𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫

In early-stage startups, hiring is often a race against time.
You need people yesterday.
You hire for capacity, hustle, adaptability. And for a while, it works.

But fast forward a few quarters—
The product is moving. Funding rounds are closing. Headcount is up.
And yet, something feels… off.

Alignment drops.
Decisions become fragmented.
Ownership thins out.

And no one can quite name it.

But here’s what I’ve observed:
𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒚 “𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕”—𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉, 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒕.
When it’s not made explicit, people bring their own definitions.
And slowly, clarity gives way to chaos.

𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘴:

𝘏𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺.
𝘖𝘯𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴.
𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯—𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦.

𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕-𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒕. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆.