legacy

How To Build A Company To Last In The World

Discover how founders and CEOs can turn innovation into long-term success. Learn to set measurable goals, build enduring companies, and lead through continuous growth and transformation.

Mike Parsons

18 Oct 2024 • 17 min read

Every founder’s journey has a critical point where you’ve fought the battles, learned the hard lessons, and achieved something remarkable. But the journey doesn’t end there. For a founder and CEO, this stage is what I like to call the “Return with the Elixir”—a moment of coming full circle and bringing back transformative insights, innovations, and hard-earned lessons to your business and the world. The elixir represents your knowledge, your innovation, and your vision for what the future can be.

But in my experience, success in this stage is not guaranteed. No matter how potent, the elixir must be shared, measured, and continuously nurtured to bring lasting transformation to your company. Having led organizations with over 100 people, I’ve learned some hard truths about this stage, and the most important one is that you can’t do it all yourself. Leadership at this level is about more than good ideas—empowering your team, measuring success, and building a relentless experimentation and learning culture.

Suppose you want to build a company that lasts in the world. In that case, the journey isn’t just about creating one great product or finding one breakthrough—it’s about creating an organization that can thrive, adapt, and innovate continuously.

Return to the Ordinary World

In the hero’s journey, this step signifies the hero’s return to their everyday life with newfound wisdom or a powerful object that can change the world. As a CEO, this is when you bring your transformative ideas back to your business. Whether you’ve developed a breakthrough product, learned to lead more effectively, or pivoted your entire strategy, the “return” signifies applying those lessons to your organization.

For me, this stage has often been marked by a shift in mindset. It’s easy to think you’re on the final leg of the journey, but in reality, this is just the beginning of a new chapter. Managing a team of over 100 people has taught me that success at scale is about your team, not just you, no matter how visionary you are. Your role shifts from innovator to leader as you guide others to execute the ideas you’ve brought back from your journey.

The Elixir – The Solution or Innovation

The elixir represents the solution you’ve discovered or the innovation you’ve developed during your journey. For a CEO, this might be a product that disrupts the market, a new service model, or even a radical shift in how you approach leadership within your organization.

At this stage, one of the most impactful tools I’ve found is setting a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG)—a long-term, seemingly impossible vision that galvanizes your entire organization. However, you can’t just feel your way through a BHAG; at this point, instinct alone won’t carry you forward. That’s why measuring performance is critical. I’ve always believed that “you get what you measure”—sales growth, customer retention, or team engagement. If you aren’t setting and tracking clear KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), you’re flying blind.

In my own experience, OKRs are essential for long-term success. They ensure that everyone in the organization is aligned and working toward the same overarching goal, but with measurable, actionable steps that show progress. Without these metrics, it’s impossible to maintain focus and accountability, especially in a large organization.

“A company that can measure its way forward is a company that can sustain its vision.”

Once you’ve defined your BHAG and set up the right performance metrics, the next step is to share the elixir—your insights, innovations, and new directions—with the world. For a CEO, this might be launching a product, presenting a new company vision to your team, or entering a new market.

But here’s a trap I’ve seen too many leaders fall into. Once the business is going well, it’s tempting to sit back and coast. I’ve seen it happen repeatedly—growth stalls because leaders get comfortable. But if there’s one lesson I’ve learned, you must Experiment Relentlessly and Learn Religiously to keep evolving.

What has worked for me is looking beyond the usual sources of inspiration. Advisors, new partners, and even industries outside your own can bring fresh ideas and innovations. When we’re too close to our problems, it’s easy to overlook simple solutions or new perspectives that could radically change our operations.

“Growth isn’t the reward for success—it’s the challenge you accept when you refuse to stop innovating.”

Facing the Last Resistance

There will be resistance even after you’ve returned and shared the elixir. Internally, your team may resist the changes, especially if they challenge the status quo. Externally, the market may be slow to accept your innovation, or competitors may push back.

This is where authentic leadership comes into play. The challenge here isn’t just about having the right product or idea—it’s about managing change effectively. You need to be a great communicator, inspiring and motivating your team to embrace the vision, even when it’s uncomfortable. Educating and persuading your stakeholders—your team, customers, or investors—is critical to overcoming this resistance.

