In the treacherous journey of scaling a startup, founders often find themselves navigating a complex landscape filled with opportunities, challenges, and unexpected distractions. While the excitement of growth can be intoxicating, it comes with its own set of risks— the one that I have seen the most in supporting accelerators and startup founders, the potential to lose sight of the core value proposition that initially fuelled the startup’s success and the amount of time that passes between solving the original problem the founder set out to solve.

Here are some common reasons why I’ve seen this phenomenon occur and how founders can prevent it.

1. Overemphasis on Growth Metrics

As startups scale, the focus frequently shifts from delivering value to chasing growth metrics. And not just one or two, but ALL of them. Founders may become enamoured with revenue targets, user acquisition rates, and market share instead of understanding and nurturing the unique value their product or service offers. This change in focus can lead to a dilution of the original problem statement that is being solved for, causing the business to stray from what made it valuable in the first place to those willing to pay.

Solution:

Regularly revisit the founding principles and values of the business. Establish a framework that balances growth metrics with qualitative measures of customer satisfaction and engagement. Identify key metrics for your stage of growth and focus only on those as the CEO. Let your marketing and sales teams look after the rest. If you need help with sales, Shelley walters is my go-to coach, at The Sales Counsel.

2. Changing Customer Needs

As the market evolves, so do customer expectations and needs. Founders might initially develop a product that perfectly addresses a specific problem, but as scaling occurs, they sometimes fail to adapt to the shifting landscape. Ignoring customer feedback or not conducting regular checkins with your trusted customers can lead to a misalignment between the product and the audience it serves.

Solution:

Implement a continuous feedback loop with customers that doesn’t burden them. Use surveys, focus groups, and analytics to understand how needs are changing and adapt the value proposition accordingly. I personally like the use of a “customer council” that are invested customers, usually first adopters, that will give you hard feedback and like to get their hands on new things, first.

3. Team Dynamics and Culture Shift

Scaling often entails bringing on new team members who may not share the same vision or passion as the original founders, this often happens as the layers in a business increase and founders aren’t in direct daily contact with their whole team which is needed to scale but has it’s downsides too . This can create a cultural disconnect, leading to a team that is less aligned with the company’s core values. If the team is not aligned on values but more importantly behaviours of those values in practice, the focus can easily shift away from delivering value to merely getting the job done.

Solution:

Invest heavily in team alignment and culture-building initiatives. Regularly communicate the company’s value proposition, ensuring that every team member understands and embodies them and that it stays front of mind for you and them.

4. Operational Complexity

As organizations grow, operational complexity increases. Founders may become absorbed in managing processes, systems, and internal challenges, diverting their attention from the customer experience and value proposition. This can result in a reactive approach, where teams prioritize efficiency over creativity and customer-centricity. I’ve seen this many times, where the founder gets distracted by figuring out operations without keeping in mind who they are serving and why.

Solution:

Streamline operations while maintaining a focus on the customer. Create dedicated teams or roles that focus on innovation and customer experience, ensuring these remain a priority as the company grows. Give authority to those who look after the customer’s interests to hold yourself and your team accountable for making sure the customer’s voice is heard and understood.

5. Competitive Pressures

In the race to outpace competitors, startups may feel pressured to pivot or expand their offerings. This can lead to a “feature creep” scenario where the initial value proposition becomes buried under an avalanche of new features, diluting the original offering. And let’s face it, founders LOVE new features and feature releases!

Solution:

Stay true to your unique selling points and who your customers really are. When considering new features or pivots, evaluate how they align with the core value proposition and customer needs. Make sure you ask your customer council about features before you go and build them.

6. Loss of Direct Customer Interaction

In the early days, founders are often in close contact with their customers, gaining first-hand insights into their needs and pain points and often having to resolve them, themselves. However, as the team grows, this direct interaction can diminish, leading to a disconnect. Without that vital feedback loop, founders may lose touch with what truly matters to their customers

Solution:

Encourage all team members, especially leadership, to engage with customers regularly and directly. This can be through customer interviews, support tickets, or social media interactions, ensuring that the voice of the customer remains central to decision-making and strategic planning. If I haven’t said this enough, your customer council is a great tool to help prevent this- so long as the founder sits on those sessions.

If you want help getting your value prop back into focus – get hold of us.