10 Keys to Scale Chris FryAngel Investor and former SVP Eng @twitter

10 keys to scale

Areas

Growth, Structure & Scale

Iteration & Speed

Retention & Culture

The problem of scale @twitter

Castles in the sky

Growth, Structure & Scale

1. How do you hire great engineers?

Referrals, Same-day close, avoid interviews!

Growth, Structure & Scale

2. When is the right time to focus on generalists vs specialists?

First, everyone does everything. I hire for smart people that can learn.

Growth, Structure & Scale

3. When do you introduce external managers?

1 to 10 ratiosource internallymanagement is communication

Growth, Structure & Scale

4. What should teams look like?

2-10 peopleHave all the resources they needAutonomous

Growth, Structure & Scale

5. How do we structure the overall team as we grow? When should we split into multiple teams?

Horizontal for consistency / Vertical for speedLayers with stacks

Iteration & Speed

6. How much time should be spent on technical debt?

VariesNever stop the worldUse a portfolio approach (20%)Quality is free

Iteration & Speed

7. How do you keep delivering as the team grows?

Throughput with qualityFocus on iteration speedAutomation

Iteration & Speed

8. How do you keep hiring a priority at a seed stage startup?

Grow in phases

Retention & Culture

9. How do scale engineering culture?

Have one, write it down, live it

Retention & Culture

10. How do you retain people in the valley?

Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose

Thank you! @chfry