How should founders build teams as their company grows?

Cyriac Roeding

Co-founder, CEO · Earli

Brilliance, values, diversity

Cyriac Roeding says founders should combine individual brilliance with values, not be flexible on values, and still bring in diversity; he says an awesome team changes everything.

The answer starts at 44:16.

Eric Glyman

Co-Founder, Co-CEO · Ramp

Small autonomous teams

Eric Glyman says his team keeps teams small, breaking them up once they reach 8 to 12 people, because small teams with clear ownership let people make decisions, understand what they're optimizing for, and own it.

Andy Frisella

Chief Executive Officer · 1st Phorm International

Build leadership from within

Andy Frisella recommends founders build leadership from within by making leadership training part of training from the beginning, because scaling is impossible without good leadership and outside hires often lack rapport with existing staff.

ET

Ethan Thornton

Founder · Mach Industries

Find people you trust

Ethan Thornton says founders should find people they can trust and then empower them, which he gives as the timeless advice he'd give himself before starting.

The answer starts at 49:41.

Andrea Baronchelli

Co-Founder & CEO · Aspire

Build small cross‑functional squads

Andrea Baronchelli says companies should use small cross-functional squads—independent units deployed on new things while separate teams run existing business—so the company stays lean, fast and entrepreneurial as it grows.

The answer starts at 22:43.

CM

Coco Mao

CEO & Co-Founder · Openart Ai

Evolve yourself continuously

Coco Mao says founders should continuously evolve themselves as the company grows, because the skillset and mindset needed differ at stages like 2–3 versus 50–60 people and they must keep up.

Harshil Mathur

CEO & Co-Founder · Razorpay

Delegate >30% tasks

Harshil Mathur says his rule of thumb is to delegate anything that takes more than 30% of his time, since the org can only keep scaling if he isn’t the point of failure.

Saahil Goel

MD & CEO · Shiprocket

Hire the right people

Saahil Goel says the key is having the right people, though he notes the definition of "right" differs by company; he says purpose-driven people are needed and delegation is important.

The answer starts at 49:06.

Mike Kim

Co-Founder & CEO · Mycroft

Intensive crash‑course trip

Mike Kim recommends founders take an intensive week-long trip with their first head of sales, telling them everything they know so the hire absorbs what the founder wants to deliver.

Ajay Natarajan

Co-Founder · Roadrunner

Build with people you like

Ajay Natarajan advises founders to build with people they like, saying that having smart goofballs around provides comic relief that helps with the stress.

Ali Hussain

CEO and Co-Founder · Tabs

Hire diverse, complementary talent

Ali Hussain says founders should hire people with diverse, complementary skills and backgrounds, arguing the first 10 employees should not look or behave like the founder and should fill skill gaps.

Alex Konrad

Founder and Editor · Upstarts Media

Generalists then specialists

Alex Konrad says founders should start with generalists — "Swiss army knife" people who do what needs to be done and show initiative — and then over time bring in specialists and great managers.

Hire problem owners

Travis Kalanick says founders should hire people who can own an entire problem, not people who can run a process, saying that is what enabled Uber's multitude of ideas.