Lean, muscular and hyper-competitive

Maybe agents are all we need

I've noticed a significant shift in the last year or so when it comes to hiring and headcount in startups.

Ben Lang

created this collection of tiny teams that are killing it.

I believe we're entering an era where lean teams are becoming a prerequisite for extraordinary success and lightning-fast execution. Venture-backed companies can now raise the same amounts as before but hire fewer people and offer incredible compensation through both equity and salary. Talent density is more valuable than ever.

It's extremely difficult to build a company of 500+ people who are all A-players. A 50-person company, however, is a different story. This smaller scale enables more control over culture, fosters genuine personal connections, and most importantly, allows for exponentially faster decision-making and focus.

Team members can feel they're doing their life's work, while founders can redirect energy previously spent on people problems. Aggressive mass layoffs and hiring curves would become history.

Companies will invest heavily in tools and technologies that enable small teams to accomplish what once required hundreds of people.

Lower burn rate would directly correlate to being much harder to kill and greater value accumulation long term. Compounding is key.