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Free · 73 lessons

Scale-up School

Lessons on strategy, leadership, execution, rhythm, people and finance, for founders and their teams. Reading, watching and the quiz are free, no account needed. In Boldcaster you apply a lesson to your own business.

Learning paths

A series of lessons around one goal, in the order we recommend.

All lessons

Leadership

  1. Digging deeperYou understand what the other person means before you come up with a solution.12 min
  2. Situational leadershipYou give everyone the leadership they need for this task.25 min
  3. Who's got the monkey?You hand work over without it ending up back on your plate.12 min
  4. Mission commandYou give an assignment through your managers so that the goal and the why reach two layers down.20 min
  5. The one-to-oneYou have a regular conversation with each of your people, and it's theirs.15 min
  6. Founder modeYou choose, topic by topic, whether you get hands on or let go, and you say why and until when.15 min
  7. Ownership in your teamFor each team, you know whether the mission and the mandate are in place and whether you're keeping your hands off. And you let the next decision someone else makes stand.15 min
  8. The five growth phasesYou know why your phase is about your market rather than the size of your team, and you open the lesson for your phase.8 min
  9. Searching: who really has the problem?This month you'll have five conversations about what customers actually did, and afterwards you'll know which problem you solve and for whom.12 min
  10. Proving: how do you make it repeatable?You measure whether customers would really miss you, pick the segment that responds most strongly and put your time there this month.12 min
  11. Organising: how do you take yourself out?You take one thing customers keep buying and turn it into a product that's sold and delivered without you.12 min
  12. Growing: which leap makes you unbeatable?You work out how much is still left in your current market, then choose one leap to a new product, segment or country.12 min
  13. Scaling: take the margin or win the market?You work out whether each euro of revenue costs you less than it did last year, and you choose on purpose what to do with the difference.12 min

Strategy

  1. Your strategy on one pageYou know why your strategy fits on one page, which boxes to fill in at your phase, and in what order.8 min
  2. Core values that guide behaviourYou write down three to five core values, each with the behaviour you want and the behaviour you don't, and you know how to use them when you hire and review people.10 min
  3. Why you existYou write down in one sentence why your company exists, found by asking why five times, and you use that sentence for your next big decision.8 min
  4. The BHAG: one big goal with a finish lineYou'll know whether it's time for a BHAG, and if it is, you'll write down one goal for 10 to 25 years with a finish line your team can repeat back to you.8 min
  5. Profit per X: what you make your money onYou pick the one unit your company makes its money on, work out the profit per unit and see where your engine leaks or gains leverage.12 min
  6. Your sandboxYou write down where your company plays, by region, target audience and product, and what it says no to, even if you've just changed course.12 min
  7. What you do better than anyoneYou name the one capability your company has that others can't easily copy, and that still works when you're not there.10 min
  8. Your core customerYou test who your company is for in conversations with customers, and describe them as one person once the market confirms it.12 min
  9. The DNA: the soul of your companyYou write down, in two or three sentences, the bar you set as founder, so other people hold it when you're around less.8 min
  10. A brand promise with a guaranteeYou write down one promise your customer can check, put its KPI on your scoreboard and work out what the guarantee costs.10 min
  11. Your exit goalYou pick an amount and a year for what your company is worth, work out whether it's achievable, and know what you want when the moment comes.12 min
  12. 3HAG: your company in three yearsIn five or six sentences you describe what your company looks like on a date three years from now, specific enough that your team can make their own choices based on it.8 min
  13. Success strategiesYou write down three to five choices that set you apart, each with the price you pay for it, and that reinforce each other.12 min
  14. Three-year objectivesYou put the numbers next to your 3HAG, for the same year, and you've checked that they add up.8 min
  15. Objectives for this yearYou set two or three numbers for this year, each from where you are now to a target, and each comes back as a KPI on your scoreboard and as a rock in your quarter.8 min
  16. An annual themeYou give the year a short name with one number attached, so everyone in the company knows what this year is about without reading the canvas.7 min

Execution

  1. Rock, OKR or project: which do you choose?You put every piece of work in the right type: a rock, an OKR, a project, a KPI or a standalone task.6 min
  2. A rock you actually hitYou write a rock that's either done or not done on the last day of the quarter, give it one owner, and see early enough whether it's falling behind.8 min
  3. OKRs: a goal, and how you know you've got thereYou write an OKR with a goal in plain words and two to five key results that show, without argument, whether you've got there. Then you derive your teams' OKRs from it.10 min
  4. Result KPIs and driver KPIsYou work back from a result to what your team needs to do every week, and choose the driver KPIs that predict that result.10 min
  5. A scoreboard the team keeps up itselfYou and your team set up a board with a few numbers they update themselves, and you open it at the start of the meeting every week.8 min
  6. An owner for every KPIEvery number on your scoreboard has one name: someone who fills it in each period, explains what's going on when it's amber or red, and decides for themselves what to do about it.10 min
  7. Mapping your core processesYou know which processes run your company, from a customer coming in to the money coming in, and at which handover the work gets stuck.10 min
  8. An owner for every processEvery main process has one owner who keeps an eye on the whole chain and improves it, and there's a written agreement with the line managers on who decides about the process and who decides about the people.10 min
  9. Writing down how you work, without a thick manualYou write down one way of working that a colleague can follow without you, with an owner who keeps it up to date, and you know who knows it.10 min
  10. A company brainYour own AI fetches the state of your business from one source, with your permissions, so you stop hunting for it or pasting it in.10 min
  11. Skills for recurring workYou set up one job you do often as a skill, so your AI does it the same way every time without you explaining it again.12 min

