> They slice and dice the org until the 30 people become split into teams of 2-3 with a manager for each, running into coordination hell on each step
This is the key mistake. Having teams of 2-3 with a manager each is way too many managers. If you have a clear focus, small teams are great because they can work autonomously, with little management and good results. You can't hire your way out of coordination hell.
I was at WhatsApp between 2011 and 2019; for the most part early on, we had essentially the CEO who does a mix of product management and engineering management and engineering, an actively engineering server manager (who also did some client work), and a client engineering manager. Android team grew enough to have an engineering manager and we also ended up with one product manager. Post aquisition, staff grew and so did management.
This is the key mistake. Having teams of 2-3 with a manager each is way too many managers. If you have a clear focus, small teams are great because they can work autonomously, with little management and good results. You can't hire your way out of coordination hell.
I was at WhatsApp between 2011 and 2019; for the most part early on, we had essentially the CEO who does a mix of product management and engineering management and engineering, an actively engineering server manager (who also did some client work), and a client engineering manager. Android team grew enough to have an engineering manager and we also ended up with one product manager. Post aquisition, staff grew and so did management.