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A comment on Something weird happens to companies when they hit 150 people (2017). Parent comment

Re:Something weird happens to companies when they hit 150 pe... by bob1029 on Tuesday March 21, 2023 @03:06PM (#35250960)
> I think there are actually many such points at which teams/companies change significantly. Going from 2 to 3, or 4 to 5 people can feel like a paradigm shift. Team communication often becomes too complex once the team grows beyond 8.

We are struggling to get beyond 10 right now. Every time we hire a new person it feels like resetting the entire org chart. The communication thing is 100% on target. At 8 people it felt manageable. Once we got to 10 it was like someone flipped a goddamn switch somewhere. We added a small management layer but this comes at a cost (i.e. we probably need 15+ to justify it fully).

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Re:Something weird happens to companies when they hit 150 pe... by hef19898 on Tuesday March 21, 2023 @03:21PM (#35251190)
I know a place that went from 200 to almost 900 over just a bit more than 18 months (VC money can be nice sometimes I guess). The new hires included some highly experienced, and thus less start-upy and older, people. Those were highered, across the org because you found them basically everywhere in small numbers, to help get the company ready for production and finalize development (my guess, it can also be just blind luck).

Then the whole thing got delayed, right around the time the new folks ended up, as part of a bunch of projects, exposing the sheer incompetence in some areas. Areas that are vital to get production of the ground. The delay led to a fight between the old and the new culture, and the delay allowed the old to close ranks with founders and clue less career management. As a result, the new culture lost, then the experienced new people left and / or got sidelined. As a result everything got delayed even more, and now VC money is close to run out.

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