenge:
A Speed Imbalance
The Answer:
Accounts payable are moving way faster
than your sales or collections, and you've
become a bit numb to the risk of it all.
Find a trusted advisor who is outside of your
startup, preferably one that has accomplished
what you hope to. They will understand the game
and provide a new perspective.

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