In recent years, the pressure from investors on already successful start-ups to keep growing faster and faster has been intense. Reaching a $100 million valuation, a notable achievement in its own right, left little time to celebrate; the venture capital (VC) firms that invest in these companies expect their value to reach $1 billion or more—and to do so quickly. Yet less than one in ten manage this feat in under four years.Earlier this year, a McKinsey team featuring Kim Baroudy, Giacomo Dolci, Sid Ramtri, and Harry Schiff set out to better understand that dynamic, to learn why it is that so many already successful start-ups struggle to maintain their rapid pace of growth. The result of that research is their recent McKinsey article, “Hard choices: How Europe’s fastest-growing start-ups become unicorns.” On today’s episode of McKinsey on Startups, one of the co-authors, Associate Partner Sid Ramtri, explains the key findings of the research, which identified principles to guide leaders of European scale-ups through some of the critical trade-offs and decisions that mark this period in their development.

<p>In recent years, the pressure from investors on already successful start-ups to keep growing faster and faster has been intense. Reaching a $100 million valuation, a notable achievement in its own right, left little time to celebrate; the venture capital (VC) firms that invest in these companies expect their value to reach $1 billion or more—and to do so quickly. Yet less than one in ten manage this feat in under four years.Earlier this year, a McKinsey team featuring Kim Baroudy, Giacomo Dolci, Sid Ramtri, and Harry Schiff set out to better understand that dynamic, to learn why it is that so many already successful start-ups struggle to maintain their rapid pace of growth. The result of that research is their recent McKinsey article, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/hard-choices-how-europes-fastest-growing-start-ups-become-unicorns">“Hard choices: How Europe’s fastest-growing start-ups become unicorns.”</a> On today’s episode of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/mckinsey-on-startups">McKinsey on Startups</a>, one of the co-authors, Associate Partner Sid Ramtri, explains the key findings of the research, which identified principles to guide leaders of European scale-ups through some of the critical trade-offs and decisions that mark this period in their development.</p>

McKinsey on Start-ups is an original podcast series from Fuel, McKinsey’s startup practice. In each episode, our experts cut through the noise to help startups and investors accelerate growth. We feature conversations with founders/leaders, investors, and industry experts to share the latest perspective across borders and sectors.

McKinsey on Start-ups

Why is it so hard for successful scale-ups to maintain their rapid pace of growth? New McKinsey research identifies principles to help guide founders and leaders through the critical trade-offs and decisions that mark this pivotal period in their development.

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