Fast, lean, bold: Five startup strategies every company should embrace
Startups move fast. They experiment constantly. They pivot without hesitation. Their agility isn’t just a trait - it’s a survival strategy.
Yet in many large organisations, we admire that agility from a safe distance. We talk about entrepreneurialism, but rarely embrace what it demands. It’s easy to celebrate startups for their speed and boldness, harder to admit that our own systems often resist those very traits. The risk? We celebrate agility in theory, but stifle it in practice - and in a market that rewards pace and adaptability, that disconnect can be costly.
That’s why, at pladis, we’re looking to go beyond admiration. Through our Accelerator Programme - which connects us with early-stage food tech companies - we’ve had a front-row seat to the startup mindset. And it’s reshaping how we think about innovation. It’s not about copying startup culture wholesale. It’s about selectively adopting the behaviours that drive results, even at scale.
Here are five lessons that have stuck with us:
Speed reduces risk - if you learn fast enough
Startups don’t wait for perfect conditions. They prototype, test and iterate - often in days, not months. That urgency creates momentum and momentum builds belief. The best ones live by “fail fast, learn faster” - using small, rapid experiments to uncover what works and what doesn’t. It’s not about being reckless - it’s about learning faster than the competition.
Lean operating sharpens focus
Startups operate with constraint - and that constraint creates clarity. They don’t chase every idea; they focus on what moves the needle. Lean isn’t about being limited, it’s about being deliberate. As companies grow, some bureaucracy is inevitable - but too much slows decisions and weakens ownership. The challenge is keeping it to a necessary minimum, so teams stay fast, focused and empowered to act.
Ownership drives speed and accountability
In startups, there’s no hand-off culture. The same person who has the idea often builds it, tests it and ships it. That end-to-end ownership creates urgency and pride. We’ve seen how giving teams more autonomy and trusting them to take ideas from concept to launch leads to faster cycles and deeper engagement. When people own the outcome, they move faster - and care more.
Curiosity is a competitive advantage
Startups don’t ask “why?” - they ask “why not?” We’ve seen this firsthand through concepts like AI-powered ingredients and waterlily popcorn - bold, external ideas that challenge category norms and open up new consumer conversations. Outside perspectives help us break free from established patterns and unlock disruptive innovation.
Mentorship isn’t one-way - it’s mutual learning
The most valuable startup partnerships aren’t about control - they’re about collaboration. And that starts with recognising that mentorship isn’t one-way. We’ve learned just as much from startups as they’ve learned from us - from how they test ideas to how they build teams and stay close to their consumers. These interactions challenge our assumptions, stretch our thinking and expose us to new ways of solving problems. When both sides are learning, building and adapting together, innovation moves faster - and further.
Looking Ahead
Partnering with startups isn’t a side project. It’s a strategic lens. They help us see the future of food through a different filter - one shaped by sustainability, technology and shifting consumer behaviour. The launch of Ülker Dubai chocolate is a great example: developed and launched in just a few months, it shows what’s possible when agility meets scale.
Size isn’t a barrier. Even global companies like pladis can learn to think like startups – and the benefits are too significant to ignore. Startups don’t have a monopoly on innovation. But they do remind us what’s possible when we move fast, think lean, and stay bold.
