scale up

What scale up does

scale up operates the licensed German-market implementation of Verne Harnish's Scaling Up / 4D Framework through masterhouse GmbH, the legal entity headquartered in Gräfelfing near Munich, Germany. The company delivers practitioner-led business scaling coaching built around a four-pillar methodology — People, Strategy, Execution, Cash — with every coach required to be a former operator who has founded, scaled and often exited a company of their own. Core delivery formats include Inhouse Coaching engagements (2-day kickoff, quarterly workshops, ongoing sparring) targeted at German Mittelstand and scale-up companies with ~50+ employees, 1:1 CEO Growth Mentoring, single-day Bootcamps, subscription online courses via the proprietary scale up App, and the Game Changer Circle peer community.

Revenue is generated through a mix of professional-services coaching (annual enterprise-style engagements), per-seat subscriptions on the scale up App, one-time Bootcamp tickets and book sales via a Shopify store (shop.scaleup.de), and a freemium layer of free Excel templates, OKR toolkits and assessments that feed the lead funnel. GTM is content-led and consultative: SEO-optimized blog, the 'Frankly Speaking' podcast, YouTube, LinkedIn/Instagram, a 5,000+ subscriber newsletter, free tools (CEO Dashboard, OKR Cheat Sheet, Growth Canvas, 4D Assessment, Team Check, Sales Playbook) and an AI-enhanced Potenzialanalyse using Google Gemini (Vertex AI, EU-hosted) drive top-of-funnel demand, with a free 30-minute Beratungsgespräch serving as the conversion event.

Geographic footprint now extends beyond Germany into Switzerland, the UK, the Czech Republic, France and Hungary via country-specific sites, and the company participates in the global Gazelles / Scaling Up network of 300+ certified experts. Headcount sits in the 11–50 range with no disclosed external funding, founder/management-controlled ownership, and a self-reported base of 1,000+ companies served across 12+ years.

Name

scale up

Legal name

masterhouse GmbH

Website

https://scaleup.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

scale up delivers practitioner-led business scaling coaching — anchored on the licensed Verne Harnish 4D Framework (People, Strategy, Execution, Cash) — to German Mittelstand, scale-ups and startups, supplemented by a subscription App, Bootcamps and AI-assisted lead tools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Business Scaling Coaching & Advisory

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Executive Leadership & C-Suite Development (EDABAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Coaching, Mentoring & Facilitation Services (BPACANAI), Leadership Assessment, 360 Feedback & Development Planning (EDABAAAK), Leadership Transition & Onboarding Coaching (New Role, New Manager, Promotion) (EDABANAB)

Keywords

• Business scaling coaching
• Executive coaching services
• Leadership development programs
• Growth strategy consulting
• Mittelstand advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Bavaria

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Inhouse Coaching Program: Individualized coaching engagements for leadership teams, typically starting at companies with ~50+ employees. Delivered via 2-day kickoff workshops followed by quarterly workshop days (2-4 per quarter), supplemented by check-ins, Q&A sessions, and personal sparring with the coach. Revenue is earned through program fees, likely billed annually or quarterly per the AGB referencing subscription-based digital product access.
2. CEO Growth Mentoring: One-on-one mentoring program for CEOs and founders to develop scaling expertise. Sold as a structured coaching program.
3. Bootcamp (1-Day Seminar): Single-day intensive seminar introducing the scale up toolkit. Sold as a per-seat ticket. Provides an entry point to the broader coaching programs.
4. Online Courses / Academy: Digital products and courses delivered through the scale up App, accessible via subscription or one-time purchase. The AGB references both subscription and course models with automatic renewal for subscriptions.
5. Game Changer Circle: A group coaching/peer community format, likely subscription-based ongoing membership.
6. Free Tools (Lead Magnets): Free downloadable resources (CEO Dashboard, OKR Cheat Sheet, Growth Canvas, Team Check, 4D Assessment, OKR Complete Package) used to generate leads and drive conversion to paid coaching programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

scale up delivers business scaling coaching and consulting to founders, CEOs, and leadership teams of German-speaking SMEs, using the licensed Scaling Up (4D) Framework covering People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash. Core deliverables are the Inhouse Coaching program (multi-day workshops plus quarterly cadence), one-on-one CEO Growth Mentoring, a one-day Bootcamp seminar, an Online Academy of self-paced courses delivered via the scale up App, and the Game Changer Circle peer community — supported by a suite of free downloadable tools (CEO Dashboard, OKR Cheat Sheet, Growth Canvas, 4D Assessment, Team Check) used as lead magnets and implementation aids.

