Leadership in Startups: Upside Down at 150 People

Define a concise mission using three rules: keep it short (3–10 words) in plain language. Start with why and stay true to you, applying these principles to real company missions.

As the CEO, paint a descriptive future the team can feel; be a little crazy, stay true to who you are, and share it through video, mockups, or a manifesto.

Apply a three-question strategy: where will we play, how will we uniquely win, and what core capabilities to build, guided by market research and target customer insights.

define a single company-wide goal and two to three objectives that support your strategy, strengths, markets, and customer journey; after 150 people, adopt yearly goals to guide long-term investments.

Design your organization to balance centralized efficiency with mission-based decentralization, decide between centralizing or decentralizing functional groups, and plan for growth toward 150 people.

Scale hiring and firing with growing processes, interview training, and a codified question bank tied to roles and culture. Implement performance management, severance guidelines, and respectful exits to protect culture.

Discover how startups manage career paths after reaching 150 people by implementing performance reviews, leveling and title structures, a promotions framework based on impact, leadership, culture, and storytelling.

Scale startups with in-house, formalized training: new-hire, business education, management, unconscious bias, and functional training, led by a dedicated head of learning and development.

As teams grow, clarify ownership and decision making by hiring humble people and eliminating 'not my job' attitudes; use the Bracey framework (responsible, accountable, consulted, informed) for major initiatives.

Define culture as shared values lived daily, codify them early, and use leadership-driven practices like small-group value sessions and a mnemonic—learn, empathize, take ownership—to rally the team.

Embed your values in hiring, office space, stories, and cultural caretakers as your startup grows beyond 150 people, and lead by example to keep culture alive.

Measure your culture by embedding values into performance reviews, creating recognition venues, and surveying happiness; share results openly and act on feedback to reinforce what you reward.

Align your startup through deliberate internal communication with all-hands meetings that set context, inspire, and align teams as you grow beyond Dunbar's number.

Align and empower the leadership team, directors and above, to drive the company plan through monthly business reviews, a Slack channel, and yearly goal setting, boosting engagement beyond Dunbar's number.

Plan and execute an annual retreat at around 150 people to deepen cross-team relationships and align the year’s plan, while managing cost, time, and post-retreat execution.

Improve collaboration by enforcing simple meeting norms: share an agenda in advance, designate note-takers, circulate action items with owners, and keep meetings to 30 minutes while leading by example.

Leverage Slack as a real-time internal messaging system to boost communication and productivity. Roll out with an announcements channel, admin posting controls, and a clear channel taxonomy to reduce emails.

Discover how Dunbar's number of 150 reshapes startup teams, culture, and decision making. Learn practical changes for the leap beyond 150, including vision, mission, career path, strategy, ownership, and communication.