Scaling a tech company is exhilarating — but it’s also a minefield of challenges. Are you focusing on the right things? Are your meetings moving the needle or just eating up time? Do you really understand your customers?

In the latest episode of Wisdom From Wizards, I sat down with Skipper Chong Warson, founder of How This Works Co., to extract practical insights that can help tech scaleups break through growth plateaus.

1. Outcomes Over Outputs: What Really Drives Growth

Tech scaleups often measure success by the features they release, the lines of code written, or the number of campaigns launched. But as Skipper pointed out, these are outputs, not outcomes. True growth comes from understanding how your efforts change user behavior and business performance. Ask yourself:

• Are we solving a real customer pain point, or just shipping features?
• How do we measure the impact of what we build?
• What behaviors do we want to drive, and are we tracking them?

2. The Power of Talking to Five Customers

Many tech founders and product leaders think they know their customers inside and out. But in reality, Skipper shared that most haven’t spoken to a real customer in weeks — or ever. His simple advice? Talk to five customers.

Five conversations may not seem like much, but they can reveal:

• Friction points that are blocking adoption or retention
• Unexpected use cases that can inspire product innovation
• Messaging gaps that might be costing you deals

The best part? This doesn’t require complex research. Just set up five calls and listen.

3. Your Meetings Are Holding You Back

Packed calendars are often worn as a badge of honor. But are all those meetings truly helping your company grow? Skipper challenges leaders to rethink how they spend their time:

• Are meetings driving decisions or just filling time?
• Could this meeting be replaced with an async update?
• Are the right people in the room, or is it just a default invite list?

Tech scaleups thrive when teams have the space to focus, create, and execute. If your company is drowning in meetings, it’s time to shake things up.

Scale Smart, Not Hard

Growth isn’t about working longer hours or adding complexity. It’s about being intentional — focusing on real impact, direct customer insights, and meaningful work habits.

If you’re scaling a tech company and want more actionable insights from industry leaders, subscribe to my weekly Wisdom From Wizards recap. You’ll get exclusive takeaways from top minds in the industry plus a free eBook of my Amazon bestseller, Product Marketing Wisdom.

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