This. For more info on finding and testing exactly these people, read http://a16z.com/2014/07/15/do-you-feel-pressure-or-do-you-apply-pressure-2/ http://a16z.c

This. For more info on finding and testing exactly these people, read http://a16z.com/2014/07/15/do-you-feel-pressure-or-do-you-apply-pressure-2/ http://a16z.com/2014/07/15/do-you-feel-pressure-or-do-you-ap... It helped me set my world straight for all the new responsibilities as a tech lead (and I'm not a natural with pressure either, having learned the value of having a slight rough edge the hard way). For more concentrated pure gold, look here: http://www.defmacro.org/2014/10/03/engman.html http://www.defmacro.org/2014/10/03/engman.html In the end, your best bet as said is great hiring and pushing work away from you, which is hardest when you feel you're still doing and understanding it best yourself. Stop this anyway. Great guideline from my co-founder: Try to get people 70% as good as you and stop there. Really try to lose as much day-to-day-stuff as possible and try rather to get the right people together and give them good context. Get some senior people along to proxy all semi-important stuff through them. It's a quick way to get them onboarded to stuff you usually do. Otherwise: Good luck, you could need a mentor, but it looks like you're alright for now, don't search too hard. Don't be too scared of doing mistakes either, you'll do them anyway. But do yourself a favor and go get that title upgrade to whatever you need (Tech Lead / Lead Architect) - you'll have to be sure you've got the upper echelon's support to whatever uncomfortable decisions you need to take on the way.