Rhythm

  1. The rhythm of a growing companyYou know which fixed moments there are, from the day to the year, which ones you need in your phase, and where to start.8 min
  2. Starting the day wellEvery morning you pick three things that have to get done today, and if you lead a team you hold a fifteen-minute daily start where everyone says where they're stuck.10 min
  3. Planning in weeksYou start every week with a week focus and a board holding only what can get done, and on Friday you close it with a decision on every card that's still open.10 min
  4. A meeting that's about somethingYour weekly meeting, team meeting and monthly meeting each have a fixed agenda with timings, and every meeting ends with decisions that have an owner, and with what you'll tell your people.12 min
  5. Solving problems instead of discussing themYou put whatever's stuck on one list, find the real cause, and close every issue with a decision and an owner.12 min
  6. Looking back on the monthYou fill in your monthly reflection so that something comes out of it: you start with what you wanted last month, look for the cause of every gap, and choose a focus you can tick off in four weeks.8 min
  7. The quarterly sessionEvery quarter you hold a half-day session with your team. It closes off the priorities, draws the lessons from them, and ends with a few new priorities and the KPI targets for the next quarter.12 min
  8. Closing the year and planning the nextYou close the year with two days in which the leadership team puts four quarters side by side, tests the strategy and chooses what stops, and goes home with the priorities for the first quarter.10 min

People

  1. The A-player matrixYou know who carries your team, and what you'll do with each of them.20 min
  2. The difficult conversationYou name behaviour that doesn't fit, once and clearly, without tearing anyone down.20 min
  3. The performance reviewYou hold a conversation about someone's work where nothing comes as a surprise and everything ends up on paper.15 min
  4. A role with a purposeEveryone in your team knows why their role exists, and how you'll both be able to tell they're doing it well.12 min
  5. Who decides whatFor each decision, you agree who makes it: the person themselves, after checking with someone, or someone else. And everyone can look it up.15 min
  6. Commitments you keepYou ask for things so the other person knows what has to be done and by when, you only say yes when you can deliver, and you speak up before the agreed day if it isn't going to happen.10 min

Finance

  1. Reading your P&LYou read your P&L line by line, know which question to ask at each line, and can see from the margins over three periods where your profit goes.10 min
  2. Profit isn't cash yetYou see where your profit goes between the P&L and the bank, you work out what a payment term costs you, and you know in advance how much cash growth will take.10 min
  3. What your people bring inYou work out how much gross profit every euro of wages brings in, compare it with the benchmark for your sector, and know how much payroll your current gross profit can carry.10 min
  4. Budget, forecast and actualsYou know what your budget, forecast and actuals each do, you build your revenue from capacity, utilisation and rate, and you can explain a variance line by line.12 min
  5. The leversYou know the seven levers for profit and cash, you know what 1 per cent or one day is worth in your business, and you pick the lever you'll pull this quarter.10 min
  6. Reviewing your numbers every monthEvery month, within ten working days of closing, you hold a one-hour review of your numbers with a fixed agenda, and every review ends with decisions that have an owner and a date.10 min

Personal leadership

  1. Owning your workYou bring a problem with a recommendation, make the decisions that are yours to make, and finish what you pick up.10 min
  2. Keeping your manager on boardYour manager hears what they need to know in time, bad news included, and knows what you need from them.10 min
  3. Protecting your timeYou put your most important work in fixed blocks in your calendar, and you check email and chat at times you choose.10 min
  4. Influence and concernYou put your energy into what you can change at work yourself. With what's out of your reach, you make a deliberate choice: take it to the owner, or let it go.10 min
  5. Asking AI a good questionYou ask Claude or ChatGPT a question that gets you something useful, and you know what to check yourself.10 min
  6. A project with your own documentsYou set up a project in Claude or ChatGPT that knows who you are and how you work, so you don't have to explain it every time.10 min
  7. Where do you start with working healthily?In a few minutes you'll know where your weak spot is, and what your first step is.5 min
  8. Sleeping betterYou know how much sleep you need, what disturbs it most, and what you'll do differently tonight.8 min
  9. Stress and recoveryYou know the difference between stress that comes with the job and stress that won't go away, and you build recovery into your day.8 min
  10. Breathing calmlyYou know two breathing exercises you do every day, and you know what they do and don't do.6 min
  11. Eating and drinkingYou know what the guidelines actually say, where it goes wrong on a working day, and what you'll eat or drink differently tomorrow.7 min
  12. Moving through the dayYou know how much movement is enough, why sitting still for long stretches matters, and how to move more without having to find extra time for it.6 min
  13. Strength and fitnessYou know why muscle strength and fitness matter so much, how much is enough, and how to start without a gym.7 min

Apply a lesson to your own business

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