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Number of employees isn't a key metric of growth for any startup. It _is_ a way to try and drive growth, though. So when VCs want companies to hire, what they'r
by mrkurt 9y ago
Number of employees isn't a key metric of growth for any startup. It _is_ a way to try and drive growth, though. So when VCs want companies to hire, what they're really asking for is companies to put the money to work to make it grow faster.
Some companies just can't grow even while hiring a ton of people.
And to answer your question, the 900 people at twitter are doing sales, community work, support, etc, etc. That stuff balloons fast.
- spyspy 9y agoHiring as an attempt to drive "real" growth (revenue/market share) I can understand but my argument is that the marginal gain of every new employee seems to drop off quickly. I can understand hiring more sales reps if that's the bottleneck in getting new customers or more support staff if that'll improve customer retainment. I just don't support hiring 20 more project managers because that's what someone feels like the company should have at this stage.
- mrkurt 9y agoYes, I think what you're witnessing is badly managed companies, or companies that don't have much of a future. I'm fairly sure no VC on earth would recommend hiring 20 more project managers.
- pcsanwald 9y agoI agree, but I also think that if your product isn't where the VC thinks it needs to be, and you've got plenty of money in the bank, that VC isn't going to tell you to take all the time you need: they are going to tell you to focus on hiring great people so you can build faster. "You need to hire more/better people" is just the standard response to almost any problem.
- nylonstrung 9y agoHow else could you put invested money to work in a company with no assets except to spend it on advertising though?
- charlesdm 9y agoThat's the VC game. Those funds aren't giving you millions of dollars to keep in the bank. You grow (by spending it) or die.
- rhizome 9y agoBrooks' Law comes to mind, nine women making a baby in one month and all that.
- mrkurt 9y agoThe way to do it is "3 people making a baby, 3 people building a nursery, 3 people promoting the baby shower". Not all companies can do this, or are managed well enough to pull it off, but it's not an insane thing to try once you've already decided to get on the VC gravy train.
- dyim 9y agoWhat's the 3rd person's responsibility in making the baby?
- mrkurt 9y agoIn my experience, babies are best made with a life coach present.
- amygdyl 9y ago[From] "the same couple as is best known through the biographical 1950 film and book Cheaper by the Dozen." [Time and Motion Study..] .. is a major part of scientific management" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_and_motion_study https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_and_motion_study
- amygdyl 9y agoSee Matrix Management, for reporting : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_management https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_management It's obvious that the task has to be able to be subdivided suitably, but not enough is said about Matrix Management, especially when the cost of parallel business development is considered, in seeking increasing speed of execution.
- thaumasiotes 9y ago