How to Build a Better Team Around You

I spoke with a CEO yesterday who’d just crossed $5M in ARR. The product-market fit was solid, and GTM was showing early signs of repeatability. She had a good head of marketing in place and had just brought in a product marketer to support growth.

I asked her what felt hardest right now.

She said: “I want to build a better team around me, but I’m unsure how.”

We started unpacking it. Not in a crisis way, more in the sense of, “What does building a better team around me actually look like from here?” Is it about hiring differently? Getting clearer on what people are responsible for? Tightening up how decisions are made?

What we landed on was that the next phase of work wasn’t about being more hands-on or stepping back. It was about putting the right structure around the leadership team she’s trying to build. Not adding processes for the sake of it but creating the kind of environment where capable people can execute together.

This shift happens as you move from early team momentum to building a proper leadership layer. It starts with getting clear on the GTM plan — something everyone can point to and say, “This is what we’re running.” It needs a rhythm — not just recurring meetings, but a cadence where priorities are reinforced and blockers get removed. And it needs shared standards for what “good” looks like — so people aren’t just busy but aligned on what outcomes matter.

Because without that structure, even strong people will start doing their version of what they think is right. You’ll get energy but not alignment. And that’s when things start to slow down.

The Paralysis of Intelligence

One of the hardest parts of scaling isn’t learning how to run every department. It’s figuring out how to build a team around you that can run those functions better than you and giving them what they need to succeed.

This is where most CEOs get stuck. They hire smart, experienced people, but execution starts to feel slower, not faster. Priorities blur. Decisions stall. Everyone’s doing good work, but it’s not adding up the way it should.

The default advice — hire great people and get out of the way — only works if the environment is already set up to support them. And more often than not, it isn’t.

What Works

When things feel slow, the instinct is often to hire someone else. Another VP. Someone who’s “done it before.” But if the structure isn’t there, even the most experienced hire won’t create momentum. They’ll just add another layer of weight.

What works is getting a few core things right:

First, align around one GTM motion. Not a mix of strategies. Not multiple “priorities.” One clear motion the whole company understands and is committed to.

Second, define ownership clearly. Each person on the team should know exactly what they’re responsible for, and those responsibilities should relate directly to outcomes that move the business forward.

Third, run a weekly rhythm that creates movement. A working cadence that sets priorities, surfaces blockers, and leads to real decisions — not just updates or status reports.

And as you think about who to hire or promote, look for people who naturally simplify. The ones who don’t overcomplicate things, bring clarity to messy situations, and quietly get on with it. That’s what keeps the company moving.

When those things are in place, execution speeds up. You don’t need to be an expert in sales, marketing, or product. You need to create a structure that lets your team operate at pace.

How to Use Not Knowing as an Advantage

I talked with another CEO last week who said, “I feel like I don’t know enough about marketing to lead it properly.”

But not knowing everything isn’t the issue — and often, it’s a strength.

The trap is thinking you need to become an expert. Your job isn’t to know everything — it’s to ask better questions and build an environment where smart people can figure it out together.

Here’s how to use that to your advantage:

Start by noticing where you’re treating something as a given. When you hear yourself say, “Well, this is just how it works,” stop and ask: is it working here? Most playbooks aren’t universal — they’re designed for a specific context that may not match yours.

Next, challenge anything that feels like default thinking. If someone says, “This is best practice,” your follow-up should be, “Is it helping us right now?” You don’t have to be contrarian for the sake of it, but you do need to ensure that inherited thinking isn’t getting in the way.

And finally, when someone on your team says, “Why don’t we just try this?” — listen. That’s often where the best progress comes from, especially when they’re not carrying the baggage of how things are “supposed” to work.

You don’t need to have all the answers. You need to create a system where answers emerge quickly — and the team feels confident acting on them.

Action, action, action:

For investors, operating partners, and heads of platform — here are three practical things to check this week:

1. What motion is the GTM team running?

Ask the CEO to talk you through it. Not the pitch deck version — the actual plan they’re executing. Who are they targeting? How are they reaching them? What’s the path to revenue? If it’s unclear or inconsistent, hold off on approving another hire.

2. How are decisions getting made?

Look at the operating rhythm. Is there a weekly cadence that sets focus, clears blockers, and helps the team stay aligned? Or are priorities drifting and decisions getting stuck?

3. Who owns what?

Choose two or three GTM outcomes that matter this quarter and ask who owns each one. If the answers are vague, shared, or unclear, that’s where momentum is breaking down.

For CEOs — your 3-step prompt this week:

1. Write out your GTM plan in plain language.

Who are you targeting? What’s your message? How are you reaching them, and what’s the sales path? Share it with your team. If people explain it differently, that’s where to start.

2. List your top GTM priorities and assign ownership.

What are the 3–5 most important objectives this quarter? Who’s responsible for each one? Be specific — names, not roles. Then, check with those people to see if the ownership is clear from their perspective.

3. Audit your leadership rhythm.

What’s the actual cadence for reviewing priorities and making decisions? If your team meetings are mostly updates, and nothing is getting unblocked or clarified, you’re missing the lever.

If you’ve hired good people and things still feel slow, the answer is your system. If you want to build the team, follow this advice on building the system.

Build the system. That’s what scales.

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