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I agree it doesn't have to scale, and you certainly shouldn't setup an organization around projected growth 2 years out. That may never come, and you also may n
by bdclimber14 16y ago
I agree it doesn't have to scale, and you certainly shouldn't setup an organization around projected growth 2 years out. That may never come, and you also may not want it to come.
However, if you want your company to grow into a Groupon or Zynga, and you have the rapidly expanding demand to support that, then you need to scale. I don't think Groupon could run on 26 people, so they needed to scale to get to such massive revenue figures.
I specifically didn't use Facebook as an example because I know your feelings about them. I figured Groupon at least has the revenue to support their valuation :)
- dhh 16y agoYou have it backwards. You don't design your company structure in the hopes or anticipation of becoming Groupon or Zynga. You deal with that growth when it happens. You optimize for that scenario when it occurs. You can't "want" your company into becoming a Groupon or a Zynga by design a certain organizational structure. Startups try that all the time by preemptively hiring tons of people to sit around and wait for the hockey stick growth that never comes.
- bdclimber14 16y agoI know, I'm not saying you should design your organization or hire around the idea that you'll be at Groupon's level in a year. That would be a waste. Well let me ask you this. When is it the right time to reorganize and evolve from the flat structure because you are growing like gang-busters and can't keep up with the pressure on all areas of the company (support, development, sales, etc.)
- dhh 16y agoI'll tell you when we get there, if ever. Although, as mentioned elsewhere in the thread, there are some good examples of enormous companies running counter-intuative-for-thier-size organizational models and doing great.