At the early stage of your startup, it's important to think about culture because the first 20 employees will shape the company's cultural DNA and influence future hiring and training.

You should not scale a company past 20 people before achieving product-market fit; once you find it, scale aggressively.

Managing people effectively is essential in a startup; if you don't focus on this, it can overwhelm you as the team grows.

New founders often feel the need to hire more employees to gain status, while experienced founders prefer smaller teams to avoid the challenges of managing larger companies.

As a startup grows, the complexity increases, requiring hiring more people to manage various tasks, which can lead to confusion if you're not familiar with their roles.

When you're building a company, it's crucial to understand that hiring too many employees too soon can lead to burnout and financial strain.

Hiring your first employees is critical. It's important to prioritize speed and be open to unconventional talent, as you may find unexpected gems who can significantly contribute to your startup.

Ignoring HR in the early stages can lead to problems later; establishing a clear structure and performance feedback is vital as the company grows.

Startups that rapidly scale to eight figures in revenue often do so with very small teams, demonstrating that fewer employees can still drive significant growth.