Scale up without blowing

Just three short years ago, Tradesy was a team of five hunkered down in the founder’s living room. Two years later it was 35, and today it’s 120. At each stage we faced the challenges of scaling a team while scaling a business. This presentation explores lessons learned and strategies employed while scaling rapidly.

Presented at NewCo LA in Nov 2015.

Transcript

1. SCALE UP WITHOUT BLOWING UP Sash Catanzarite | @thesash | Tradesy
2. Tradesy NOW BEFORE Who are You?
3. It’s getting easier to start a startup. 2000 2015 Immature, expensive, proprietary tech Mature, cheap, open-source tech
4. From the outside, successful startups look easy.
5. STARTUPS ARE HARD Source: Paul Graham’s Startup Curve In reality, startups are really hard.
6. It gets harder, not easier as you scale.
7. One-to-one communication doesn’t scale.
8. The complexity of communication increases exponentially as you scale. 2 People 3 4 6 5 1 Interfaces 3 6 15 10 Pe
9. Keep teams small to reduce complexity. 12 24 Teams 6 Team Interfaces Total Interfaces/indv. 6 teams of 6 rather than one of 36 reduces interfaces for each individual from 630 to 24.
10. • Wiki for institutional knowledge • All-hands • Quarterly educational sessions • OKRs Focus on 1-many communication.
11. Organizational structure is designed.
12. Organizational structure shapes how decisions are made.
13. • Small, cross-functional teams • Organized by area of focus, not role • Focus on ownership & autonomy Tradesy’s Product & Engineering Org
14. Web team Mobile team Tradesy’s Product & Engineering Org AT 10 PEOPLE
15. Web Mobile Tradesy’s Product & Engineering Org AT 20 PEOPLE Infrastructure Tools Data Science
16. Shopping Experience Tradesy’s Product & Engineering Org AT 50 PEOPLE Infrastructure Internal Operations Data Science Selling Experience User Growth CONSUMER PRODUCTS OPS & BUSINESS Business & Monetization
17. • What works today won’t work tomorrow • Teams split as they grow • Learning fast is more important than being right from the start We’re always iterating on our structure.
18. Culture is the immune system of an organization.
19. STARTUPS ARE HARD Culture is not: • Beer on tap • Ping pong tables • Free lunches • Unlimited vacations
20. STARTUPS ARE HARD Culture is the set of characteristics that are unique and different about your organization.
21. STARTUPS ARE HARD Tradesy’s Team Values • Autonomy • Honesty • Kindness • Social Good • Unconventional Intelligence
22. STARTUPS ARE HARD Build a strong culture: • Articulate your values early • Hire for culture • Introduce & institutionalize “branded” initiatives • Develop and embrace rituals
23. STARTUPS ARE HARD A healthy culture protects your team when the sh*t hits the fan.
24. STARTUPS ARE HARD A healthy culture protects your team when the sh*t hits the fan. (and it will)
25. Because startups are hard.
26. • 1-1 communication doesn’t scale. • Organizational structure is designed. • Culture is the immune system of your organization. 3 Lessons:
27. Thank You! tradesy.com/jobs @thesash