Accelerate growth: When speed matters

April 18, 2024

Why shipping startup Route was right to compress 18 months into four

Evan Walker was no stranger to the trials and tribulations of entrepreneurship. Even though still in his 30s, he had already built eight businesses. Yet none had fully prepared him for Route. Born out of his frustration with shipping a vintage trunk from Europe to the United States, Walker developed Route as an easier way to protect and track e-commerce packages. He planned to fine-tune the product, raise a seed round for traction, and then head into a Series A to accelerate growth. Route would gather both retailers and their customers along the way. In January 2019, Walker, Route's founder and the CEO at the time, closed a $1.3 million seed round intending to extend the company's runway through mid-2020. However, the demand for Route's tracking platform soared within months of launch, disrupting Walker's plans. The money meant to last 18 months had to be spent on ramping up operations immediately. Walker faced a dilemma between spending wisely to extend the startup's runway or spending quickly to boost growth. In a strategic move, Walker chose to grow fast, deploying Route's capital in just four months to adopt a Series A profile right after the seed round. 'It was riskier but very calculated,' says Walker. 'We knew the shortened runway would lead to faster growth.' To keep momentum, Walker raised additional capital through convertible notes, akin to a Series A funding round, which paid off as Route hit a $14.4 million annualized run rate in its first year. 'My advice to founders is to watch the competitive landscape. If you do not raise money, your competition will and they'll gain an advantage.' Moving fast, he asserts, is critical to a startup's success.

Other ways to accelerate

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