Scaling New Ventures

Although scaling is a “hot topic” in the practitioner literature, it has mostly been ignored (at least explicitly) in the academic literature. Building on a recent editorial, this chapter highlights the importance of scaling for new venture growth. Scaling refers to spreading excellence within a venture as it grows (organically or through acquisition) from a new (and often small) organization to an established, large organization (Shepherd & Patzelt in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258720950599, 2020). In this chapter, we explore the drivers and consequences of scaling and explain how knowledge management facilitates scaling, how founder replacement impacts scaling, and how current scaling influences subsequent scaling.