“The greatest barrier to innovation isn’t technology or talent—it’s the comfort of doing things the way they’ve always been done.”

Transformation and Growth

Once you’ve faced the resistance, fundamental transformation begins. This is where your company grows, not just in terms of revenue or size but also in how it operates and thinks. I’ve seen firsthand how the right elixir—a cultural shift, a bold new product, or a strategic pivot—can transform a company from the inside out.

Personal Insight: One of the most rewarding experiences as a CEO is watching this transformation unfold. It’s not just about the big wins or product launches; it’s about seeing your team come together, aligned with a shared vision, constantly innovating and pushing the boundaries. Building a culture of relentless experimentation and continuous learning keeps your company ahead of the competition. You’re not just reacting to change—you’re driving it.

“The journey isn’t about finding an elixir to fix your business; it’s about creating a company that can keep brewing its magic repeatedly.”

1. “Built to Last” by Jim Collins

Why some companies thrive for decades while others fade away

“Built to Last” is one of the most influential books for business leaders who aim to create companies that last for the long haul. Jim Collins and Jerry Porras conducted extensive research on visionary companies—organizations that had outperformed their competition for decades and survived various market conditions, leadership changes, and technological revolutions. They explored the essential principles that allow companies to succeed in the short term and endure over time. For founders and CEOs, “Built to Last” provides a roadmap for navigating the challenges of scaling, staying innovative, and maintaining relevance in a constantly changing world.

At its core, “Built to Last” teaches that enduring companies have a unique ability to balance two crucial elements:

• Preserving the core: Successful companies deeply understand their core values and mission. This “core ideology” is the unchanging foundation of the company—its reason for being. It provides direction, purpose, and unity, allowing the company to navigate challenges without losing its identity.

• Stimulating progress: Visionary companies must adapt and evolve while holding to core values. They focus on continuous innovation, improvement, and expansion. These companies don’t just react to changes in the market—they proactively lead change.

How It Relates to the Return with the Elixir Stage:

• Returning with the elixir means more than launching a new product—it’s about integrating that innovation into the DNA of your company without losing sight of the values and principles that define your organization. “Built to Last” encourages leaders to think beyond immediate success and focus on building systems and processes that will allow the company to thrive for generations.

• The “preserve the core, stimulate progress” mindset is a crucial takeaway for founders looking to build a company to last in the world. While it’s important to stay true to your company’s mission, it’s equally important to embrace change and constantly evolve.

Examples of Preserving the Core: Think about companies like Disney, which has stayed true to its mission of creating magical experiences for families while continuously innovating with acquisitions like Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm. Disney’s innovation is driven by its core values of storytelling and imagination, but it always keeps sight of the purpose behind its efforts.

• Enduring greatness: “Built to Last” emphasizes that great companies are built not for the founder but for future generations. A company is truly successful when it can outlast its founder and thrive under new leadership. The organization must sustain and instill the systems, processes, and values.

• Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs): The concept of BHAGs, which we’ve discussed earlier, also comes from this book. These ambitious long-term goals are critical for visionary companies because they provide a clear and exciting direction, motivating the entire organization to work toward something that may seem impossible initially but is attainable with persistence and innovation.

Key Takeaway: If you want your company to endure, you must build a culture of continuous innovation while maintaining the core values that define your organization. “Built to Last” shows that success isn’t just about a single achievement; it’s about creating a system that consistently allows your company to thrive, adapt, and grow over time.

2. “Measure What Matters” by John Doerr

How setting the right goals can drive extraordinary results.

John Doerr’s “Measure What Matters” introduces the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) framework, a goal-setting system that helps companies achieve extraordinary results through focus, alignment, and accountability. This book provides founders and CEOs with an essential toolkit for managing growth, measuring progress, and ensuring that the organization works toward the same overarching goals. The book is based on the idea that what gets measured gets done—and that companies can lose focus and momentum without clear, measurable objectives.

The OKR framework sets high-level objectives that define the company’s big-picture goals and then breaks them down into specific, measurable key results. OKRs allow every team and individual in the company to understand how their work contributes to the organization’s overall success.

