Venture Builders and Scaleups

This chapter connects the dots between venture builder design and scaling outcomes. It synthesizes literature and firsthand data on how venture builders support scaling, analyzing global venture builder practices through an empirical lens. The authors evaluate how each of the seven venture builder characteristics contributes to or hinders scaling potential. Volume strategies can provide a numbers game advantage, while strong governance ensures strategic coherence, albeit sometimes at the expense of entrepreneurial agility. A critical analysis follows of how founder-based and digital venture builder archetypes may differ in their effectiveness toward scaleup creation. University and institutional builders excel in idea generation but may lack sustained resources, whereas corporate builders bring robust infrastructure but risk bureaucratic inertia. The chapter concludes with three propositions about venture builder design and scaleup success, laying the groundwork for further research on venture building as an engine for high-growth entrepreneurship.