Watching a Startup’s Core Engine Grow

Continuing with the idea that if you can get to 10 happy customers, you can get to 100, there’s also another element that’s fun to watch: the growth of the core engine. The core engine is the main product value and all the human elements that support it. Think of the customer count growing, the recurring revenue growing, and departments like product, engineering, sales, and customer success growing. While there are bumps along the way, the experience of going from 2 to 10 to 25 to 50 to 100 employees is incredibly rewarding.

Here are a few thoughts on watching a startup’s core engine grow:

• Know that at each stage (seed, early, growth) the entrepreneurs need to reinvent themselves
• Most entrepreneurs that scale fast feel they under invested in building a talent pipeline of future hires
• Metrics wise, keep an eye on three areas: financial, employee happiness, and customer happiness
• Make sure there’s no leaky bucket
• Ensure culture is the top priority

Watching a startup’s core engine grow is a great experience, especially all the new learnings and getting to know the awesome people that join the ride.

What else? What are some other considerations when watching a startup’s core engine grow?