I recently came across this quote: “If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together.” I heard it in an insurance commercial, but I made a valiant effort (aka Internet search) to find its original source, only to see it attributed to everyone from Cory Booker to George Washington, Rudyard Kipling to Al Gore, and even Hilary Clinton. The most convincing origin story was that it is an African proverb from Burkino Faso. No matter who said it first, what struck me was how it relates to early stage businesses.
Businesses grow through several pivotal phases:
Start-Up: This is the beginning of a new business, when it is typically under-staffed and under-resourced. Because of the constraints, the entrepreneurs go it alone and “go fast.” Generally, they have a vision, but a scrappy entrepreneur will run toward any paying business that will keep the lights on.
Build-Up: Once the business starts to gain traction, it is time to add some staff, and build up the functional parts of the business. During Build-Up, the entrepreneur is still the center of the universe, and most of the hiring is for operational or staff roles to just get more things done fast. In other words, the entrepreneur is still basically going it alone and trying to go as fast as they can. The business is adding bulk, but not muscle.
Grow-Up: When the business achieves real momentum and the unit economics make it clear that it is time to scale, then the business is ready to “go far.” This is a pivotal moment for the entrepreneur. It requires introspection and recognition that they can no longer be the center of the universe. In order to go far, they will need to “go together” with qualified experts and leaders. The business has to add muscle, not just bulk, to break through the constraints of the entrepreneur trying to do it all. To paraphrase Hilary Clinton, it takes a village to successfully grow a business.
Level-Up: As a company continues to grow and mature, it will add complexity, and the leadership challenges will expand. Like a snake that outgrows its skin and has to shed it to make room for growth, a growing business will reach moments where it too has to shed its skin to set the stage for growth. In a corporate setting, the leaders that possessed the skills to grow the business to one level, may not be the right leaders to grow the business to the next level. This is another phase of “going far together,” but is is more akin to a relay race. The business went as far as it could with the first team, and now it is time to handoff to a new team to cover even more distance. The CEO and the board have to remain vigilant about the effectiveness of the leadership team including the CEO, and recognize when it is time to level up to go even further.
Start-Up to Level-Up is a journey that starts with ‘Go fast and go alone,’ but in order to ‘go far’ it requires a team that will ‘go together.’ Each step of the journey requires the entrepreneur to be self-aware and honest about the strengths and weaknesses of the business, the leadership team, and the staff. The most important lesson, however, is for the entrepreneur to acknowledge the simple parable: “If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together.” The entrepreneur has to recognize that their job is to build a team to go the distance, rather than try to go alone.