Top 5 Mistakes Founders Make Trying to Scale

Over my 20+ years scaling consumer insights and data businesses, I’ve watched companies face similar challenges as they reach new revenue milestones. Some break through and build repeatable, profitable growth, while others get stuck and lose momentum. The good news? These mistakes can be avoided with the right focus and strategy. Here are the top 5 mistakes I see Founders make that prevent their businesses from scaling effectively.

The Challenge of Coordination

Plenty of businesses are built from finding elegant solutions to complex problems. And yet, in bringing these solutions to market, it’s usually not the inherent complexity of the problem that determines success. More often than not, it is the company’s ability to coordinate the actions of the people involved. In this article, we’ll explore the sources of friction and solutions that can lead to success.

Bridging the Strategy-to-Performance Gap

connecting the dots between strategy and performance

We all seem to understand that bad execution taxes the business, literally and figuratively. But do you know by how much? A twenty-year-old article in the Harvard Business Review estimates that poor execution leads to underperformance of between 60-100%, and this is just the direct impact! In the long term, it creates a permanent and devastating culture of poor performance. Though this article focuses on large companies, growth-stage founders can learn from these findings to improve their own company’s performance.

Great Execution Is the True Measure of Leadership

restaurants - hotbeds of great execution

Imagine going out for a nice dinner only to be served cold food by a surly waiter. Sound unsatisfying? This is the dilemma many organizations face today. Despite brilliant strategies and innovative products, what’s missing is top-notch execution—and it’s time to (re)acknowledge its critical role.