Building the dream team for an AI startup
Building an AI startup demands specialised roles like data scientists, engineers, and analysts to drive innovation. Discover what roles you need to hire first for a strong foundation to success.
Team dynamics
How to stop depending on that one developer
Key Person Risk (KPR) arises when a team relies too heavily on one specialist. To reduce this, shift their role to an advisor. The specialist guides, others do the work. It’s slow at first, but builds team knowledge, confidence, and better documentation.
Beyond junior and senior labels: Push and Pull developers
Labels like "junior" and "senior" often fail to capture a developer's true value. True impact comes from initiative, ownership, and proactive contribution—not just years of experience. We value "pull developers" who actively seek improvement, ensuring the product's success beyond assigned tasks.
On being an "expert"
Being an expert isn't about always having answers. It's about balancing confidence and humility, knowing when to admit you don't know, and valuing collaboration. True expertise grows through listening, learning, and contributing meaningfully, not just knowing everything.
Scaling the A team
In recent audits, I've noticed a less obvious pattern: overly talented start-up teams. While smart, experienced teams thrive early on, they struggle to scale. Scaling requires structure, documentation, and room to grow talent in-house.
Then it clicked: 3 things that helped me manage stress and anxiety when becoming a squad lead
Learn how to navigate the challenges of becoming a squad leader as an introverted senior engineer. Discover strategies for effective 1-1s. Overcome the anxiety of leadership by focusing on clarity, communication and creating an inclusive atmosphere where your team can thrive.
What is a retrospective, and how to run one
Reflecting on work through retrospectives helps software teams improve by identifying what went well and what didn’t. This promotes continuous growth, stronger collaboration, and better performance. Creating action plans from these insights leads to higher-quality results and a more cohesive team.
Stop Coding, Start Leading: Shifting dynamics for startup CEOs
Once their team starts to grow, technical founders must shift from coding to leading. They often wrongly believe they can build features more quickly independently rather than collaborating with the team.
Leading with fear: these leadership mistakes will break your startup
We’ll discuss some critical, non-technical challenges in leadership, including the impacts of ego and lack of self-awareness, and learn strategies to create a positive and productive work environment. Fear-driven leadership will break most startups.
The advantages of working with a specialized tech recruiter
Hiring tech talent is tough for startups. Partnering with tech recruiters helps by handling sourcing, screening, and initial interviews. They offer access to larger talent pools and reduce hiring mistakes.
Floating team members & priorities
In SaaS, shifting priorities and changing teams cause stress. Stable teams focus priorities but may lack roles, leaving floating members to juggle demands. A one-person service team can offer clarity, but careful prioritization and team restructuring are vital.
Six signs your team needs to scale
Learn when your startup is ready to scale: signs include increased workloads, strained leadership, skill gaps, and declining quality. Discover the role of CTO coaching and external guidance from madewithlove for successful growth and innovation.
Don't become a code review bottleneck
Transform code reviews from a bottleneck to a team effort. Balance quality and productivity by engaging everyone in reviews, automating minor checks, and fostering a culture of code quality. Make your reviews sustainable now.
Never hire senior developers*
When do SaaS startup founders know it's the right time to hire junior developers? And why is always hiring senior developers, not a good idea?
Full-Stack vs. Specialized Developers: what does your SaaS startup need?
Explore the dilemma between hiring full-stack versus specialized developers in SaaS. Understand when to choose versatility or deep expertise for your project's success.