A Year of Reengineering Growth
Birth of NBT 4.0: Reengineering Growth for a Multi-Stakeholder World
This year marked our 11th year at NBT.
It was not defined by a single launch, partnership, or headline milestone.
It was defined by a more fundamental shift.
The business landscape changed. And with it, the way growth is expected, delivered, and experienced across every stakeholder.
AI did not arrive as another tool to adopt. It became the default context in which decisions are made, teams operate, and execution happens.
We witnessed this shift across our entire ecosystem.
From startups to enterprises. From investors to mentors. From operators to individuals building their next big things.
Each group felt the change differently. But all of them felt it clearly.
At NBT, we did not see this as a tooling moment. We saw it as a structural one.
The goal was simple: reengineering growth for each stakeholder.
The mission remains the same.
If we grow together, we grow better.
#itsallaboutGROWTH 🚀
Lessons From a Decade of Building Growth
Over the past decade, we have worked with more than 2,000 startups, 100+ enterprises, 250 ecosystem partners, and supported thousands of individuals through learning and career programs.
Along the way, we evolved through distinct phases, each shaped by what growth demanded at the time.
Every evolution was grounded in reality, not driven by reinvention for its own sake.
NBT 1.0 began with execution.
We operated as a growth agency, focused on building funnels, testing channels, optimising performance, and helping teams grow faster across markets. Growth was something you did, and our role was to help teams do it well.
As the work deepened, a limitation became clear. Execution alone was not enough.
NBT 2.0 emerged when we recognised that sustainable growth requires capability, not just output.
We expanded beyond delivery by sharing our frameworks through training and hands-on learning, while also incubating and operating ventures ourselves to understand growth from the inside.
As our reach expanded, so did the scope of the work.
NBT 3.0 took shape as we connected founders, startups, mentors, accelerators, investors, universities, and solution partners into a growing ecosystem.
Through programs focused on global growth, market discovery, market entry, and investment readiness, we supported ventures across multiple geographies and stages.
With scale came a new reality.
Different stakeholders were now operating within the same environment, while making decisions under very different constraints, timelines, and responsibilities. What worked for one group did not translate cleanly to another.
Across all of that work, one pattern became clear:
Growth looks very different depending on where you sit.
A founder navigating early traction does not experience growth the same way as an enterprise leader scaling teams.
An investor responsible for a portfolio operates under different constraints than an ecosystem builder trying to scale impact.
An individual building their career faces very different pressures than a venture being built from zero.
Growth delivery could no longer follow a single model.
It needed to be redesigned.
Birth of NBT 4.0: Reengineering Growth for a Multi-Stakeholder World
NBT 4.0 represents that redesign.
Instead of adding more services or formats, we reengineered how growth itself is organised, designing a growth architecture around stakeholder-specific needs and real decision moments.
The capabilities did not change. The ecosystem did not disappear. The mission remains the same.
What changed is how growth is structured, delivered, and experienced.
Growth is not experienced the same way by everyone. So it should not be delivered the same way either.
At the core of new NBT 4.0 architecture are six primary stakeholder groups, each operating under different constraints, timelines, and definitions of success.
1. Startups & Scaleups
For startups and scaleups, growth is about traction, focus, and momentum under uncertainty.
NBT 4.0 supports startups and scaleups through multiple paths, depending on stage and operating reality:
GrowthOS™ for teams that need an embedded, end-to-end growth function
Compass™ for founders who want flexible, on-demand growth execution and advisory
Fuel™ for startups that require structured acceleration and hands-on support
Each path is designed by leveraging NBT’s decade of experience across 2,000+ startups.
2. Enterprises
For enterprises, growth is about alignment, capability, and execution at scale.
NBT 4.0 supports enterprises across three distinct needs:
External growth execution, where GrowthOS™ operates as a data-driven growth partner, integrating with internal teams to drive execution and performance.
Internal capability building, delivered through Nova™, enabling teams to build lasting skills across growth, digital, AI, and innovation.
Innovation engagement, structured in two ways:
Boost™, for organisations that already run an accelerator or VC function and want to enhance portfolio or program growth with structured support.
Atlas™, for enterprises that want to engage directly with NBT’s startup ecosystem through collaboration, pilots, and execution.
Each path is shaped by a decade of experience across 100+ enterprise-grade projects.
3. Investors & Accelerators
For investors and accelerator operators, growth must be repeatable, structured, and scalable.
NBT 4.0 supports this through two distinct engagement paths:
Boost™ for funds and programs that want to enhance their own portfolios or accelerator programs with structured growth support, shared frameworks, and on-demand execution
Atlas™ for investors and accelerators that want to support the Fuel™ mission, engage with NBT’s startup ecosystem, and collaborate across the broader growth network
Each path is shaped by a decade of experience across 250+ accelerators, VCs, and ecosystem partners.
4. Ecosystem & Strategic Partners
Ecosystems scale through delivery, not just connection.
NBT 4.0 enables ecosystem and strategic partners through multiple roles:
Atlas™ for partners who want to support the Fuel™ mission and actively engage with NBT’s startup ecosystem
NBT Solution Partner Program for agencies, consultancies, and service providers that want to deliver and implement NBT offerings across their own clients and markets
This ensures partners can either collaborate at the ecosystem level or participate directly in growth delivery, depending on their capabilities and intent.
5. Growth Navigators
Growth does not scale without people who can deliver it well.
NBT 4.0 formalises this through the Growth Navigator Program, a vetted network of experienced operators who:
mentor founders within Fuel™
deliver advisory and execution across Compass™, Nova™, and Boost™
operate within NBT’s systems, standards, and quality controls
This creates consistency, accountability, and depth across the wider NBT ecosystem
6. Growth Practitioners
Growth is not only organisational.
It is personal.
NBT 4.0 supports individuals through structured learning and execution paths:
Bootcamps and certifications for those entering or advancing in growth roles
Nova™ for continuous learning and capability building
Learning is outcome-driven and connected to real-world execution.
Looking Ahead
NBT 4.0 is not an endpoint.
It is a commitment to operate growth with more intent, structure, and clarity.
The last 11 years taught us something simple:
Growth rarely fails because of ambition.
It fails when delivery does not match reality.
Reengineering how growth is architected is our response.
Designed for difference.
Built for coherence.
Focused on what compounds.
The mission remains unchanged.
If we grow together, we grow better.
#itsallaboutGROWTH 🚀
The NBT (Next Big Thing) Team