Product overview

scale up is a business scaling coaching and methodology company that operates a platform-plus-services model, combining live coaching programs (Inhouse Coaching, CEO Growth Mentoring, Bootcamp, Online Academy, Game Changer Circle) with a suite of free digital tools (Potenzialanalyse, Growth Canvas, Team-Check, 4D-Assessment, CEO-Dashboard, OKR Komplettpaket, Sales Playbook) and a published book (Scaling Up). All offerings are anchored to the scale up Framework, a four-pillar methodology covering People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash. The scale up App (app.scaleup.de) is a web-based platform used to deliver paid digital products, courses, and account management. The company also offers a free AI-powered Potenzialanalyse that uses Google Gemini to generate personalized PDF reports for prospective customers. The portfolio is primarily service-oriented, with digital products serving as delivery mechanisms and lead-generation tools for the coaching business.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Inhouse Coaching An individualized, on-site coaching program for companies typically with ~50+ employees, involving a two-day kickoff workshop followed by regular quarterly workshop days (2-4 per quarter), check-ins, Q&A sessions, and personal sparring sessions with an experienced entrepreneur coach. Delivered at the client's premises and tailored to scaling strategy, leadership, execution, and cash.
• CEO Growth Mentoring A one-on-one mentoring program for CEOs and founders to develop scaling expertise, guiding leaders from entrepreneur to scaling expert and helping them decouple from day-to-day operations. Structured coaching engagement, sold on a subscription basis.
• Bootcamp A one-day intensive seminar designed to introduce entrepreneurs to the scale up tools and methodology. Provides a comprehensive overview of business scaling in a single day combined with peer networking. Sold as a per-seat ticket.
• Online-Kurse (Academy) Self-paced online courses delivered through the scale up App, allowing participants to learn the scaling methodology at their own pace and complementing the live coaching programs. Subscription or one-time purchase options with trial periods.
• Game Changer Circle An ongoing peer learning community for entrepreneurs, providing continuous support and knowledge sharing beyond individual coaching engagements. Subscription-based membership.
• scale up App A web-based application (app.scaleup.de) through which users access digital products, manage accounts, participate in courses, take surveys, and organize teams. The delivery platform for scale up's paid digital products and subscriptions, supporting per-seat licensing and trial periods.
• scale up Framework A four-pillar management framework (People, Strategy, Execution, Cash) organizing the key handlungsfelder (areas of action) for scaling a company. Provides the intellectual backbone for all of scale up's coaching programs and tools, based on Verne Harnish's Scaling Up methodology.
• Potenzialanalyse (Potential Analysis) A free, AI-powered self-assessment that analyzes a company's current positioning across the four framework pillars and generates a personalized PDF report identifying scaling potential and growth opportunities. Uses Google Vertex AI (Gemini, EU-hosted) for data enrichment of user-provided company data.
• OKR Komplettpaket A free downloadable package including an OKR Cheat Sheet, worksheets, and an exclusive video tutorial, designed to help companies implement the Objectives and Key Results methodology using scale up's approach.
• Growth Canvas A downloadable strategic planning template that helps entrepreneurs define and refine their growth strategy; available as a free resource.
• 4D-Assessment A free diagnostic tool aligned to the 4D Framework, assessing a company's standing across People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash to identify priority areas for scaling.
• Team-Check A free assessment tool that evaluates team health and effectiveness within the People pillar of the scale up Framework.
• CEO-Dashboard A free Excel-based KPI dashboard template that enables CEOs and leadership teams to track critical business metrics weekly, visualize performance using a traffic-light (ampel) system, and align teams around key numbers via the Balanced Scorecard approach.
• Scaling Up (Buch) The international bestseller 'Scaling Up' by Verne Harnish (German edition adapted by scale up founders Ladanyi and Chromik), summarizing best practices for management and scaling. Sold via the scale up e-commerce shop.

