The MEAT Ball: The Recipe to Scale Your Operations Without Sacrificing Performance

Two years. That's how long it took us at Alan to double our volume of members, reaching 1 million today.

Hypergrowth is amazing. As long as you don't burn out. Because what's the point in doubling your number of members if they're reimbursed slower or if your operational costs explode ?

Here’s what we’re proud of: we scaled and got better. Faster reimbursements, lower operational costs, happy members (see our shareholder letter).

So how did we do it? With a method we'll call here the MEAT Ball 🧆. Not a new pasta recipe - our playbook for scaling operations without losing quality.

The MEAT Ball recipe is simple. It comes down to three pillars:

If you don't know Simon Sinek's famous "Start with Why," go read it. In hypergrowth, it's even better to "Start with How Many."

How many glasses are still not shipped yet? Which reimbursements are still waiting to be processed? Is your performance at risk somewhere ? Every morning. Ultra-precise.

Why? Because problems often arrive silently. An API crashes. A partner has an issue. An import doesn't run. Meanwhile, your service quality collapses.

That's why we built our Control Tower. Its only purpose: continuous crystal-clear visibility. A dashboard where every metric and anomaly jumps out, letting you react fast.

Here's how it works: every day, our Ops Coordinators log in. Everything green (🟢)? Perfect, we keep going. A metric orange (🟠) or red (🔴)? We alert and investigate. Immediately. That changes everything.

The real genius? The culture it creates. Teams no longer fear reporting problems, they're encouraged to. The earlier we catch it, the faster we fix it. Every new problem gets added to the Control Tower. Next time, we'll see it coming

The cherry on top? It drastically reduces mental load. No more keeping all alerts in your head. One responsibility now: check the Control Tower.

Want to build your own Control Tower? You should. But be warned: it's not trivial. Three challenges to overcome:

Ask yourself regularly: "Are there tasks we're doing that we could be NOT doing?"

Because they explode in volume as we grow. Or because they slow us down.

Spoiler alert: there always are. At Alan, we're constantly finding them.

Identifying them is just the first step. You also need to know what to do with them.

Timing is key:

You have the best AI agents. The most sophisticated automations,  the best Control Tower in the world. 

It's not enough. You can't scale without the right people and organization.

"If there's doubt, there's no doubt." You must be 100% convinced every hire is a rockstar who'll transform your team. That means staying understaffed for months rather than hiring someone you're unsure about. That means turning down good candidates because they're not excellent. 

Hire for attitude over experience. Don't look for an expert in "invoicing" or "fraud." Look for someone who learns fast and adapts to whatever you assign them. In hypergrowth, priorities shift every three months. You then need people who grow with your needs. 

Seek business continuity. Nobody should be irreplaceable. Every team must function even when someone's absent. Ask PSG. We created teams of minimum 3 people, our minimum to ensure continuity when 1 is off. We also created a specific role for this: the Flying Ops Coordinator. Someone who, regardless of topic, adds value, fits into team processes, and addresses immediate needs. Our trump card.

Make your teams autonomous, but connected. Our ops teams work on distinct topics but all benefit from  sharing best practices. Each quarter, we host "Ops Run Show & Tell" where each team presents its biggest wins. We also regularly hold "Ops Run Days." For a day, we swap roles. You discover how the other team works. You bring back ideas. You bring back energy.

You're all set. Now it's your turn.

Apply the MEAT Ball method and you'll have all the odds in your favor. You'll see problems before they arrive. You'll have a team that can absorb growth. You'll have an organization that can adapt.