North Star Metric for 40+ Growth-Stage Tech Companies

Source: https://future.a16z.com/north-star-metrics/ (QR8)

Growth loops in your business model

Growth loops are the key to sustainable growth. If you can find a way to grow your business at a linear or exponential rate, you can generate more revenue faster.

Growth loops are a series of steps that help you identify the key metrics you need to focus on to accelerate growth.

Identify what needs improvement (for example people are not signing up).

How can we improve these metrics? This could mean changing landing page messaging or reaching out through different channels, such as social media and email marketing campaigns, rather than relying solely on word-of-mouth recommendations from current users.

Survey Monkey Growth Loop Model

Ortto Growth Loop Model

Work platform and customer data processing, messaging and data analytics. Provide solutions for building customer journeys.

SurveyMonkey is a company that allows users reating online surveys. It helps users to create, send and analyze these surveys. Users can email surveys to respondents and post them on their websites and social media profiles to increase the response rate.

Source: https://ortto.com/blog/growth-loops/ (QR9)

Pinterest Growth Loop Model

Pinterest is a visual discovery engine for finding ideas like recipes, home and style inspiration, and more. With billions of pins on Pinterest, you can always find inspirational ideas. When pins are discovered, they can be saved to boards so ideas are organized and easy to find. You can also create pins to share ideas with other people on Pinterest.

Source: https://ortto.com/blog/growth-loops/ (QR9)

Linkedin Growth Loop Model

Linkedin is a social network oriented to business use that works by promoting the professional skills of users, who freely share their work experience. The platform connects millions of companies and employees in search of talent and professional development.

Source: https://ortto.com/blog/growth-loops/ (QR9)

Source: https://ortto.com/blog/growth-loops/ (QR9)

Growth engines

The concept of growth engines is explained by Eric Ries in his book the lean startup method. Growth engines are metrics that can help you discover how to create sustainable growth based on your audience's use of your product or service. There are four main growth engines: the viral growth engine, the paid growth engine, the search engine optimization (SEO) growth engine and the sales force growth engine.

1. The viral growth engine: which can be driven by word of mouth, sharing content, sending invitations to your close contacts, or a referral and recommendation program.

2. The paid growth engine: mainly through advertising and marketing.

3. The growth engine through search engine optimization: the audience finds your product or service through searching online.

4. The growth engine through sales force: having a team dedicated to the sales and marketing effort, primarily in business-to-business sales.

For more information and examples about the growth engines of some of today's most important technology applications review the article by Rachitsky (2022b) in the references section.

Examples and trends in current markets

Although it may sound trivial, we would like to give you an international example from which we can learn by looking at fashion television programs from a different perspective.

For several years we could see on television programs such as Project Runway, Next in Fashion and national examples such as Mexico Diseña, and others in which designers competed, most of them in their initial stages of entrepreneurship or with small businesses; currently the format of such programs has begun to signers to a process of acceleration and scaling, that is, now the participants are designers with brands in operation, with knowledge about production and marketing of fashion.

Just to mention one example, in the Making the Cut program, now in alliance with the e-commerce and multimedia content platform Amazon, as part of the dynamics of the contest, the goal was set for these designers to enter the global electronic market through its platform, and an economic support (prize) of one million dollars was given to them precisely to be used in the acceleration and scaling process of the winning brands.

This dynamic allows a design to be commercialized in less time and with greater reach. It is worth mentioning that the program has an official store on the Amazon portal. As part of the acceleration process, support is also offered to designers under a mentoring scheme with experts and colorations with recognized brands.

12: Financial strategy modeling

Define your company's financial model, economic metrics oriented to audience retention and apply cost engineering to your scaling up project. In this step, it is recommended to explore public and private funding sources.

In this step it is important to make an in-depth review of your cost structure and make financial runs on the possible financial models you are looking to follow. To get to this point it will be important to understand the main financial ratios, explore possible alternative sources of revenue and it is time to leverage the use of technology to reduce costs and maximize profits.

It is worth mentioning that each Creative and Cultural Industrie sub-sector has different profitability and returns. It will be necessary to be clear whether your activity is economically viable, self-sustainable, has growth potential, or will be dependent on donations and public funds.

Whatever your case may be, in this step we recommend you to do research in order to know which sources of financing you could use to invest for the scaling up of your project. These sources of financing can be public or private funds.

Review Price and Mujica (2018) article to identify issues affecting funding for the Creative and Cultural Industries.

Uncertainty and risk

Lack of collateral (guarantees)

Lack of history

Information asymmetries, adverse selection, and behavioral risk.

Investment and sunk costs

Transaction costs

Characteristics of entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs themselves

Dependence on public funds

Intellectual property

In the words of the creatives interviewed: "we sell and produce what our clients do not yet know they will like and are willing to pay for. Cultural and creative products are a gamble subject to consumer taste." Although many of the projects that the study participants told us had the potential to generate income, it is difficult to get private investors to invest.

You will find information on funding sources and programs in the additional support section of this document, as well as in the publication Sponsors, public policies and tools for scaling up and internationalization edited by Durazo-Watanabe (2022).

In this step you will also determine whether you need financing or to raise capital from investors. As suggested reading, we offer for your consideration chapters 7, 11 and 12 of the book “Aprendiendo a emprender”.

13: Creative Pitchs

An important key to having a great pitch is to communicate your story clearly and concisely, emphasizing the core elements along the roadmap. These are: vision, problem, product or service, business model, team, market, financials, and growth rate. Close with a call to action for your target audience.

What is a Pitch?

