I think growth matters
I grabbed coffee with a friend whose startup has shown impressive early growth. Their numbers look great, so our conversation quickly turned to how to continue scaling: how to keep up with demand, where the bottlenecks hide, and how much discomfort is worth the payoff.
On the way home I asked myself why growth for some reason matters to me and to the kind of organisation I want to help build. I think for me four reasons are top of mind.
1. It keeps a team honest
Growth often stings a little. New customers poke holes in half‑finished processes, deadlines pile up, and quality gets challenged. This discomfort forces a team (or at least it should) to check whether what they offer is still relevant, the quality is up to par, and how they can structure for a better delivery going forward.
2. It funds the good stuff
Healthy growth should come with improved profitability. This buffer allows organisations to pursue side quests: polishing that onboarding flow just because it feels right, sponsoring local events, that tad too extravagant team event, starting a brand spinoff or simply shipping swag that makes people smile. These projects may not be strictly necessary today, but they plant seeds for tomorrow and make the work just that much more enjoyable.
3. It creates breathing room
A bigger company can (or should be able to) rely on systems rather than heroics. The ability to delegate work across processes and roles requires a certain organisational size, but when done correctly it allows people to spend more time where they are useful and energised. This brings a certain balance that I feel is essential for long term success.
4. It creates opportunities
Me personally, I’m someone that likes to tackle projects. Create something, get it running (or fail :), hand it over and put my energy in a new project. And while everyone’s take on this is somewhat different, your best people are often hungry to tackle new opportunities and be successful at them. Growing creates these opportunities and allows people to evolve with an organisation.
I am not preaching growth for every team. But for me, I guess the above is why I tend to aim for it.