TL;DR
For seed and early Series A startups, the article argues founders should avoid introducing formal engineering management and instead focus on hiring self-motivated engineers and building product-market fit. It warns against common anti-patterns—forced motivation, premature managers, and copying big-company practices—and recommends minimal, pragmatic processes.
What happened
The author reviewed recurring mistakes founders make when they believe their early engineering teams need formal management. Rather than layering processes and roles, the recommendation is usually to back off: prioritize recruiting engineers who are intrinsically motivated and let small teams self-organize. The piece identifies three core anti-patterns—trying to manufacture motivation (long-hour norms, weekend meetings, micromanagement), hiring managers before the product and team structure warrant it, and transplanting management practices from large tech firms. It also outlines stage-based guidance: at the founding stage (roughly up to ~5–6 engineers) keep things flat; when teams reach about 10–15 people prefer a single technical leader; and only around 20–50 engineers should structured management start to appear. Practical countermeasures offered include asynchronous status updates, limited Slack reliance, ad-hoc 1:1s, using flexible docs over heavy tracking systems, and quick, humane course-corrections on hiring mistakes.
Why it matters
- Premature management can divert founders from product work and customer discovery, slowing progress toward product-market fit.
- Imposed cultural norms (long hours, weekend rituals, micromanagement) risk alienating high-quality engineers who value autonomy.
- Wrong timing or structure for managers can create organizational overhead that outpaces any coordination benefits at small scale.
- A small, consistent leadership approach helps establish engineering culture that scales more predictably as headcount grows.
Key facts
- Founding-stage teams (around 5–6 engineers including founders) should remain largely flat and self-organizing.
- At roughly 10–15 engineers (multiple subteams), the author recommends keeping engineers reporting to a single leader, often the technical co-founder.
- Early growth (about 20–50 engineers) is when additional management layers become more justifiable, though a 'less-is-more' stance is suggested.
- Common anti-patterns: creating long-hour norms (e.g., 996-style expectations), scheduling non-urgent meetings on weekends, and micromanaging status.
- Signs it's time to add management: the tech leader is burning out, adding headcount no longer increases output, or the team cannot plan 3–6 months ahead.
- Hiring for motivation: look for unforced past examples of commitment, evidence of grit, intellectual curiosity, and a bias for action.
- Prefer simple, well-known management 'stack' rather than inventing new organizational experiments at seed stage.
- Operational recommendations include asynchronous updates, limiting Slack interruptions, organic/ad-hoc 1:1s, and flexible documents instead of heavyweight tracking tools.
What to watch next
- CTO or single technical leader showing signs of burnout or overload.
- Diminishing returns from adding engineers—headcount increases without proportional output gains.
- Inability of the team to project 3–6 month outcomes or roadmap implications.
- not confirmed in the source
Quick glossary
- Seed / Series A: Early funding stages for startups; seed typically precedes product-market validation and Series A often funds initial growth after some traction.
- Product-market fit (PMF): The point where a product satisfies a strong market demand and customers adopt it at a rate that supports sustainable growth.
- 996: A workplace pattern denoting work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week; often cited as an example of excessive hours culture.
- Engineering manager: A role focused on coordinating engineering work, mentoring people, and aligning technical execution with product goals.
- Asynchronous updates: Status reporting that does not require simultaneous participation—examples include written updates in doc stores or message threads.
Reader FAQ
Should founders act as engineering managers in early startups?
The article advises against formal management at very early stages; founders should focus on hiring motivated engineers and building product-market fit.
When is it appropriate to hire engineering managers?
Guidance in the source suggests considering management after roughly 20 engineers or when signs appear such as leader burnout, reduced output from added headcount, or poor 3–6 month planning.
How can you identify motivated engineers during hiring?
Look for unforced past patterns of commitment, demonstrated grit in career or life events, clear intellectual curiosity, and a bias for fast action.
Are weekly standups and recurring 1:1s recommended?
The author favors asynchronous, lightweight status updates and organic, topic-driven 1:1s over wholesale adoption of recurring rituals; for specifics beyond that, not confirmed in the source.
This article is for early-stage (Seed, Series A) founders who think they have engineering management problems (building eng teams, motivating and performance-managing engineers, structuring work/projects, prioritizing, shipping on time). The…
Sources
- No management needed: anti-patterns in early-stage engineering teams
- anti-patterns in early-stage engineering teams
- 9 Platform Engineering Anti-Patterns That Kill Adoption
- Unexpected Anti-Patterns for Engineering Leaders
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