A serial entrepreneur’s tips for achieving fast growth

Adam Lyons founded The Zebra, an Austin-based insurance comparison website that became a unicorn in 2021. With a new deal with T-Mobile, he has paved a path for his new wireless company, Really, to reach a national audience. Here are his tips on how to sc

Get your timing right

Before founders start growing their company or looking for partners, they should first answer the question “why now?” Lyons says. The timeliness of the company's offering will be key for its value proposition and will determine who buys into the mission, he adds: “You need to be able to explain why you're the expert, why you can pull this off and other people can't, and why the time is now.” For Really, that “why now?” came down to changes in regulation from the Federal Communications Commission, cheaper technology costs, and customers' dissatisfaction with their current options: “We wanted to build a company in the category that people love.”

Close the right funding round

Founders, particularly those entering a highly saturated space, need to establish some clout in order to secure major partnerships. Raising the right-sized round is one way to do just that, Lyons says: “Whether it's customers or partners, [people] want to know that you're going to be around for a while.” In February, Really announced its $18 million seed round which is, according to Crunchbase, the largest telecommunications seed round in U.S. history. In addition to the credibility, this funding enabled Really to make key investments, Lyons says, like securing enough radios up front to avoid supply chain delays.

Keep the team small

Growing the company will likely require more team members. Over the next 12 months, Lyons plans to double his current staff of nearly 20 employees. But his previous work experiences taught him to value quality over quantity in the growth stage to maximize agility. “You want to make sure that someone's smart,” he says. “But at the end of the day, you want to have a team of folks you want to be around and who inspire you.” On finding the right partner; it can take more time, Lyons warns, but patience is worthwhile: “Don't just jump at the first opportunity if it requires you to sacrifice your vision.”