Blitzscaling

The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies

By: Reid Hoffman, Chris Yeh, Bill Gates - introduction

Narrated by: Chris Yeh, Reid Hoffman

Foreword by Bill Gates

LinkedIn cofounder, legendary investor, and host of the award-winning Masters of Scale podcast reveals the secret to starting and scaling massively valuable companies.

What entrepreneur or founder doesn’t aspire to build the next Amazon, Facebook, or Airbnb? Yet those who actually manage to do so are exceedingly rare. So what separates the startups that get disrupted and disappear from the ones who grow to become global giants?

The secret is blitzscaling: a set of techniques for scaling up at a dizzying pace that blows competitors out of the water. The objective of Blitzscaling is not to go from zero to one, but from one to one billion –as quickly as possible.

When growing at a breakneck pace, getting to next level requires very different strategies from those that got you to where you are today. In a book inspired by their popular class at Stanford Business School, Hoffman and Yeh reveal how to navigate the necessary shifts and weather the unique challenges that arise at each stage of a company’s life cycle, such as: how to design business models for igniting and sustaining relentless growth; strategies for hiring and managing; how the role of the founder and company culture must evolve as the business matures, and more.

Whether your business has ten employees or ten thousand, Blitzscaling is the essential playbook for winning in a world where speed is the only competitive advantage that matters.

Critic reviews

"The case studies you’re about to explore and the tools you’re about to gain have never been more relevant. This is an ideal moment to be reading this book" - From the Foreword by Bill Gates

“The book the start-up world has been waiting for. I can’t think of any other that so perfectly captures the specific challenges – and opportunities – that a company faces at every stage of growth. This book shares some of the key secrets for building mission-oriented, global businesses at speed.
-Brian Chesky, Cofounder and CEO, AirBnb

“Blitzscaling shows how companies can build value for customers and shareholders in the digital age. A compelling inside view of how the new economy is being built and is transforming global business.” –Sheryl Sandberg, New York Times bestselling author of Lean In and Option B

“The secret of Silicon Valley is that it keeps updating the playbook. Each new success – from Google to Facebook to Airbnb and Uber – develops new techniques for world-transforming products. Reid Hoffman paints the picture, with key case studies, of what it really takes to build a market-leading company. If you want to learn how to manage growth amid the controlled chaos that has become the new normal for startups and legacy businesses alike, read this book.” -Eric Schmidt, Technical Advisor and former CEO, Alphabet

“This is the best book I’ve ever read on how to grow a company rapidly—and when that’s even worth trying in the first place. With a rare combination of fresh insights, vivid cases, and actionable advice, it’s a must-read for entrepreneurs and executives.” ~ Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals, Give and Take, and Option B with Sheryl Sandberg

must read for entrepreneurs

this is a great resource to have insight into how some of the larger companies scaled out quickly on different product lines when to start and when to stop blitzscaling huge resource I would highly recommend getting this in your audible Library

Profound business book

I would recommend reading (or listening to) this book and anything else by Reid Hoffman that you can get your hands on. The advice is incredibly valuable to anyone trying to build their startup quickly - especially in highlighting when is the right time to pull the switch on for blitz scale-style growth strategies (hint: it’s not “always” or even “most of the time”). Reid is one of the great entrepreneurs and entrepreneur-advisers of our era, having either built or advised several of the most powerful companies in their respective areas (PayPal, Facebook, LinkedIn, AirBnB, and all of the amazing Greylock successes).

Fast Path to Big Companies

Blitzscaling is not for everyone. I like the example the author gave of Airbnb, when he had the choice to give up large equity of the company, or go toe-to-toe of what seemed like a battle he couldn't win with a competitor.

Wrote a whole book to say “spend a lot of money fast”

I gave this 5 stars because it was an enjoyable listen and the stories of how he became a billionaire through luck and knowing other billionaires were fun.

The actual business lessons though are just “spend a lot, expand fast, have a plan.” I’m quite shocked Stanford would have a whole class about this. I guess when you are there at the school it’s much more valuable since you can discuss the ideas live and meet other people that might end up being your Peter Thiel. Definitely makes me wish I went to Stanford and got rich easily, but not sure what actionable lessons the book provides beyond that.

Very good performance reading. Soothing to listen to voice that varies a lot and stays interesting.

mind changer

Nice book that allows you to start thinking on bigger opportunities for business, but also to undertand market changes and conditions. good and valueable themes for entrepeneurs and investors