How It Relates to the Return with the Elixir Stage:

• Turning vision into action: After you return with your “elixir” (a new product, innovation, or business model), OKRs provide the structure and clarity to translate that vision into actionable steps. Even the most groundbreaking ideas can flounder without a clear plan and measurable outcomes.

• Focus and alignment: One of the main challenges for a growing company is ensuring that all departments and team members are working toward the same goals. Having a vision is accessible as a founder, but aligning your entire team behind that vision can be much more complicated. OKRs provide a mechanism to keep everyone focused on the same objectives, ensuring that each department’s work is directly tied to the company’s top priorities.

For instance, Doerr explains how Google used OKRs to scale from a small startup to a global tech giant. By setting ambitious yet measurable goals, Google could focus on the most critical initiatives, ensuring that resources were allocated effectively and that every team understood how their work contributed to the company’s overall success.

• Driving accountability: OKRs aren’t just about setting goals and creating accountability. By making objectives and results transparent throughout the organization, leaders can ensure everyone is responsible for their performance. This also fosters a culture of ownership, where individuals and teams are motivated to meet their targets because they can see the direct impact of their work on the company’s success.

• Measuring progress: OKRs provide a continuous feedback loop. As you work toward your objectives, the key results give you real-time data on whether you’re on track or need adjustments. This ensures that your company stays adaptable and agile even as it grows.

Key Takeaway: “Measure What Matters” provides a blueprint for founders and CEOs looking to scale their businesses while maintaining clarity and focus. By setting clear, measurable goals and ensuring that everyone in the company is aligned with those goals, leaders can turn big ideas into actionable plans and ensure that progress is continuously tracked and measured. This is especially crucial in the Return with the Elixir phase, where a robust framework for execution is the key to making your innovation successful over the long term.

Real-World Example: When Google acquired YouTube, it was a fast-growing platform that needed clear scaling objectives. Through OKRs, YouTube was able to set specific goals around user growth, content creation, and platform development, which played a critical role in its evolution into the dominant video-sharing platform it is today.

How These Books Guide Founders and CEOs Through the “Return with the Elixir” Stage

Both “Built to Last” and “Measure What Matters” provide potent insights for founders and CEOs navigating the “Return with the Elixir” stage, helping leaders turn innovation into long-term success.

• “Built to Last” emphasizes preserving core values while stimulating progress, ensuring your business evolves without losing sight of its purpose. It’s about building systems and cultures that can endure beyond innovation.

• “Measure What Matters” offers the tools to translate vision into action through the OKR framework. By setting clear, measurable goals and aligning your entire team behind them, you can execute your vision effectively and track progress toward long-term success.

For founders and CEOs looking to build companies that last in the world, these books provide a strategic framework for leading through growth, change, and innovation, ensuring that the big-picture vision and the day-to-day execution are aligned for long-term success.

Case Study: Whitney Wolfe Herd - Scaling Bumble for Long-Term Success

Whitney Wolfe Herd, the dynamic founder and CEO of Bumble, is a trailblazer in tech and entrepreneurship. From co-founding Tinder to launching Bumble, her career has been a resilience, innovation, and leadership masterclass. Her story isn’t just about starting a successful company; it’s about scaling it into a global brand with a mission that resonates deeply with modern values—female empowerment, safety, and inclusivity.

Through Bumble, Wolfe Herd has disrupted the dating app industry and expanded into new arenas of social interaction with Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz, creating a robust social ecosystem. Her journey, marked by strategic decision-making and operational maturity, offers invaluable insights for any founder or CEO looking to build a company that lasts in the world.

1. The Early Lessons and Return to the Ordinary World

Before Bumble, Whitney Wolfe Herd co-founded Tinder and played a pivotal role in the app’s rapid rise. However, her departure from Tinder, under complicated and public circumstances involving a lawsuit over sexual harassment, forced her to rethink her journey. Instead of allowing this setback to define her career, she returned to the tech world with renewed determination and a bold new vision that would later become Bumble.

In the Hero’s Journey framework, this is Wolfe Herd’s “Return to the Ordinary World” moment. She didn’t just bring back the technical know-how from her time at Tinder; she returned with a new understanding of the need for women’s empowerment and a strong desire to create a safer, more respectful digital space for women.

