Why do teams slow down as they grow?
Start with Collison’s list for a sense of what’s possible, then read the rest as reasons it’s rare.
- Fast
Patrick Collison's list of teams that did ambitious things remarkably fast, from launching BankAmericard in 90 days to building the first USAF jet fighter in 143.
- Optimism Shapes Reality
Wang's 2019 Scale memo argues that time estimates set how long work takes, since people aim just under any bar, so optimistic scopes make teams move faster.
- Lieutenants are the limiting reagent
Bensusan argues big tech ships few products for its size because the real bottleneck is lieutenants, agentic people who push through blockers outside their job description, and they grow scarcer as companies grow.
- Information Compression
Wang's 2019 Scale memo argues companies slow down because people compress complex problems badly when handing them off, so the fix is shared context, vertical teams, and solving your own problems.
- Some Things I Believe
Friedman's credo: reshape the world with technology, move fast because time is the denominator, keep teams small, empower great individuals, and distrust the efficient market.
Next path: Why doesn't anyone get what I mean?