a16z Podcast
What Founders Get Wrong About Scaling – With Carta’s CEO
Mar 7, 2025
Henry Ward, co-founder and CEO of Carta, shares insights from over a decade of scaling his company. He discusses the importance of hiring 'missionaries' over 'mercenaries' to maintain company culture. Ward emphasizes the crucial timing of achieving product-market fit and reveals the evolving role of a CEO in building effective systems as a company grows. He highlights focusing on input metrics rather than just revenue for sustainable growth and underscores the necessity of clear written communication in shaping company culture.
40:37
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Quick takeaways
- Hiring missionaries fosters a passionate culture essential for innovation, while balancing mercenaries provides stability as companies scale.
- Achieving true product-market fit is crucial before scaling sales efforts to avoid costly pitfalls masked by premature go-to-market strategies.
Deep dives
Hiring Missionaries vs. Mercenaries
When building a team, the choice between hiring missionaries or mercenaries is vital. Missionaries are passionate about the mission and willing to endure challenges for the sake of the company's vision, making them valuable in the early stages of a business. However, as a company grows, balancing these with mercenaries, who may be primarily motivated by job security, becomes necessary. The challenge lies in maintaining a missionary culture even as the team scales, as these individuals are often more difficult to manage but are essential for fostering innovation and commitment.
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