What makes a founder worth backing?

I don’t want to hire more people. People are hell. That’s what a Founder told me last week. And honestly, I get it. The first time around, he scaled fast, offices, managers, headcount. He hated every minute. This time, he’s keeping it lean. Deliberately small. It’s easy to romanticize “scale.” But for many founders, growth doesn’t just multiply opportunity, also, multiplies chaos. There’s a quiet group of builders out there choosing sanity over scale. Fewer people. Cleaner processes. Deeper ownership. Sometimes success isn’t growing bigger, it’s growing calmer.

I don’t want to hire more people. People are hell. That’s what a Founder told me last week. And honestly, I get it. The first time around, he scaled fast, offices, managers, headcount. He hated every minute. This time, he’s keeping it lean. Deliberately small. It’s easy to romanticize “scale.” But for many founders, growth doesn’t just multiply opportunity, also, multiplies chaos. There’s a quiet group of builders out there choosing sanity over scale. Fewer people. Cleaner processes. Deeper ownership. Sometimes success isn’t growing bigger, it’s growing calmer.

The real cost isn’t hiring… it’s losing your best people. Hiring costs money. Training costs money. But losing someone who actually moves your business forward? That costs everything. Good people don’t leave for a small raise. They leave because they feel undervalued, unheard, or like just another number. Pay your people well. Appreciate them. Give them room to grow. Create a culture where people feel supported, challenged, and proud to belong. Give them purpose, not just a paycheck. Because when you invest in your people, you don’t just retain talent — you build loyalty, boost performance, and grow a team that stays long-term. Remember: Recruitment is an expense. Retention is an investment. And the ROI? Priceless.

“I’m not really sure what I want this person to do.” 90% of the time, it’s followed by: “…but a smart person will figure it out.” I hear this exact line on discovery calls constantly. - A founder’s overwhelmed. - They want help. - They’re ready to delegate. But what they really want...is a mind reader. They want someone who can take the chaos in their head and just “figure it out.” And that’s not delegation...that’s delusion. Even the smartest person on the planet can’t hit a target you haven’t defined. Imagine a Formula 1 team. $100 million budget. Driver paid $50 million. And before the race, the team says: “Hey, just go drive around out there...and figure it out.” No strategy. No lap count. No pit plan. Same thing in business. You can hire the smartest, most capable person in the world…but if you don't tell them how many laps to run, it ain't gonna work. Then you get frustrated because “they’re not really helping.” Yeah, obviously...because you didn’t define what help actually meant. Before you hire your next “smart person,” do this: 1. Write down the outcomes you actually want. What problems do you need solved? Not tasks — outcomes. 2. Define how success will be measured. What metric, number, or deliverable tells you they’re winning? 3. Set a cadence. When will you review progress? Daily? Weekly? Never? (That last one’s the killer.) Until you can do those 3 things, don’t hire. Because at that point, you're just paying someone to share your confusion.

Timing is everything in business. One of the biggest traps I see founders fall into, and I’ve been guilty of it myself, is investing in the right thing at the wrong time. You can make smart moves, with good judgment, and still get burned if the timing’s off. I just spoke with a business owner who had to let eight people go when sales slowed only for things to pick right back up two months later. Now he can’t hire fast enough. Sometimes it’s not about the idea. It’s about when you make the move. What’s one business decision you made that came down to timing, good or bad?

Timing is everything in business. One of the biggest traps I see founders fall into, and I’ve been guilty of it myself, is investing in the right thing at the wrong time. You can make smart moves, with good judgment, and still get burned if the timing’s off. I just spoke with a business owner who had to let eight people go when sales slowed only for things to pick right back up two months later. Now he can’t hire fast enough. Sometimes it’s not about the idea. It’s about when you make the move. What’s one business decision you made that came down to timing, good or bad?

I once heard Sam Altman say: “The best founders hire people smarter than them, people they’d be happy to work for one day.” More often than not, early-stage founders who scale fast aren’t afraid to be challenged. Hence, they hire for depth, long term and not ego satisfaction. They want to build teams that think sharper and execute better. And to put it in words, nothing can be more truer than what Sam Altman said. Because great founders don’t just build companies, they build people who could run them someday.

Just because you can scale doesn’t mean your team can. John Lowe, former CEO at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams has seen this time and again. Brands get ambitious. They start mapping expansion like it’s just a math equation. 4 stores this year. 10 next year. 25 the year after. But real growth is lumpy. Messy. Emotional. Scaling is less about what you want to do and more about what your team can actually handle. You can hire. You can outsource. You can pour money into operations. But if your people don’t have the bandwidth, you’re just accelerating toward burnout. The takeaway? Growth should stretch your team, not crush them.

No one’s talking about what happens when you can’t hire fast enough to support your growth plans. Everyone’s got growth plans. Revenue goals. New programs. Expansion. But behind all that strategy are teams who are already stretched thin. They are trying to grow while running on fumes. We’re asking people to lead more with less and to stay motivated when they’re maxed out. Oh and the inevitable phrase "relief is coming soon." You can’t out-recruit burnout anymore. Right now, if your growth plan depends on perfect staffing, that’s more wishful thinking than strategy. The teams that are thriving right now aren’t the ones hiring the fastest. They’re the ones growing differently, slower, smarter, steadier. How’s your team holding up under the weight of your growth goals? How can you adjust in 2026?

First things first—relax! Getting your MVP to perform well is already a huge win. But the real game starts now—here’s what to do next: Step 1: Dive deep into user feedback.   Listen to what your MVP users are saying—their complaints, suggestions, and how they use your product.   Keep iterating and solve those pain points. Step 2: Focus on consistent traction.   Don’t stress about whether growth is slow or fast.   Just push to steadily increase daily active users and retention.   Test different marketing channels—organic, paid, influencer—and scale the ones that perform best. Step 3: Prep for funding or scaling revenue.   Clarify your revenue model—subscription, freemium, ads, whatever fits.   If you want to turbo charge growth, plan out your fundraising strategy. Step 4: Start building your team.   At this stage, smart hiring is crucial—MVPs don’t scale on their own! Remember: MVP isn’t the finish line, it’s just the first milestone.  Keep focusing on your users, growth, and a scalable business model.  Stack up small wins—step by step, that’s how real success is built!