Explained in creative terms, it is your speech, your script that you use to present your business or project to a specific audience. It is the dialogue to present your business concept, and depending on the purpose you have set will contain variations of elements; in this step, we will explain key elements for the development of a pitch that connects with your audience, your customers, investors, partners, and other ecosystem players.

Pitch Elements

1. Opening message - remember first impressions count for a lot. The audience is likely to remember what made an impact on them. You have the first few seconds to hook your audience.

2. Who are you or who are the members of the project and why are you addressing your audience? - You can briefly talk about your background and the elements that characterize you or your business.

3. Business concept – scaling up: What is your value proposition, and what differentiates you? What does your project consist of? Why is it relevant? In the case of cultural projects it is important to point out your contributions to society.

4. Financial model

5. Expected impact - expected growth

6. What do you expect to get from your audience? How much investment are you seeking?

7. A good closing.

Artistic and Business Pitch

During the interview process and based on the research done, we would like to propose that you prepare two types of Pitch, one focused on your audience where you can effectively convey your artistic and cultural message, and built with your personal seal (here you will use elements of the Branding and Personal Marketing step); and a second pitch where you integrate into your dialogue the language of business, that is, in which you convey your business concept and those aspects of relevance to achieve a business goal that you have set to achieve with your presentation.

For the Business Pitch it is important to master your numbers, that is to say, the Creative and Cultural entrepreneur needs to know his numbers. How much you sell, your profit margins, how much capital you use for a certain project, and what you are going to use it for. How many customers do you have, your sales channels. When it comes to a Pitch for investors or for a public official responsible for a program it is important to be able to transmit that in addition to mastering your business from the creative and cultural point of view there is also a full knowledge of the business side.

Elevator Pitch Technique

In cases where you are unexpectedly presented with the opportunity to approach a person who could be a client, partner, or investor, you can apply the Elevator Pitch technique.

To take advantage of this opportunity, you will need to analyze the receiver at the speed of light to finalize in that fraction of time what adjustments to make to your original Pitch. Since you generally have between 20 and 30 seconds to get the receiver's attention.

What do I need to consider for an executive presentation?

Prepare your presentation minute by minute and anticipate all your movements just like a movie theater script. In addition to the message, it is necessary to consider elements such as: time available, audiovisual supports, electronic devices, modality (if it is virtual, stability in the internet connection).

Time to present: it is important to know how much time is available for the presentation in cases where there is a previous appointment. Practice, practice, and practice your Pitch, it is important.

Additional support

Resources for startup acceleration and scalability

Below is a list of resources for entrepreneurs looking to scale and accelerate their businesses. From public sector financing programs to the different business accelerators that exist both in Mexico and Latin America (LATAM), this list provides some suggestions on available financing and acceleration programs.

Accelerators and incubators are a great way to build and accelerate your business. They offer mentoring, connections and funding opportunities, all in exchange

Preparation: if you are going to use audiovisual resources, it is important to make sure that the equipment is working properly and to make tests prior to the presentation (test that the files run correctly).

Audiovisual supports: prepare the video or presentation that you will use at the moment you will give your pitch, but also add support information at the end in case specific questions arise, let's say a section of annexes. In those cases where it is a very important presentation and you know beforehand that the level of demand is high, if necessary, get support from experts to make a quality presentation in terms of design and im for a small equity stake. But finding the right accelerator or incubator can be difficult. You need to find one that is aligned with your goals and will help you achieve success faster than on your own.

Practice: if you are going to use a clicker, practice the use of the clicker. Practice with the collaborators of your team and with people outside the project. If an outsider is able to understand you without prior information about your business, this will serve as a reference to determine if the message is conveyed clearly, concisely and fluently.

Impress the audience: Use your communication skills to deliver an original message that connects with your audience. Give them a unique business experience in your presentation. If you prepare graphics, make your project's stamp identifiable throughout your presentation.

Business accelerator programs are designed to help startups and scaleups test their ideas, develop their businesses and grow them. They provide the mentoring, coaching and other resources needed to fuel the growth of these organizations. Accelerators can take the form of physical spaces where entrepreneurs meet with other founders and mentors, or they can be online platforms that connect participants with similar interests as they explore new opportunities.

There are several business accelerators that have business scalability programs. Some of them are:

1. Y Combinator

2. Ignite 100

3. MassChallenge

4. Techstars

5. Wayra

6. 500 Startups

7. Impulso20

8. Victoria147

9. Startup México

10. BBVA Momentum

11. Platanus Ventures

12. Rockstar LatAm

13. Orion Startups

14. Bluebox

15. Tijuana Ventures

16. Startup Chile

17. Seedstars

18. IDB Lab

19. Endeavor

20. The Venture City

21. Magical Aceleradora

22. NXTP Corporate Partners

23. Startup Buenos Aires

24. UTEC Ventures

25. ProInnóvate

26. Innpulsa

27. Rockstart aceleradora

28. EWA Capital

29. Impact Hub

30. Darwin Startups

31. New Ventures LATAM

32. Plug & Play accelerator

33. Google for Startups

34. Disney Accelerator

35. Impulso 20

Ensure your company is ready for acceleration and scalability

As you read about the various resources and programs, it's important to keep in mind that all of these factors are very important. You will be more successful as a creative entrepreneur if you take the time to make sure your company is ready for acceleration and scalability by making sure you have a clear vision and strategies, a strong team, a solid business model and/or a validated product or service.

This 12-step roadmap is intended to help you prepare your company for acceleration, or to help you present yourself with a better chance of entering one of the most important business accelerators in the Americas mentioned above.

Additional community and support resources: Amela (Newsletter): Entrepreneurial women community Startupeable (podcast): LATAM startups and acceleration educational content

Latinometrics: Data about the innovation ecosystem in LATAM