Starting vs Scaling a Startup

When people think of joining a startup, they often think of tech companies with cool offices and lots of chaos. While that’s often true, I think it’s even more important to distinguish between startups starting out and startups scaling, as they are incredibly different.

Startups starting out have much more uncertainty, are tiny in size, and need to pivot or iterate a number of times before figuring out product/market fit and a corresponding repeatable customer acquisition process. It’s hard to forecast and accurately plan without operating history and metrics, which further contributes to challenges, and potential excitement.

Startups scaling are executing against a proven plan, have product/market fit with a repeatable customer acquisition process, are well capitalized (or could be if they so choose), and are focused on maximizing growth. Every little process is an opportunity for improvement and overall energy is spent optimizing, rather than discovering.

The next time someone says they want to join a startup, coach them on the differences between a startup starting out and a startup scaling up.

What else? What are some other differences between a startup starting and startup scaling?