Successful Venture Scaling – the Learning Series
While the success of corporate venture building is undeniable, a significant gap remains in guiding founders through the critical scaling stage. Recognising this, we have crafted a unique framework for venture scaling, distilled into an accessible and comprehensive book. This resource encapsulates decades of expertise in both corporate and independent venture building, offering a straightforward approach to scaling ventures alongside insights into all relevant business dimensions for scaling success.In a bid to share this knowledge widely, we're launching a series of more than 50 mini-blogs, each spotlighting a specific sub-dimension of these business dimensions. Whether you're seeking the full breadth of our scaling framework or wish to engage our experts directly, this series—and the book it draws from—provides the guidance you need for successful venture scaling.
Introduction to the Strategy Dimension
The first scaling framework dimension is strategy. This dimension sums up everything that gives your venture a longer-term perspective. Starting from the vision and leading to investor relations, the subdimensions of strategy are often the venture founders’ responsibility. The topics in this chapter are unique; they are the only topics that must be known throughout your entire venture, from the beginning of the building phase to long after the scaling phase. They give direction and can unify your venture if prepared and communicated correctly. Make sure you plan for that communication part, maybe more than once. Your employees must understand the common goal everyone is working for.
The blogs in this dimension are:
- Vision and Mission
- Strategy
- Value Proposition
- Market and Competition
- Business Model
- Business Plan
- Investor Relations
Introduction to Value Proposition
As we delve deeper into the Strategy dimension with a focus on the Value Proposition, we emphasize its pivotal role in differentiating your venture in a crowded marketplace. A robust value proposition articulates the unique value your venture promises to deliver. It sets the foundation for all strategic communications and market positioning, ensuring that every facet of your venture is aligned to deliver on this promise, maintaining consistency across product development, customer service, and marketing strategies.
Value Proposition
A value proposition explains how your venture or your venture’s products (or each product on its own) add benefits or solve your customers’ pain points. A value proposition is short and to the point and not a long list of every feature your product has.
The value proposition is a guideline for your development or service team on what they ultimately need to deliver. They can check every new request on its alignment with the value proposition, which helps them prioritize and stay on track.
It is also the foundation of your marketing and sales teams’ communication with your customers; they will further develop it into their unique selling proposition (USP).
After a long time building your venture and potential pivots along the way, your original value proposition might no longer be valid, so redo it. As in the building phase, you can use the value proposition canvas and do it in close alignment with your customers. However, remember that you have built a working product already. Stay on track with that product; don’t veer off too far.
Key Questions for Strategic Alignment:
- Have we formulated our value promise?
- Have we formulated a value promise for each of our customer groups and products?
- How do we communication our value promise(s) to our customers, partners, and suppliers?
- Have we defined a unique selling proposition (USP), and is it aligned with our value proposition?
- Do we know our competitors' value propositions, and is our USP actually unique compare to theirs?
Next Up
As we continue to explore key strategic dimensions critical to venture scaling, understanding and effectively communicating your venture's value and promise become paramount. These concepts not only guide your strategic planning and execution but also ensure that your venture resonates with your target market, driving growth and sustainability.For ventures seeking to refine their strategic focus or for those in need of expert guidance, our team is here to help. Reach out to Alex Matthews, Louis Buys or Kilian Veer to explore how we can support your venture's journey toward successful scaling. Stay tuned for our next piece, where we will delve into another vital aspect of venture scaling, equipping you with the knowledge and tools needed to navigate the complex landscape of corporate venture building.
