What happens after a company is acquired? Move to a tropical island, buy a luxury home, or start new hobbies like parachuting or art collecting?
In 2021, Martin Klässner made Austria’s largest startup exit by selling the e-mobility company has·to·be to ChargePoint for €250 million.
Now, Klässner shares his experience with future global leaders as an investor and strategic advisor. I spoke to him to learn more.
### Sharing Valuable Insights
After the acquisition, Klässner co-founded a family office to invest in startups but found it boring. So, he and his former co-founders established a new startup called GrowthSquare.
The goal? To teach companies how to scale effectively using a research-backed methodology.
Klässner states, “We created a new way of working at has.to.be that allowed us to execute and scale excellently.”
When the company reached about 40 employees, management introduced the OKR framework, standing for Objectives and Key Results—tools for setting goals and tracking outcomes. However, the results fell short. Klässner and his colleagues then reflected on company management, employee needs, communication, and working methods, eventually developing a successful approach.
“At has·to·be, we learned how to manage scale and growth efficiently—achieving a €250 million exit value with only a €12 million investment,” Klässner revealed.
They began investing and supporting startups, consistently offering feedback on scaling strategies.
Klässner acknowledges, “We realized our advice made a significant impact.”
They questioned whether they could formalize and standardize their recommended business operations, making them replicable without constant communication.
Research with the University of Innsbruck revealed that the key elements of their approach had been recognized by science in recent years.
### Introducing OKR 2.0: The Art of Acceleration
Following the exit, they formalized the Art of Acceleration (AOA) Methodology for company management.
The Art of Acceleration is a people-focused strategy execution method with a dedicated cloud platform.
It aims to create resilient companies by enhancing transparency, interdepartmental alignment, and fostering high-performing teams of motivated individuals, ultimately achieving sustainable success.
According to Klässner, this methodology incorporates aspects of OKR with a focus on people-centric strategy execution.
It includes adaptations from their experiences at has·to·be, improving the efficiency of employee operations significantly.
### Moving Beyond Objectives and Targets
AOA distinguishes itself by avoiding discussions about objectives and targets.
Klässner notes, “We focus solely on directions and actions. It’s easier for employees to determine the next step needed to advance the management’s set direction, speeding up planning and making it simpler for employees.”
### The Importance of a Shared Reality
Direction-setting and action-taking require a common understanding. GrowthSquare developed a Shared Reality module within its execution method.
“The company and its teams must align on a shared reality, establishing a common starting point and understanding their operational environment,” Klässner explained.
He cited a workshop with a retail company where top management anticipated Amazon’s significant impact on food delivery, yet lower management did not, revealing a disconnect in understanding between management levels.
To prevent conflicts, aligning on the current situation and environment is crucial before defining actions.
AOA equips companies to navigate changes, like funding loss and regulation shifts, through strategic pivots.
Klässner shared, “We define a company’s shared reality—beliefs, hypotheses, boundaries, input—and reassess their relevance after 6–12 months. If outdated, it indicates the strategy needs revision, helping with clarity, communication, and shareholder alignment.”
### A Combined Approach
Klässner confirms the methodology suits both hierarchical and non-hierarchical companies.
“It’s a balance of bottom-up and top-down approaches. Higher-level intent is set for three to five years, intent for one to two years. Direction is top-down, but how we achieve it is defined bottom-up by the teams.”
Leadership sets long-term directions, while teams plan quarterly sprints through bottom-up action definitions.
AOA has been adopted by startups with 5-10 employees, scale-ups with 150-200, and pilot projects with up to 3,000 employees. Its scalable nature allows vertical departmental implementation in large companies.
### Lithoz Adopts AOA for Bottom-Up Strategy Execution
Lithoz, a leading Austrian ceramic 3D printing company founded in 2011, adopted AOA to enhance strategic implementation efficiency. According to Timo Weidner, Director Operations & Strategy at Lithoz, the method’s success led to 94% employee adoption.
It improved team coordination, capacity planning, and offered insights into progress and resource allocation, enabling a proactive control mode.
Klässner notes that informed employees positively influence company success.
### “Transparency Can Undermine Influence—Leading to Resistance from Some Managers”
Convincing everyone isn’t always easy. Big Austrian corporations and state-owned firms often resist transparency as it