As Thanksgiving approaches, and as companies that I work closely with grow large enough to start to hosting summits such as 11.11 (@elevenlabsio) and Function Function (@function), been thinking a lot about this.
There is a special time within fast growing companies that are recognized later as the “good old times”, but neglected or under appreciated by people living in it. May vary for others but having been part of startups as early as 15 people all the way up to 4,000 employees, my sweet spot is that 200 -> 500 person stage that happens over 1-2 years.
Companies that grow headcount that quickly are typically doing so because product-market fit is clearly found, and the business is starting to rip. Because of the insatiable demand from the market and the massive potential if you win the market, companies have no choice but to add lots of employees. So things are going well.
So (good) chaos reigns supreme internally. There’s so much to do - and everyone is running. Everyone’s executing. Everyone’s aligned with the company’s product & mission. Going from 20 -> 200 people already means that simply staying at and doing well at your job implies that one may have 10x of implied responsibilities or impact. Things may be moving too quickly to notice, but when you look back, these are definitely good times when you were stretched the most.
The team size is small enough that most everyone knows each other. And founders who want to preserve the unique culture that got them there in the first place are wary of the exploding team size, so hiring bar is set very high and founders are often screening candidates directly before they join. Even if you are hired for specific role, company is growing so fast that you end up doing a few more things not strictly in your job description - out of love, out of alignment. This helps people who joined during this time forge a special bond. Camaraderie is strong.
So if you are having all hands or off-sites during this stage, please take a moment, look around to see your colleagues. You are in the good old times. These are your people. You went through and will go through many peaks and troughs together. You’ll come out of it with implicit kinship and strong bonds. And years later, even if you are no longer at the company, these colleagues are the ones you rely on, build business and wealth with.
I hope we all get to take a moment to pause and imagine our workplace, but 10x larger than today - and have happy expectations for those to come, but also deep deep appreciation for those around you right now. And be thankful for the good old days we are in today.
“I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them” - Andy Bernard from the Office -
AI Apps investing @a16z | Investor in @elevenlabsio, @function, @cluely, @trymirage, @slingshotai_inc, @partiful & more | Growth @Snap & CFO @livebungalow