What Gazelles does

Gazelles is a privately held executive education, coaching, and technology services firm founded in 1997 and headquartered in Ashburn, United States. The company is led by Founder, Owner, and CEO Verne Harnish and is associated with the Scaling Up methodology, a branded framework for mid-market company growth, accessed through its scalingup.com domain. The firm operates with a small team of 11-50 employees, consistent with a boutique advisory and content-licensing model rather than a scaled enterprise software business.

Its core offering combines three functional pillars: executive education programs (workshops, master classes, and certification curriculums aligned with the Scaling Up methodology), coaching services delivered to founder/CEO-led mid-market companies, and supporting technology services. The underlying technology platform is not disclosed in the source data, and no proprietary AI/ML capabilities, data assets, or technical architecture details are available. The firm's competitive positioning rests on the Scaling Up intellectual property and Verne Harnish's personal brand rather than on a distinct technology stack.

Commercially, Gazelles sells to mid-market companies — typically growth-stage businesses seeking structured operating frameworks and executive coaching — through a mix of cohort-based education, individual/firm-level coaching engagements, and licensing of its methodology to certified partners. No pricing model, contract structure, customer logos, or revenue figures are disclosed in the source material. The firm remains privately held under founder ownership, with no parent company, subsidiaries, or M&A activity evidenced.

Name

Gazelles

Website

https://gazelles.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Gazelles, founded in 1997 by Verne Harnish, provides executive education, coaching, and technology services to mid-market companies via the Scaling Up methodology. The privately held Ashburn, US-based firm operates with 11-50 employees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Ashburn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Core offering

Gazelles provides executive education programs, business coaching, and technology-enabled services designed to help mid-market companies implement structured growth and execution frameworks. Offerings center on the Scaling Up methodology and target CEOs and leadership teams of growth-stage businesses seeking strategic planning, leadership development, and operational scaling support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Scaling Up Executive Education Programs

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights1 record

Direct peers

• YPO (Young Presidents' Organization): YPO is a peer executive network offering leadership education, forums, and coaching for CEOs of large mid-market companies. It addresses the same mid-market CEO audience with a comparable education + peer-coaching value proposition.
• Strategic Coach: Strategic Coach, founded by Dan Sullivan, sells structured coaching programs and workshops for entrepreneurs and executives. It competes directly for the same founder/CEO mid-market customer with a comparable subscription coaching format.
• Vistage: Vistage operates peer advisory groups and executive coaching for SMB and mid-market CEOs. It directly overlaps Gazelles in the mid-market CEO coaching and executive education space, with a similar recurring-membership model.
• Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO): EO is a global peer-learning network for founders of companies exceeding $1M in revenue. It overlaps Gazelles on the executive education and peer-coaching layer for mid-market entrepreneurs, though delivered as a membership rather than paid coaching.
• EOS Worldwide: EOS Worldwide sells the Entrepreneurial Operating System, a structured operating framework and coaching program for mid-market companies. It is the closest direct competitor to Gazelles' Scaling Up methodology, targeting the same ICP with similar education + coaching + tools delivery.
• COO Alliance: COO Alliance is a peer advisory and coaching organization specifically for COOs and second-in-command operators, co-founded by Cameron Herold (closely associated with the Rockefeller Habits/Scaling Up ecosystem). It directly overlaps Gazelles' mid-market operational leadership audience.

Broad incumbents

• Tony Robbins Business Coaching / Results Coaching: Results Coaching System is a large-scale business coaching franchise associated with Tony Robbins serving entrepreneurs and executives. It competes broadly in the same mid-market executive coaching category but at meaningfully greater scale and brand reach.
• Harvard Business School Executive Education: HBS Executive Education offers premium executive programs aimed at senior leaders of growth-stage and mid-market companies. It competes for the same executive education wallet share though typically at higher price points and with a more academic orientation.

Others

• Grenhalgh (Pete Ghyan) / Gazelles-Scaling Up Certified Coaches Network: The Scaling Up certified coaches network (via scalingup.com) is the global delivery layer through which Gazelles' methodology is implemented across markets. It is an ecosystem partner/enabler rather than a direct competitor, and its strength directly amplifies or constrains Gazelles' reach.

Emerging players

• Predictable Revenue / Alex Hormozi Acquisition.com: Acquisition.com (Alex Hormozi) provides scaled business coaching, workshops, and playbooks for mid-market operators. It is an emerging competitor that addresses the same mid-market growth coaching niche with a strong digital/content-led GTM.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gazelles