01 Dec The First 10 Hires Built the Company. The Next 50 Will Define It.

The first 10 people you hired helped you get the business off the ground. They were scrappy, adaptable, gritty, and willing to do whatever the moment required. Titles didn’t matter. Job descriptions were blurry. Everyone wore five hats and figured things out as they went.

But once a company starts growing, the leadership challenge changes—because the people you hire next won’t just work in the business. They will shape the business.

The early team helped you build it. The next wave will determine whether the business can scale—with or without you in the center.

The Shift From “Doers of Everything” → “Owners of Something”

In the early stage, you hire for versatility. You need people who can jump into sales one moment, operations the next, logistics the next. But, once a company reaches 12–20 employees, that model starts to break.

Suddenly, “Who’s responsible for this?” becomes harder to answer. Work starts slipping between roles. Decisions bottleneck at the CEO. And, the team that once felt energized now feels stretched and confused.

What got you here—speed, hustle, flexibility—won’t get you to the next stage.

Scaling requires:

• Defined roles instead of blended ones
• Ownership instead of “all hands on deck”
• Structure that enables speed—rather than replacing it

In short: you stop hiring for range, and start hiring for responsibility.

Culture Also Shifts—Whether You Intend It To or Not

When you have 8–10 people, culture is organic. Everyone knows each other. Communication is natural. But, once you cross 25–30 employees, culture isn’t what you say. It’s what you allow. Processes, habits, accountability, communication rhythms, leadership behavior… That’s what defines the culture now.

Which means:

• New hires don’t absorb the culture; they shape it.
• Informal systems stop working because new people depend on clarity, not memory.
• A single wrong hire has ripple effects—not just on output, but on identity.

This is where many CEOs say: “It was easier when it was small.” What they really mean is:

“It ran on instinct. Now it needs systems.”

Why This Stage Is Where Many Founders Get Stuck

The instinct is to keep hiring more “early-stage people”—fast, flexible, scrappy. But, the business no longer needs more hands. It needs more structure, accountability, and leadership capacity.

That’s where roles like COO, CFO, Head of People, or Director-level leadership start to matter—even if they start fractional instead of full-time. 

The next 50 hires don’t just “help.” They create the operating system the company will run on.

The Real Question for CEOs

There’s a pivotal point where CEOs have to really think about what’s next. The question is not “Who can do a little of everything?” but rather “Who can own a function so I don’t have to?”

That’s the turning point between founder-led growth and scalable growth. If the first 10 hires built the company, the next 50 decide whether it can outgrow the founder and become a company that thrives long after the CEO steps out of the weeds.

What changed most in your business once you grew past your first 10–15 employees? Are you still in that period of growth (and maybe need some outside perspective)? I’m standing by to help if you’d like some assistance. You can contact me here via my website or email me directly at michael@consultstraza.com.