Her elixir was an entirely new approach to online dating that put women in control. Bumble’s core innovation is its female-first approach, where women make the first move. This seemingly simple change was, in reality, a cultural shift that disrupted traditional gender norms in online interactions and sent ripples through the industry.

“I wanted to fix the way women were treated online and give them the power to control their experiences,” Wolfe Herd has said. This core mission has remained central to Bumble’s identity.

2. The Elixir: A Platform for Empowerment, Safety, and Inclusion

When Bumble launched in 2014, it wasn’t just a new dating app—it was a statement. Unlike other platforms, Bumble allowed women to initiate conversations and positioned itself as a socially conscious alternative to competitors. The idea of empowerment extended beyond romantic connections; it became part of a broader vision for female leadership and equality.

The Key Innovations of Bumble:

• Female-first design: Bumble’s most significant differentiator is its requirement that women make the first move. This flipped traditional dating norms, creating a safer, more respectful environment.

• Multi-platform expansion: Wolfe Herd’s vision for Bumble extended far beyond dating. In 2016, Bumble introduced Bumble BFF, allowing users to find friends in their area. Then, in 2017, Bumble Bizz was launched, adding a professional networking layer to the app. These expansions transformed Bumble from a dating app into a holistic social platform that facilitates personal, social, and professional connections.

Wolfe Herd didn’t just create a product; she made an ecosystem where women felt empowered in all aspects of their lives. This approach also strategically diversified Bumble’s user base, reducing its reliance on the volatile dating market and increasing user engagement across multiple verticals.

“Empowerment isn’t a buzzword; it’s a movement. At Bumble, we believe in empowering women to make the first move, not just in dating, but in life.” - Whitney Wolfe Herd.

Once Bumble started gaining traction, Wolfe Herd knew resting on her laurels wasn’t an option. She faced the challenge that every successful startup must confront: How do you scale while staying true to your mission?

Instead of becoming complacent, Wolfe Herd continued to push the boundaries of what Bumble could be. One of her most significant decisions was to take Bumble public in February 2021. This made her the youngest female founder ever to take a company public, an important milestone not just for her but for women in tech and entrepreneurship globally.

The Strategic Moves That Drove Bumble’s Growth:

• Expanding the mission: Wolfe Herd broadened Bumble’s mission to include women’s empowerment across all spheres of life. By launching Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz, she ensured that Bumble wasn’t just a dating app but a full-fledged social platform.

• Partnerships and public image: Bumble strategically aligned with movements like #MeToo and broader calls for platforms to prioritize safety and respect online. These partnerships reinforced Bumble’s image as a socially conscious tech company that stands up for what matters to its users.

• Going public: Bumble’s IPO was not just a financial decision but a signal to the world that female-led companies can succeed globally. Wolfe Herd herself became a symbol of women’s leadership and innovation in an industry dominated by men.

“We’ve always believed that success will follow if you focus on doing the right thing. Going public is an incredible milestone, but for us, it’s just the beginning.” - Whitney Wolfe Herd.

4. Facing the Resistance: Challenges and Resilience

As Bumble grew, it faced significant challenges. Internally, scaling meant keeping the company culture aligned with its core mission. Externally, Bumble faced stiff competition from more prominent players like Match Group (which owns Tinder), and the dating app market became increasingly crowded with new entrants.

Wolfe Herd, however, turned these challenges into opportunities for innovation and resilience:

• Competition from Tinder and Match Group: Wolfe Herd’s legal battles with Tinder and its parent company, Match Group, became high-profile struggles. Bumble has successfully defended itself against aggressive acquisition attempts and lawsuits, remaining independent and growing stronger through its values of integrity and innovation.

• Market saturation: Wolfe Herd doubled down on Bumble’s core values to differentiate Bumble in a crowded market and focused on the brand’s unique proposition. She understood that empowerment and safety set Bumble apart and made these values the cornerstone of the company’s messaging and product development.

Wolfe Herd also positioned Bumble as an advocate for social change. For example, Bumble banned body-shaming on the platform. It actively pushed for legislation in the U.K. to criminalize unsolicited sexual images (cyber flashing), reinforcing its commitment to user safety and respect.

