Did you know how powerfully Agile principles can accelerate and empower startup success? On a recent School of Startups podcast episode with Jim Beach and our founder Geoff Blaisdell, this hot topic turned into a lively discussion on the Run / Grow / Transform method and what it can mean for your startup success.
Agile developers designed these three critical categories to better evaluate and execute on a project’s potential:
- RUN products and services maintain existing operations, ensuring the daily functionalities run smoothly. They preserve what already works.
- GROW initiatives expand your scope of operations by reducing costs or increasing sales. They scale and enhance existing offerings.
- TRANSFORM projects revolutionize your work, opening up new revenue streams and opportunities. They innovate and adapt to a changing landscape.
Geoff believes entrepreneurs and startup investors can employ a similar framework. Before diving headfirst into product development, determining whether the startup’s product falls into the Run, Grow, or Transform categories can show you the best strategy for startup success.
- RUN or GROW products typically face existing competition. Their challenge? Persuading customers to switch. Investors will want a well-developed prototype as proof of concept. In these cases, a better product may outshine a faster one.
- TRANSFORM products, on the other hand, require a visionary approach. Launching something novel—flaws and all—can draw people in and demonstrate market potential, so founders can feel more confident favoring speed over perfection.
In today’s fast-paced tech-driven world, speed sells.
The traditional waterfall method used by many startups—moving sequentially through discovery, design, implementation, testing, delivery, and maintenance—can slow you down. It often results in polished solutions for yesterday’s problems, and every product, in any of the three categories, should be forward-looking.
Agile methodologies offer motivated founders a solution. They accelerate product development without sacrificing quality, user experience, or team well-being. Agile has been a game-changer in the tech industry, and it can revolutionize how your startup operates. If you want more insight into how Agile can accelerate your startup success, tune in!
We created the Beyond Formation Blueprint as a holistic, hands-on, Agile approach that breaks down building, running, and funding a world-class business into a series of actionable steps and results-oriented strategies for startup success.