For most African start-ups and scale-up businesses being battered by the myriad effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the few ‘silver linings’ of the crisis is the hope of coming out stronger on the other side. But that won’t happen automatically – it will require taking proactive steps now to invest in that outcome. That’s the focus of the forthcoming 10X-entrepreneur (10X-e) Scale Up Labs.
50% of start-ups across East and Southern Africa have had their product or service range rendered outdated, irrelevant or requiring a major overhaul, according to a survey conducted recently by 10X-e, a business focused on scaling innovation-led, high-growth ventures in Africa. Survey results further revealed that more than 80% of the surveyed organisations had to update some combination of their business model, game plan and competitive strategy to stay in business. In a nutshell, founders and leadership teams are tired, working twice as hard for half as much. The year is feeling long, and the journey ahead is hard.
Start-ups are needing to take positive steps forward to use the crisis to get stronger, to re-energise themselves and their teams with hope that springs from taking proactive steps to build a stronger business, even in the midst of the chaos.
To support founders in that process, 10X-e has introduced the Scale Up Labs series for business leaders to invest in being stronger on the other side of this crisis, and build the resilience to lead well through the rest of it.
The Scale the Google Way with OKRs Lab will start in November 2020 and is focused on implementing the agile and scalable management system Google used to lead the organisation from 20 to 50 000 headcount. Larry Page, co-founder of Google famously said, “OKRs have helped lead us to 10x growth, many times over. They’ve helped make our crazily bold mission of ‘organizing the world’s information’ perhaps even achievable. They’ve kept me and the rest of the company on time and on track when it mattered the most.”
“Every growth venture needs a system to keep the team strategically focused, aligned and accountable. When you are small, you are the system. At some point, that system will either break you or the business or both! When that happens, you need to “Scale the Google Way” by implementing the OKR system,” adds Goldberg.
The Lead NOW Lab, the first in the series and starting on 29th October, is a grit building process aimed at re-engaging leaders’ A-Game after these brutal few months. It is focused on putting in place the practical habits to help leaders and their teams be mentally, emotionally and physically more well – therefore having a deeper well of positive energy for their organisations to drink from.
Jason Goldberg, founder of 10X-e says, “As a venture leader at the back end of 2020, you are probably exhausted at a time when your business needs your leadership A-Game the most. This Lab is a space to do the work required to re-engage your A-Game with the guidance from other CEOs whose business it is to help CEOs bring their A-Game.”
“As we navigate this unprecedented year, leadership and resilience have never been more important. Lead NOW provides an opportunity to close out the year with sharpened insights, pragmatic tools and a community of fellow entrepreneurs who are in this with you. It is an opportunity to invest in yourself as founder and leader – and so, set up your team and business to shift your trajectory as you build forward,” says Kerrin Miller, principal psychologist and co-founder of Factor10 Consulting.
10X-e has been supporting high growth Scale Ups on the continent since 2016. Birthed out of the pain of learning the hard way (trial and error!) how to scale their own business at 50% annual growth for 12 years, plus working with their own portfolio of >50 African ventures, 10X-e exists to help founders who’re scaling an organisation for the first time, and typically supports ventures scaling from 20-200 headcount.
When describing the value of being part of a 10X-e programme, hearX Group CEO, Nic Klopper says, “10X-e was instrumental in the success of hearX. It provided a laser focus and forced critical thinking for the founders. 10X-e helped our business identify the growth opportunities and where to apply our focus. I would recommend this programme to any high-growth startup looking to grow their business.”
The team at 10X-e will release the schedule of 2021 Scale Up Labs – focused on scale-up issues caused by Covid-19 and rapid growth – in January 2021.
Win a Seat
If you would like to win a seat at the Scale the Google Way with OKRs Lab, follow this link to complete a quick survey to secure an entry.
For more information on the 10X-e Scale Up Lab series, click here: https://10x-e.africa/scale-up-lab-series/
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About 10X-e
At 10X Entrepreneur (10X-e), our mission is to scale impact by growing businesses. We specialise in scaling innovation led, high growth ventures in Africa. Through a highly experienced team of former-Founders and CEO’s, 10X-e provides cutting edge tools, skills and seasoned advice for high teams to scale up. To date, 10X-e has worked with 441 companies, created more than 1100 jobs.
Jason Goldberg (Co-Founder, Edge Growth | Co-Founder, Vumela Fund | Founder, 10X-e)
After a career spanning management consulting across Africa and Latin America with Bain & Co and working as a corporate strategist in the airline industry in Latin America, Jason founded Edge Growth, Edge Growth Corporate Advisory, Edge Fund Management with the Vumela fund and more recently the start-up called 10X-entrepreneur. The mission of 10X-e is to address the #1 constraint to job creation in SA and Africa. 80% of the top 1% of ventures get stuck or fail prematurely due to a critical shortage of Scale Up skills required to navigate scaling a business from a start-up to a large, mature organisation. 10X-e’s mission is to address this constraint by providing a CEO incubation program (‘incubating’ CEO’s & Executive teams) consisting of the most powerful and cutting-edge Scale Up training, coaching, tools, and practical support.
