When Speed Meets Scale

When Startups and Enterprises Collide

You know what they say… You can’t have it all. And in business, you can’t have a nimble, scrappy enterprise. You can’t have an established brand, a multi-billion-dollar enterprise that can pivot quickly.

But you can aspire to bring the two worlds together, and where they meet, something that makes both worlds better happens.

Speed with Structure

Startups must move fast. Rapid iteration is their survival tactic — experiments are run to learn while building, not after. Every team is constantly in motion… changing their structure, changing their processes, changing their responsibilities as they evolve. The main process is just: go.

Enterprises, by contrast, are built on structure. Processes need to be governed. Frameworks and guidelines are in place for nearly every action one takes. Approvals and committee decisions for everything. People expect stability. They expect repeatability, and for that, they need documentation before every step.

The sweet spot sits where people still run fast experiments and question existing premises. Teams are not forced into exact processes but into execution with some guardrails. The momentum remains but is channeled.

I saw this firsthand at Rivian.

Early on, the startup mindset was pumping — quick decisions, fast builds, forward motion without process. But as we launched to the world, a lot of governance and audit processes started to kick in. Something that has to be in place at that stage. For example, I used to own a range of internal tools. Some of them granted access to sensitive data.

To access these tools, we had to implement an access process. It made sense, but it was painful. To this day, I hear hallway conversations about the long approval process. I usually don’t reveal my identity in these. 🙂 

Autonomy with Alignment

Startups are fueled by a mission. They know where the company’s headed and move independently to get there. If they have dependencies, they often clear the path with a quick Slack message and keep moving.

But as companies grow, so does the use of the word “alignment”.

Enterprises rely on alignment. There is still a mission, but now it’s a 30-page strategy presentation. Execution stretches across departments, countries, and work processes. Alignment becomes a mandate.

To create that alignment, certain frameworks are put in place, and premises are established and rarely questioned.

The sweet spot? Empowered teams with the freedom to explore. Not just plainly to align existing processes or frameworks, but to challenge them. Move the guardrails if they don’t make sense. Alignment to the “Why” and “What” but freedom to the “How”.

Entrepreneurial Mindset with Institutional Resources

Startups rely on hustle. You make do with the few resources you have. You get creative on how to solve your problems. Not having enough budget or resources is a given.

Enterprises have scale, funding, and people. With that combination, they should be unstoppable. But without the entrepreneurial mindset, flexibility and urgency often get lost.

I know from Nvidia, for example, that they keep their teams small, with the freedom to explore and align with broader company goals. Teams are flat, act like their own little unit. But company updates from all departments are constantly shared across all organizations. The model at Nvidia needs a separate deep dive.

If it’s truly possible to establish entrepreneurial teams and fuel them with enterprise-level assets, they could be unstoppable.

Every company in the world is somewhere on the spectrum between startup and enterprise. It’s not about choosing sides — it’s knowing when you overindex on one side and what is needed to move faster. As we become more aware of both sides’ characteristics, we can build the culture we actually need.