Quantifiable outcome

• VitaMoment doubled revenue in 12 months using the scale up Framework
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Verne Harnish / Gazelles (Scaling Up)coreStrategic or Co-development Partnerscale up is certified by Verne Harnish, founder of Gazelles and creator of the Scaling Up methodology. scale up is the licensed implementation partner for the scale up Framework in Germany, Austria, and German-speaking markets. Founders Ladanyi and Chromik co-edited the German-market edition of Harnish's bestselling book 'Scaling Up.'

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ActionCOACH: ActionCOACH is the world's largest business coaching franchise, operating in 70+ countries with a coach network serving SMBs and growth-stage companies on operational and scaling challenges. The business model — senior coaches delivering group workshops, 1:1 mentoring, and masterclasses to founders — closely mirrors scale up's Inhouse / Bootcamp / Mentoring stack.
• Gazelles / Scaling Up (Verne Harnish): Gazelles is the global licensor of the Scaling Up methodology that scale up implements in DACH. It trains and certifies Scaling Up coaches worldwide, runs coaching programs directly, and is the intellectual source of the 4D framework. Because both organizations monetize the same methodology with practitioner-coaches serving growth-stage CEOs, they are direct peers; the key distinction is geographic exclusivity (scale up owns DACH; Gazelles competes elsewhere).
• Strategic Coach: Strategic Coach (Dan Sullivan) focuses on entrepreneur-to-entrepreneur coaching for founders wanting to scale beyond their personal capacity, using a structured membership model with quarterly workshops and proprietary frameworks. The positioning, target buyer (founder/CEO), and pricing architecture all map directly to scale up's CEO Growth Mentoring and Game Changer Circle offerings.
• Tony Robbins Business Coaching: Tony Robbins Business Results / Business Mastery programs deliver high-ticket business coaching for founders and leadership teams through live events, group coaching, and 1:1 mentors, sharing scale up's outcomes-driven, methodology-based, founder-focused approach at similar price points.

Emerging players

• Conscious Leadership Group: Conscious Leadership Group runs cohort-based leadership development programs for executives and teams, with a focus on awareness-based leadership culture, team effectiveness, and scaling culture during growth — intersecting with scale up's People-pillar coaching but as a more recent, US-centric entrant targeting similar mid-market buyers.
• E-Myth Worldwide: E-Myth Worldwide coaches small-business founders on building business systems that work without the owner, using a proprietary operating-system methodology delivered through coaching, books, and online courses. The niche (founder-led business scaling, systemization) and methodology-led content model are highly comparable to scale up's 4D framework delivery.

Broad incumbents

• YPO (Young Presidents' Organization): YPO is a global peer community of CEOs providing executive education, peer forums, and leadership development for presidents of companies with substantial revenue. It targets the same C-suite buyer as scale up's CEO Growth Mentoring, with comparable annual membership economics and an international footprint scale up is aspiring toward.
• Vistage: Vistage runs the largest CEO peer-advisory and executive coaching membership globally, serving thousands of SME and mid-market CEOs through monthly peer group meetings and 1:1 executive coaching. It competes with scale up for the same Mittelstand/scaleup CEO buyer but is a much larger, more diversified incumbent with broader content (peer advisory, leadership development, talent assessments).
• Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO): EO is a global, membership-based peer network of founders running companies above $1M in revenue, with chapter-based peer learning events, accelerator programs, and leadership forums. While not a coaching firm, EO competes with scale up for the same CEO/founder time and budget on learning and peer-development programs.
• FranklinCovey: FranklinCovey is a global leadership and execution training firm (The 7 Habits, The 4 Disciplines of Execution) selling leadership development, OKR-style execution training, and coaching to enterprise and mid-market clients. Its flagship execution framework overlaps with scale up's Execution pillar, and its enterprise sales motion competes directly for the same L&D budget.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCo6OkYpv-uLF-fOWvwnYUFw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/scaleup-de
• Instagraminstagram.com/scaleup_de
• Xx.com/scaleupd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

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 scale up