What is Blitzscaling?
By: Alexander Lim
Tags: Startup, Startup Lessons, Founders, Founder Advice, Blitzscaling

What is Blitzscaling?

Photo by Sebastian Voortman from Pexels

The term Blitzscaling was coined by Silicon Valley investor and author of the book “Blitzscaling”, Reid Hoffman.

According to Reid, the term applies to startups that have reached a certain level of growth and have assets and resources that enable them to grow very fast.

At this stage, it is no longer possible to scale up by adding more people, so these startups must find ways to grow quickly through technology.

Reid suggests that Blitzscaling is a state where technology can be used to solve problems at hyper-speed. It is about having access to powerful tools such as machine learning algorithms and cloud computing that enable you to move faster than any human team ever could.

Blitzscaling is also about working smarter so you can achieve more with less.

This means that instead of adding more people or spending your budget on advertising to reach new customers — you look for solutions that will enable you to achieve more with less effort.

What are some examples of Blitzscaling

Some of the best examples of Blitzscaling include Facebook and Uber. These companies are not your traditional startup examples. But they have managed to scale at a much higher rate due to their high capital and technology assets.

Facebook was originally built by a team of 5 people who worked remotely from different parts of the world. They used the internet as their main communication channel, and they also relied on cloud computing and other online resources for scaling up quickly. This enabled them to grow quickly while maintaining a lean team structure and lower costs.

Uber is another great example that uses AI to help scale its business very fast. This company was started by Uber’s founders with just $200,000 in the bank. They were able to achieve global growth with just 40 employees on board, which is an amazing feat for a company that has been around for over 10 years! With over 2 million drivers worldwide, Uber has become one of the most valuable startups in the world with its valuation reaching $70 billion at one point in time.

What is the future impact of Blitzscaling?

Blitzscaling can be applied by many organizations in various industries that want to move faster than ever before without spending too much money or adding too many resources into operations.

It helps you get more done with less effort and resources — making it one of the most powerful ways in which you can grow your business without breaking the bank or wasting your time on problems that will not get solved anyway.

AI is also playing a huge role in Blitzscaling, as it is providing support for startups that want to grow very fast. This technology helps you get more done with less effort, which means that you can focus on problems that matter and achieve much better results at a much faster rate.

Is Blitzscaling still a valid strategy after WeWork’s failure?

WeWork is a great example of Blitzscaling gone wrong. This company raised over $4.4 billion in funding from investors, and it was also backed by SoftBank, which is one of the biggest investors on the planet.

While WeWork had a good idea to create a coworking space for startups and freelancers — it simply didn’t have the right mix of technology assets and financial resources to execute its plan.

There are many more successful examples of Blitzscaling such as Pinterest, Uber, Slack etc. However, WeWork’s failure was not due to lack of technology or a great idea. It was mainly because they had too much money and not enough focus on their business plan!

If you want to apply Blitzscaling in your startup instead of taking on too much risk or spending too much money without achieving your goals — then you should do so only after you do your research and find out what is working for other companies in your industry.

You should also put together a strong team that can help you execute your plan before you move into hyper-growth mode.

In summary, you should only Blitzscale if you have a great idea, the right team and the necessary technology assets to support your growth plan. That is when Blitzscaling can help you achieve incredible results with very little capital (relative).

About the Author

I am the Founder of Cudy Technologies (www.cudy.co), a full-stack EdTech startup helping teachers and students teach and learn better. I am also a mentor and angel investor in other Startups of my other interests (Proptech, Fintech, HRtech, Ride-hailing, C2C marketplaces and SaaS). You can also find me on Cudy for early-stage Startup Founder mentorship and advice.

You can connect with me on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderlhk) and let me know that you are a reader of my Medium posts in your invitation message.