5. Transformation and Growth: Building a Legacy

Whitney Wolfe Herd’s leadership of Bumble culminated in one of the most significant transformations in the company’s history: its IPO. When Bumble went public on February 11, 2021, it was valued at over $13 billion. Wolfe Herd became the youngest female CEO to take a company public in the U.S. This was a monumental achievement. Still, more importantly, it marked Bumble’s transformation from a promising startup into an established, publicly traded company with global reach.

The Impact of Bumble’s IPO:

• Financial success: Bumble’s IPO raised over $2 billion, positioning the company for further growth and expansion into international markets.

• Cultural significance: Wolfe Herd’s success as a young female CEO in the tech industry is groundbreaking. She’s become a symbol of what’s possible for women entrepreneurs, proving that it’s possible to scale a values-driven company in a highly competitive market.

• Sustaining innovation: Even after the IPO, Wolfe Herd continues to lead Bumble with a focus on growth and innovation. She has emphasized Bumble’s plans for global expansion, especially in Europe and Asia, while maintaining its commitment to safety and empowerment.

“I believe you can do well and do good simultaneously. That’s what we’re trying to do at Bumble—build a successful business that creates positive change in the world.” - Whitney Wolfe Herd.

Critical Takeaways for Founders and CEOs

Whitney Wolfe Herd’s journey with Bumble offers several critical lessons for entrepreneurs looking to scale their businesses while staying true to their mission:

1. Innovation with Purpose: Bumble’s female-first design was more than a product feature—it was a purposeful innovation that addressed a real need in the market. Solving a problem with intention and purpose can create a lasting competitive advantage for founders.

2. Expanding the Vision: Scaling Bumble from a dating app to an entire social ecosystem (with Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz) was crucial to its long-term success. Founders should always look for ways to expand their initial idea while keeping sight of their core mission.

3. Staying Resilient in the Face of Resistance: Wolfe Herd faced numerous challenges, from lawsuits to fierce competition. Yet, her resilience and focus on Bumble’s core values helped the company survive and thrive. Persistence, adaptability, and a clear value proposition are essential for overcoming resistance.

4. Building a Mission-Driven Brand: From banning body-shaming to advocating for online safety laws, Bumble’s brand is built on more than just business goals—it’s a mission-driven company that aims to create positive social change. For CEOs, aligning their company with a socially conscious mission can create deep customer loyalty and differentiation in the market.

5. Leading with Values and Vision: Wolfe Herd’s IPO success demonstrates that a company can scale globally without compromising its values. For founders, it’s essential to instill a sense of purpose in the organization beyond financial success.

Wolfe Herd: A Blueprint for Scaling with Purpose

Whitney Wolfe Herd’s story with Bumble is more than just a tale of startup success; it’s a powerful example of how values-driven leadership can scale a company while staying true to its mission. Wolfe Herd didn’t just return with the elixir of innovation—she created an entire ecosystem based on empowerment, safety, and inclusivity. Then, she shared it with the world, fostering business growth and positive social change.

Wolfe Herd’s leadership offers a blueprint for scaling with integrity, resilience, and purpose for any founder or CEO navigating their growth journey. Bumble’s success isn’t just measured in billions; it’s reflected in the cultural shifts it has inspired and the long-term legacy it is building for future generations.

“The real legacy we’re building at Bumble is not just financial success—it’s the impact we’re making on the lives of our users. That’s what truly matters.” - Whitney Wolfe Herd

Conclusion: A Blueprint for Building a Company to Last in the World

As a founder and CEO, your journey is cyclical. Each victory leads to new challenges, and each innovation sparks the need for more. The Return with the Elixir isn’t just a one-time event—it’s a continuous growth, learning, and transformation process. The elixir you bring back isn’t the journey’s end; it’s the beginning of the next adventure.

If I’ve learned one thing in my career, it’s this: you get what you measure. No matter how bold your vision or innovative your idea is, the elixir will lose its power without clear goals and relentless experimentation. But with the right metrics, people, and a commitment to learning, you can create a lasting impact for your company and the world.