From explosive to sustained growth: lessons from Zhong Xu & Ingrid De Clercq
How do you move from hyper-growth to sustainable, long-term success without losing your culture along the way? Since 2018, Deliverect has grown from a newbee in Ghent to a global SaaS foodtech player active in 50+ countries. Pace is everything. The real question: when do you sprint to seize the market, and when do you build the guardrails for the marathon?
At our WAW! on Tour session, CEO Zhong Xu and CPO Ingrid De Clercq gave a candid, behind–the-scenes–view. Their message: scaling isn’t glamorous. It’s often tough, sometimes lonely, and always about making deliberate, sometimes radical choices, including painful ones, like letting people go.
Myths, mindsets & lessons learned
- Best product ≠ guaranteed success
Distribution often matters more than perfection. “Code less, sell more,” Zhong noted. Success comes from being with the right players, in the right markets. And sales? It’s not about charisma, it’s about persistence. The strongest salespeople are data-driven, thrive on repetition, and don’t give up. Scaling means building that engine: disciplined, systematic, relentless.
- Culture is like a campfire 🔥
Culture evolves: from scrappy grit and speed to “plan smart, act fast.” It’s not fluff, it’s how you do things: rituals, documentation, and connection. At Deliverect, even celebrations are deliberate: a big night out if targets are hit, pizza in the office if they’re not. Either way, the effort matters. Culture is alive; it needs care, and every now and then, a spark of new fuel.
“Culture is alive; it needs care, and every now and then, a spark of new fuel.”
Ingrid De Clercq, Chief People Officer Deliverect
- Innovation needs distance
Innovation struggles when everyone inside has an opinion. The solution? Autonomy. Small startup-like teams, or even external projects, that can move fast and keep ideas alive.
- Talent for new challenges
Loyalty to your first hires is vital, but scaling demands new skills. At the peak, Deliverect hired one person a day. Even then, with processes and reference checks, hiring is often a 50/50 bet. The key is knowing when fresh expertise is needed and onboarding them carefully. As one colleague put it:“There’s a time to hack five days straight but not every day.”
- The founder’s role shifts
In seven years, founders must reinvent themselves. Handing over the product role wasn’t easy for Zhong, but necessary. “I’m fine taking the backseat in peacetime. And I know I’ll be called in during wartime.”
“If you don’t think big, why would they give you even one cent?”
Zhong Xu, CEO & Co-Founder Deliverect
- Investor dynamics
Fundraising is pressure. Zhong recalled spending 12 hours a day on investor calls because without fresh capital, Deliverect would fall behind. Today’s obsession with seed money is misleading: raising is easy, scaling is the real challenge. His advice: raise only when you know why. Keep sharing your vision with the world, and with your investors. “If you don’t think big, why would they give you even one cent?”
- The playbook is simple, but not easy
Work hard. Stay scrappy. Plan smart. Act fast. Persist. And be patient: “It takes 20 years, sorry guys. We’re seven now, we’re just growing up.” Growth requires resilience, realism, and above all, deliberate choice.
From sprint to marathon
Deliverect’s journey wasn’t smooth, sometimes even “overgrown” by market pressure. But the message for every entrepreneur is clear: fast growth isn’t always efficient. Lasting growth requires structure, patience, and conscious trade-offs.