we must obey the forces we wish to command

1. SCALING STARTUPS:
SHOOT FOR THE STARS,
…BUT BUILD YOUR ROCKET FIRST.
“We must obey the forces
we want to command” (Francis Bacon)
Author: Alexandra N. | Founder, WE CREATE BRIGES | December, 2015

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INDUCTIVE THINKING 3
THE FLOATING OF THINGS 3
HARNESSING LAWS OF NATURE 5
ABOUT WE CREATE BRIDGES 8
WHO WE ARE 8
WHAT WE DO 8
HOW WE DO IT 8
WHY WE DO IT? 8
ABOUT ALEXANDRA N. 9

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INDUCTIVE THINKING
In 1620, Francis Bacon publishes his philosophical work Novum Organum
Scientiarum (‘new instrument of science’ ).
He details a new system of logic he believes to be superior to the old ways
– against the Aristotelian approach to science through logic
and deductive reasoning alone.
He argues a different approach is needed given the weakness of the human
mind and it’s natural biases (he lists the Idols of the Mind in his work; today
we’d call them cognitive biases ).
According to Bacon, inductive reasoning will allow humanity to uncover
the essence of things. His method relies on systematic observation of cases,
engagement of the senses, and artificial experimentation to provide additional
observance of a phenomenon and it’s causes.
THE FLOATING OF THINGS
Until mid 19th century, most boats were made of natural material,
essentially wood – as men observed wood float in nature.
The naval engineering techniques have evolved with the understanding
and mastery of the laws of gravity, buoyancy, hydrostatics,
hydrodynamics, density, etc.
“The law of floatation was not
discovered by contemplating
the sinking of things,
but by contemplating the floating
of things which floated naturally,
and then intelligently asking

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why they did so.”
(Thomas Troward)
With new materials provided by industrial revolutions ( iron, steel,
lately kevlar) and contemporary computer aided design,
it has been made possible to design more performant naval structures.
Interestingly, until recently, naval architecture has been more of a craft than
a science: the “fair shape” of vessels was judged by looking at half
models or prototypes ie. through past knowledge and experimentation
rather than by logic and deduction alone.
Therefore, today it’s totally understandable to see the proliferation of Uber for X,
Airbnb for X business ideas (see article here) ). It’s in human nature.
Nevertheless, just like there a difference between a floating piece
of wood and a boat, there’s a difference between applying the concept
of Airbnb and Uber to a different industry and understanding
and mastering the underlying business forces at play that make Airbnb
or Uber successful.
Bacon argues man cannot subtract himself from the forces at play
in Nature (“we must obey the forces…”), nevertheless he has
the opportunity to harness them (“we want to command”) when
he gains a deep understanding of their effects.
The same way aspiring entrepreneurs & startup leadership cannot subtract
themselves from the Market forces at play (value creation, strategy,
operations, unique capabilities, business model, scaling laws, ….).
They need to understand and master them to harness sustainable growth.

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HARNESSING LAWS OF NATURE
The first theoretical proposal of space travel was published by William Leitch,
astronomer and mathematician in 1861. It only became an engineering
possibility with the work of Robert. H. Goddard in 1919.
Two of Goddard’s 214 patented inventions were instrumental to making
spaceflight possible (multi-stage rocket and rocket fuel, 1914).
He designed and elaborated an engine powerful enough to escape
Earth gravity, and a vessel that could perform in a vacuum
such as that in space.
“ It is difficult to say what is impossible,
for the dream of yesterday is the hope
of today and the reality of tomorrow.”
(Robert. H.Goddard)
Astrodynamics, or orbital mechanics governs the motion of rockets
and spacecrafts. These mechanics are calculated
from Newton’s law of motion and Newton’s Law of universal gravitation.
Therefore spaceflight was made possible by the thorough understanding and
mastery of existing and identified physical laws.
Similarly, for startups to scale successfully, they need to be able to design
their multi-stage rocket to extract them from idea stage and propel them
in business orbit: a five stage rocket to be precise.
Each of the stages could be summarised by the Greiner Curve – created decades
ago by Larry Greiner, which illustrates how all businesses go through five
distinct phases of growth and relative calm (evolution/growth) alternating
with six distinct phases of chaos (revolution/crisis).

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Greiner’s Curve from HBR – “Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow”
Scaling up means being able to design a company with
⊕ an “ownable purpose”,
⊕ a scalable culture,
⊕ an effective decision-making and communication system,
⊕ along with relevant talent management
⊕ and processes to take the company along the different phases of growth without
stalling or breaking.
It is possible to do that by understanding the forces at play, and reverse
engineering the design of your company to avoid the negative dynamics your
organisation will have to face:

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⊕ inadequacy of communication and decision-
making processes will put the business at risk – errors,
confusions, inconsistencies and excessive workload.
⊕ inadequacy of organisation or pacing will “burn” resources
as efforts are misallocated to non-critical areas
⊕ Company culture and purpose will be diluted, conflicts will arise between internal
stakeholders (employees, managers, leaders).
Our message to scale-ups: shoot for the stars, …but built your rocket first.
“It is not possible to run a course aright
when the goal itself has not been
rightly placed.” (F.Bacon)

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ABOUT WE CREATE BRIDGES
Who we are
We are a consultancy that enables companies and their teams to scale
successfully through the design and implementation of smart and sustainable
organisational and management structures.
What we do
We help you reverse engineer the evolution of your company. We help you take
into account the key components of successful scaling and future proof your
business for the increased complexity and high uncertainty that come with the
scaling process.
We ensure the ability of your company, teams, processes to handle an increase in
demand such as sales, customer support or the need for innovation
in a sustainable and cost-effective way
How we do it
We provide our clients with an architectural map of their future organisation,
and a roadmap to get there, with built-in flexibility to adapt to changing
environments.
Why we do it?
Entrepreneurs are the most important players of the current economy and
we believe that the companies they founded should be given the best chance
of continuous success.
Yet, too many start-ups fail.
⊕ 9 out of 10 of new companies fail within 3 years
⊕ 3 out of 4 of those fail due to unsuccessful scaling

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It is a tremendous loss of time, energy, money, and unfilled opportunities.
We believe companies should not fail to the extend they do, and they should
not disappear for mistakes that could be avoided. Our purpose is to help
decrease of that number.
ABOUT ALEXANDRA N.
Alexandra is an executive leader with 20 years
experience in Strategy and Management roles with
a focus on Digital and Marketing Services, Business
Intelligence , Analytics and Market Research –
across a wide range
of industries.
For the last 20 years, she has been advising global
companies such as P&G, Nokia, Volkswagen, Hilton, etc. on how to transform
their capabilities to capture opportunities brought by Digital; as well as
advising MarTech Startups on how to best address and bring business value
to companies (back in 2007 P&G and AdViewability tech Alenty - acquired by
AppNexus, more recently Ferrero and eCommerce solutions such as Storetail).
She’s a perpetual learner in the fields of cognitive sciences and behavioural
economics and passionate about integrating modern thinking and principles
from these disciplines (and others) to accelerate innovation and empower the
next generation of companies and teams to transform and scale in an
sustainable way, and with soul.

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