Why founding a startup inside a larger company could be the smartest path to innovation and growth
The old cliché says startups are born in garages and dorm rooms. That’s still true—but today, there’s a faster and smarter path emerging: founding a startup inside a scale-up.
When you build within an established company, you combine the agility of a startup with the resources and reach of a mature business. The result? Rapid innovation, reduced risk, and accelerated growth.
Executives and investors should pay attention. This model can unlock new product lines, revenue streams, and talent retention—without having to reinvent the wheel.
From Idea to Millions: How Saily Was Born Inside Nord Security
That’s exactly how Saily, a global travel eSIM service, was created inside Nord Security, the company behind NordVPN.
In just 19 weeks, a small, seven-person team went from concept to live product. A year later, Saily had millions of users and offered plans in more than 200 destinations.
The secret? They didn’t build everything from scratch. Instead, they reused proven systems and validated new ideas fast. This approach lowered the two biggest risks most founders underestimate: market risk and execution risk.
Why Incubation Inside a Scale-Up Works
Every new product faces two existential challenges—finding the right market and executing effectively.
Inside Nord, the team had already launched several successful products. That experience revealed a clear pattern: even great ideas fail when they chase the wrong market or lack execution muscle.
With Saily, timing and infrastructure aligned perfectly. Demand for eSIMs was growing, user pain points were obvious, and the team could tap into Nord’s backend, payments, and app development systems.
This combination allowed them to move at startup speed without startup fragility.
The Power of ‘Product-Organization Fit’
Founders often obsess over product-market fit, but inside a scale-up, there’s another key ingredient: product-organization fit.
This means finding overlap between the new product and what your company already does well. When that overlap is high, you ship faster, hire smarter, and avoid costly relearning.
For Saily, the overlap was clear—security technology and app expertise. The team leveraged Nord’s experience with virtual locations, privacy tools, and web protection, applying it to travel connectivity.
Even competition worked in their favor. As CEO Vykintas Maknickas explains, “No competition usually means no demand.” Instead of fearing rivals, Saily’s team treated them as free market research, tracking their moves and learning fast.
And by making security the product, not a feature, Saily built trust with travelers who wanted safe, seamless connectivity without extra steps.
Autonomy Within Structure: The Secret to Startup Speed
The hardest part wasn’t technical—it was cultural. Large companies run on structure; startups thrive on autonomy.
Saily’s solution was simple but powerful: set up as a “company within a company.” A dedicated product and marketing team made fast decisions, while shared services like legal, finance, and design supported when needed.
Think of it as an internal accelerator, where overhead is handled centrally, freeing the core team to focus on what matters—building, shipping, and learning.
Their rhythm was consistent: ship, learn, repeat. In those 19 weeks, perfection wasn’t the goal—momentum was.
By measuring what mattered—speed, unit economics, and retention—the team kept direction clear. For example, independent testing showed Saily’s network-level ad blocking reduced data usage by 28.6%, saving travelers real money. That kind of feedback fuels smart iteration.
Lessons Founders and Leaders Can Steal
Here are four takeaways for founders and operators looking to build like Saily:
- Derisk on two fronts: Validate both market pull and execution feasibility before scaling.
- Reuse before you reinvent: Tap into existing systems, talent, and channels to save time and reduce risk.
- Measure what matters: Track speed, cost, and retention. If the data doesn’t move, rethink it.
- Build in public: Share milestones and lessons to attract partners and sharpen focus.
The Future of Founding from Within
Saily’s story shows that the startup-inside-a-scale-up model isn’t just viable—it’s powerful.
Many of tomorrow’s most successful founders already work inside fast-growing companies. By giving them startup autonomy and scale-up leverage, organizations can unlock innovation that moves in months, not years.
So, whether you’re an entrepreneur or an executive, ask yourself: what could your next big startup look like—if you built it from the inside out?
