Outfit7 (B): Entrepreneurial Leadership at a Scale-up

Published 22 Feb 2019
Reference 6459
Industry Broadcast Media
Region Europe
Length 4 page(s)
Summary

Outfit7 is a digital entertainment firm that develops and publishes animated video games for mobile phones, tablets and desktops. It’s flagship product is a series of mobile apps called “Talking Tom and Friends”, with close to 10 billion downloads globally. Outfit7 is one of only 46 European unicorns, i.e., privately held companies valued above $1 billion, topping the global ranks of most downloaded mobile games. In 2017, according to App Annie, a leading app-ranking platform, Outfit7 was the sixth most downloaded mobile publisher, and My Talking Tom was the second most downloaded mobile game globally, putting it in the company of tech giants like Facebook, Google, Tencent and Alibaba. Part A describes the growth stage from 2009 to 2014, along with the story of founders Samo and Iza Login. The focus is on setting up the startup and developing a unique organizational culture, leaving the hiring decision (fit or misfit) to students. In Part B, from 2014 to 2017, the start-up moves into scale-up phase after the founders’ exit/appointment of a new management team, the focus is on entrepreneurial leadership. In Part C, as tensions emerge from scaling up a unicorn, students must decide what to keep and what to change (how to balance continuity and renewal) as expectations for growth soar.

Teaching objectives

To facilitate discussion of entrepreneurship, leadership, human resource management, change through growth, and organizational culture.

Keywords
  • Start-up
  • Scale-up
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Leadership
  • Human resource management
  • Organizational culture
  • Unicorn
  • Founders’ exit
  • Change management
  • Family entertainment
  • Growth
  • Learning from failure
  • Organizational values
  • Teamwork
  • Q21819