In the 15 years I’ve spent building tech teams for high growth companies, I’ve learned quite a few lessons the hard way. Here are a few core learnings from that journey that might help others navigating similar paths.

Recruitment Data is Crucial for Scalability

You have to audit and adapt your processes frequently to maintain scalability. What got you from 5 to 100 people is different from 100 to 500 and again, different from 500+. By using data, you’ll spot the issues, find the bottlenecks, and be able to start working on impactful solutions, making it easier to scale efficiently.

Invest in Training

Being a hiring manager, in fact, just a people manager in general, is a proper skill, not just a reward for your best employees. Management training suffers from a huge lack of investment in scaling businesses, often leaving people unequipped to deal with supporting and developing their team. Hiring decisions are a big deal; you won’t always get it right, but training your hiring managers will help minimise the risk. Everyone thinks they’re a great judge of character and can spot great talent, but, in reality, people who lack interview experience are generally pretty bad at it. Not to mention the legal risks associated with it.

Growth Takes Many Forms

Not every position requires a full-time employee. Strategic growth might involve hiring contractors, freelancers, engaging 3rd parties, and even considering acquisitions. There are several ways to integrate essential skills into your business, allowing for flexibility in how and when you expand your team.

Culture is Key

As a founder, you have to be purposeful about the culture you want to create. Everyone’s idea of tech utopia is different, so by setting values and having a strong, well-communicated vision, it’s easier for new people to navigate the business and prevents them from dividing your company into multiple ecosystems. Your business is going through a major change, and internal politics are inevitable if you don’t support and engage your employees in the journey. You must support them through the changes as the business adapts, and whatever you do, don’t give your early team a free pass if they start displaying resistance; it can become real toxic, real quick.

So there you have it, a few of the things I’ve learned in my time scaling tech businesses. This isn’t an exhaustive list, so let me know what you would add in the comments.