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When Are You Ready To Scale?

Writer: Emin AskerovEmin Askerov

๐Ÿค”๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ย ๐—ฑ๐—ผย ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ย ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„ย ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ย ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒย ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐˜†? ๐—•๐˜†ย ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ดย ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒย ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€.ย 


How to make a wind turbine? In 2016, I had to figure out how to build 400 of them in just four years. I signed a licensing agreement with Lagerwey, a Dutch startup with great designs but limited production experience. Lagerwey could make a dozen turbines a year, all slightly different, thanks to their tinkering engineers. But we needed to build one turbine at scale. I was sure we could do it - all three key questions had answers.


How do you know when your startup is ready to scale? In my experience, and that of startups Iโ€™ve worked with three critical factors tell you itโ€™s time to go big:


๐Ÿ”ง ๐Ÿญ. ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฝย ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟย ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ดย ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€

Before you build a factory, map out your production flow in obsessive detail.

* How will materials arrive and be stored?

* What equipment will you use?

* What skills will your team need?

Visit similar factories, talk to the people on the floor, and learn from their challenges. Understanding your process inside out doesnโ€™t just prepare youโ€”it helps identify bottlenecks and risks before they become problems.


๐Ÿค ๐Ÿฎ. ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒย ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ย ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บย ๐—–๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€

Before raising funds, lock in future buyers. Whether itโ€™s a soft commitment (MOU) or a hard contract, this shows investorsโ€”and youโ€”that demand exists. Customers willing to discuss quality standards, delivery dates, and prices are signaling they trust you to deliver.

For example, our turbines had guaranteed buyersโ€”our sister company had secured long-term power purchase agreements. This gave us the confidence to move forward.


๐Ÿ—๏ธ ๐Ÿฏ. ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ธย ๐˜๐—ผย ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟย ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€

No supply chain, no scale-up. You need suppliers who can meet your quality, cost, and timeline requirements.

When sourcing wind turbine parts, we had to build half the supply chain from scratch. Towers, for instance, required specialized machines from a global supplier and local production expertise. Meanwhile, we secured blades at half the market price by partnering with an overseas factory.

Suppliers arenโ€™t just vendorsโ€”theyโ€™re partners. Ensure theyโ€™re ready to grow with you.


๐— ๐˜†ย ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜†:ย 

Scaling hardware is as much about aligning supply chains and securing customers as it is about the product itself. Once youโ€™ve nailed these three main pillars, youโ€™re ready to go big.

Building wind turbines wasnโ€™t just a manufacturing challengeโ€”it was a masterclass in scaling up from scratch. Whether itโ€™s turbines, batteries, or new climate tech, the principles are the same.


๐Ÿ‘‰ Whatโ€™s your biggest challenge in scaling hardware? Letโ€™s discuss. Follow for more insights into scaling cleantech!


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© Emin Askerov, 2023.

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