When a company grows to a certain size, this is how it becomes.
Each department has its own KPI,
strategic-level goals are aligned, but execution-level teams fight their own battles.
Resources, credit, and risk are dissected, gamed, and cause internal friction.
Even within the same company, overt and covert tug‑of‑war never stops.
This is why I have always admired small and beautiful teams.
Few people, short chains, clear goals,
decision‑making and responsibility are highly centralized,
and there is almost no room internally to engage in those wasteful games.
Teams like Hyperliquid, with a dozen or so people, can intertwine product, technology, and execution into one rope.
Efficiency comes from consensus, security from mutual endorsement, and speed from the lack of extra coordination costs.
When an organization’s scale grows, many issues become structural rather than capability problems.
That’s why the teams that can consistently outperform in the long run are often not the ones with the most people.
