A decade ago my boss made me read a book that still holds most of the blueprint for how breakout AI-native companies can scale today. When I first read Exponential Organizations, it changed the way I thought about building businesses. It unpacked what made companies like Uber, Airbnb, Amazon, and Spotify capable of growing 10x faster than their competitors—not by owning more assets, but by leveraging information, networks, and purpose. Today, those same principles are more relevant than ever—especially for AI-native startups. Exponential Organizations (ExOs) are built for scale. They tap into external resources—like communities, algorithms, and on-demand labor—and organize around a Massive Transformative Purpose (MTP) to drive alignment, speed, and adaptability. Here’s what they get right: SCALE – the external drivers of growth: (S)taff on Demand – flexible teams instead of full-time headcount (C)ommunity & Crowd – ideas, feedback, and distribution from users (A)lgorithms – decision-making and automation at scale (L)everaged Assets – use, don’t own, the infrastructure (E)ngagement – reward participation through platform dynamics IDEAS – the internal operating system: (I)nterfaces – intuitive experiences for all stakeholders (D)ashboards – real-time data to guide execution (E)xperimentation – constant testing and iteration (A)utonomy – teams empowered to move fast (S)ocial Technologies – digital tools for transparent collaboration AI-native companies that follow this playbook don’t just build faster. They build differently. If you’re scaling a vertical AI startup right now—or thinking about how to—this framework is still one of the sharpest tools you can use. Building an AI Native business? I'd love to learn about it. #VerticalAI #Startups #Scaling