The Scaling Value Playbook

Shortlisted in the Startup/Scaleup category at the Business Book Awards in partnership with Pathway Group 2025

Winner CMI Management Publication of the Year 2024 (SME Growth category)

Learn how to scale your business or organization and overcome the challenges in moving innovation to scale.

The Scaling Value Playbook provides an overview of the challenges in moving innovation to scale, offering practical guidance on managing this process. It explores creating new ventures and discusses the road to realizing value at scale. It also provides a framework for developing and implementing a strategy for scaling up and scaling out of innovation, together with tools and templates to enable the reader to create a fit-for-purpose scaling strategy.

In an easily accessible and visually appealing way, De Gruyter playbooks offer practical concepts for improving business performance. They are an extremely valuable resource for a wide range of business professionals.

Ian Gray runs his own consultancy Gray Dot Catalyst which provides consultancy services on strategy and innovation. He runs programmes for innovation funders and provides mentoring to social impact startups. He has advised over 150 businesses organizations and government departments across Europe and North America including UNICEF and UNHCR. He is also an inventor in the field of blockchain and this is his first book.

John Bessant is Emeritus Professor at the University of Exeter and has visiting appointments at the universities of Stavanger, Norway and Erlangen-Nuremburg, Germany. He has been active in the field of research and consultancy in technology and innovation management for over 40 years. John has acted as advisor to various national governments, to international bodies including the United Nations, The World Bank and the OECD and to a wide range of companies. He is the author of over 40 books and monographs and many articles. His books include　Managing Innovation　now in its 7th edition published by Wiley is the market-leading textbook on the subject in the European market. John is also co-author (with Henning Breuer & Sune Gudiksen) of　Gamification for Innovators and Entrepreneurs　published by De Gruyter this year (Open Access title).

"Finally... a book that helps innovators go beyond prototyping and piloting. Packed full of wisdom and great resources to help navigate your journey to scale."
Kathy Peach, Director, Centre for Collective Intelligence Design, Nesta, UK

"Scaling Value has the potential to soon become a standard for a new generation of innovation managers and drivers of change. John and Ian open up a new category of learning through inspiring innovation examples, deep insights into the wide land of innovation management and methods, and instructions for finding our own path to successful innovation adventures."
Hannes Erler, Former Director Innovation Ecosystem, D. Swarovski KG, Austria

"The Scaling Value Playbook is a fast-paced journey through game-changing global innovations from their modest beginnings, underscoring the pivotal role of ecosystem collaboration in their success. The book not only inspires innovation and scale through collaboration but also equips business and social impact leaders with practical tools and insights for navigating the dynamic nature of shifting value creating roles in a complex and rapidly changing world."
Ian Lobo, Founder, the ninth planet, Former Managing Director, Strategy & Innovation, Accenture, Canada

"The Scaling Value Playbook is a thought-provoking growth manual, providing step by step guidance to any entrepreneur looking to achieve scale. A rare combination of real-world examples underpinned with academic rigour and delivered in an engaging style, Ian Gray and John Bessant lead the reader through a masterclass in value creation and delivery.
My bookcase is full of start-up books and guides. The Scaling Value Playbook is right up there with the best of them, and I can see it becoming a dog-eared companion to a generation of entrepreneurs."
Iamol Echevarria, CEO ExplantLab, Board Member BeAccredited Group, USA