Once a startup takes on investors, the question isn’t whether to grow, rather, how to grow. In its second season of automating camp registration for parents, Minneapolis-based Camperoni made the decision to expand to Duluth and Rochester as well as Denver and Boston. But the team is constantly evaluating whether to add new functionality for existing customers or additional cities for new customers. “As a startup, you can’t do everything all at once,” says co-founder and CEO Meredith Englund. She shares the strategy and early learnings behind Camperoni’s growth.

Moving quickly: “We need to make sure this isn’t a Twin Cities thing. Our business model relies on doing this at scale. We didn’t want to go one a year; we want to show that we can grow exponentially.”

Selecting new markets: “In Rochester and Duluth, we had parents requesting Camperoni. They saw the news coverage and heard about it from friends in the Twin Cities.” The two Minnesota communities also present Camperoni with an opportunity to test smaller markets. “If there are only two camps in your area, we’re not going to make a big difference. But if you’ve got 50 different providers, that’s more than you as a parent can keep in your head and take the time to sift through. I believe Rochester and Duluth are going to be relevant.”

Beyond Minnesota, Denver was an early target for Camperoni—not just because it is a similar market to the Twin Cities but because Colorado is a state with the fewest required school days in the country. “They have the greatest need,” Englund said. “We also looked at households with kids in our target age range, income level.”

Building momentum: Camperoni launched in Minneapolis-St. Paul last year with 250 youth program providers. Now, the platform lists more than 500 camps and programs. “Once people find out about us, providers start coming to us.” The team is counting on that pattern to repeat itself in its expansion markets, and this time around, they know what works. “We started social media months in advance (of launch in each new market), building relationships with local organizations, licensing boards, school districts.”

Staffing up efficiently: When it comes to identifying new camps and programs for Camperoni’s directory, the company employs contractors in each market, many of whom are true subject matter experts: moms. It’s the tech that requires the bigger investment, Englund says. “Getting everything up on the site, all at the same time—that’s challenging. Our approach is: launch what you can, get immediate feedback, then invest on the tech side to scale.”

Setting priorities: If Camperoni wants to stay ahead of potential competitors, its focus can’t only be on adding markets. It also needs to constantly improve the experience for existing customers. “Once we get through our heavy season (camp registration), we’ll go back to war rooming: if we do this, where does it get us. We’re constantly comparing pros and cons of new features, new markets.”

The founding team doesn’t always agree, Englund acknowledged. “We’re really good at arguing with each other. If we all always agreed, I’d be worried we didn’t have enough smart people in the room. There are good arguments to be made for each of these potential directions. If it was easy, someone would have done it before us.”