Although plenty of organizational life-cycle research in developed countries may be found in the literature, there is a remarkable lack of such research for transition economies like Russia. This article presents the results of 593 Russian entrepreneurial firms surveyed with a focus on organizational lifecycle issues. A model of the life-cycle was developed including three stages: start-up, growth and formalization. It is found that the development of Russian newly established companies is characterized by an unusually slow change of centralization and formalization level as the firm moves from one stage to another and by preserving the owner's control over the firm even after the transition to professional management.