Wolf&Grayson EditorialScaling a business from zero to millions in transactions takes more than ambition. It requires strategic thinking, adaptability, and the ability to recognize opportunities before competitors do. Alex Kartsel, Ph.D., MBA, has guided multiple consumer platforms through periods of rapid growth, from ride-hailing and used car marketplaces to migration services. His experience offers clear, practical insights into what truly works when scaling fast.
Turning Failure into Market Leadership
Kartsel’s story with Bolt stands out because the company had already failed twice in Poland before he arrived. Most organizations would have walked away from the market altogether. “It was actually the third attempt for Bolt to enter the market. Two previous ones were unsuccessful,” he recalls. What followed was a turnaround few expected. “Within two years, from almost zero rides monthly, we reached 2.5 million rides per month.” During that time, he launched operations in more than 30 cities, while Uber, already established, operated in only seven. Poland went on to become Bolt’s third-largest market worldwide. After Bolt, Kartsel became CEO of OLX Autos in Poland, a Naspers-backed used car platform. The company purchased cars directly from consumers, digitized the inspection process, and sold vehicles to dealers through an online auction system. “At our peak, we handled turnover of more than 1,000 cars a month,” he says, a major achievement both operationally and financially. Today, Kartsel serves as Vice President of the B2C Division at EWL Group, a global migration platform. His focus is on recruiting blue-collar workers worldwide and maximizing placements through the company’s temporary staffing network. The role also involves expanding candidate sources across Latin America, Asia, and Africa.
Tackling Roadblocks to Rapid Growth
Regulatory hurdles often top the list of challenges. When Kartsel was scaling Bolt in Poland, ride-hailing operated in a legal gray area. “We had regulatory issues for sure because it was a gray zone until it was fully regulated,” he recalls. That uncertainty created opportunities but also constant friction with authorities and competitors alike. At EWL Group, the challenges are even more complex. Immigration rules vary by country, and every process involves risk. “They can go to the Polish embassy, for example, and be refused a visa. Then I need to start from the beginning,” Kartsel says. Each failed application means lost recruiting costs and wasted time, with no refunds and no shortcuts.
Market saturation brings another layer of difficulty, but Kartsel views it differently. “When you are small, the amount you are spending or the investment you are making is much lower, and your flexibility is much higher,” he explains. Bolt used that advantage to move fast. They offered deep discounts early on, gaining traction while keeping costs manageable. As the market grew, the company slowly pulled back subsidies and built a more sustainable model.
Here are his three strategies that truly scale:
- Getting unit economics right – “Do not create or start a business if you don’t have a plan for how the unit economics will work,” Kartsel says bluntly. The plan doesn’t need to be perfect, but it needs to exist. Companies need to know if they’re making money on each transaction and, if not, when that changes. Otherwise, you’re just burning cash without knowing why.
- Data matters the most – “You cannot scale hypergrowth if you are blind,” he points out. Quick access to performance data lets you move money around faster, invest where it’s working, pull back where it isn’t. Start simple, add complexity as you grow.
- Action beats Perfection – For the used car business, he makes this clear: “You can just open the classified page, call the people, try to negotiate the price, buy one car and try to sell it.” No app needed. No platform. Just prove the concept works first. “Especially for companies driven by investment funds, I think spending heavily isn’t actually a good strategy for hypergrowth.”
Using Technology to Drive Momentum
Kartsel sees AI and automation as accelerators, not revolutionaries. “I see AI and automation as team tools,” he explains. “They help businesses grow faster when used properly.” Better analytics lead to quicker decisions. AI in customer service reduces costs while improving response times. These tools help companies move faster than their competitors. The real danger, Kartsel says, is not the technology itself but the failure to adapt when the market changes. He points to newspapers as an example. Some saw digital as a threat and disappeared. Others understood they were in the news business, not the newspaper business, and evolved. “If you see yourself as a company that generates or distributes news, it is not a risk. It is an opportunity.”
The same pattern repeats across industries. Microsoft moved from selling Office as a one-time product to offering Office 365 as a subscription. Spotify changed how people consume music. Telecom companies stopped charging by the minute and started selling data plans. “Does that mean the telephone company no longer exists? No, they just started providing data and improving it. You have 3G, 4G, and 5G because people consume more data,” he says. For Kartsel, the lesson is simple. Watch the trends, understand what business you are really in, and adapt. The tools will change, but the fundamentals will not.
Connect with Alex Kartsel on LinkedIn to learn more about his approach to scaling high-growth ventures and building operational excellence.
