Studying the Fastest Growing Companies

The insights to pull out and a directory of resources to dive into these companies

Ali Afridi

Feb 2, 2022

Whether you’re a founder, an operator, or an investor, studying the markets around us can be an extremely valuable activity. Studying these markets and the companies transforming them can uncover a wide range of insights that can be leveraged for scaling ventures we’re working on or to build and launch new ones.

When it comes to studying markets, one of the most efficient hacks I found while working in VC is to focus specifically on the fastest-growing companies. Studying these companies from across different industries can point to a large array of insights including:

Unmet needs or problems in a sector
Emerging workflows and behaviors as a result of the scaling company
Value propositions that are resonating with consumers
Product or growth tactics that are working in today’s market
Markets that are growing or undergoing cataclysmic change
Newly emerging business models
Potential new distribution channels for scaling up
Market shifts that the company might be capitalizing on or creating

In my previous post, I shared a map of the input insights that drive new startup & thesis ideation. Companies doing well (including fast-growing companies) were one of the key inputs that can drive this ideation. The image below shows several of the mental models that one can leverage as they identify & study these companies.

As the examples in the image above demonstrate, knowing and understanding the fastest-growing companies can drive numerous new ideas. Beyond pure ideation, operational insights (growth tactics, distribution channels, product tactics, etc) from these companies can also be applied to develop and scale businesses in completely different markets.

It should go without saying that just studying the fastest-growing companies won’t be enough to uncover all the potential opportunities in a market or to keep up with all the developments. However, it does serve as an effective starting point that can uncover a whole range of insights.

Writers Diving into Fast-Growing Companies

When it comes to studying the fastest-growing companies, there are many places to start. In addition to diving in yourself, there is a growing community of writers and analysts who proactively study and share insights on these companies. Our team has aggregated a list of these writers & resources below as a starting point. Please do let us know of any other resources that we have missed that are helpful for identifying and studying these companies.

Let us know at team@sandhill.io if you come across other resources that we missed and we’ll update this list.

Free

Emergent by Mikal Khoso →
Startups in Emerging Markets

Seedtable by Gonz Sanchez →
European Startups

East Meets West by Ryan Rodenbaugh →
Asian Technology Companies

The Hypothesis by Rohit Kaul →
Generalist

Jeff’s Newsletter by Jeff Burke →
Generalist

Below the Line by Kevin LaBuz →
Generalist

Not Boring by Packy McCormick →
Generalist

First1000 by Ali Abouelatta →
Generalist

Business Breakdowns by Colossus →
Generalist

Premium

The Generalist by Mario Gabriele →
Generalist

Techcrunch EC-1 →
Generalist

HBR Case Studies →
Generalist

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