Building Technical Teams That Scale

building a technical team that scales... everyone talks about it, few actually do it well.

over the past decade, i've scaled engineering teams from 3 to 50+ people at multiple startups. i've made every mistake possible (some expensive ones), learned what actually works, and watched teams either thrive or collapse under growth pressure.

here's what i wish someone had told me before my first scaling experience...

the foundation: hiring for growth, not just gaps

biggest mistake i see? hiring for today's problems instead of tomorrow's challenges.

at Khabri, we made this mistake early. hired 5 engineers who were perfect for our current codebase. six months later, when we needed to rebuild for scale, none of them could adapt to the new architecture.

what to actually look for

• learning velocity: how fast can they pick up new technologies?
• problem-solving approach: do they break down complex problems systematically?
• communication skills: can they explain technical concepts clearly?
• ownership mindset: do they take responsibility for outcomes, not just tasks?

managing technical debt while shipping features

this is the eternal struggle: business wants features, engineering wants clean code. both are right.

the 15% rule

allocate 15% of every sprint to technical debt paydown. not negotiable. not "when we have time." every single sprint.

the delegation framework that actually works

as teams grow, your role shifts from doing to enabling others to do.

the 5-level delegation model

• level 1: "do exactly this" (for new team members)
• level 2: "do this, but use your judgment on details"
• level 3: "achieve this outcome, you decide how"
• level 4: "here's the problem space, you define the solution"
• level 5: "you're responsible for this area, keep me informed"

most people try to jump from level 1 to level 5. that's how you get chaos.

the scaling mistakes that kill teams

mistake 1: hiring too fast

doubled our team size in 3 months once. seemed like a good idea... until productivity actually decreased.

lesson: hire in waves, not floods. give new hires time to integrate before adding more.

mistake 2: promoting the best engineer to manager

being great at code doesn't make someone great at managing people.

lesson: management is a different skill. provide training or hire experienced managers.

the bottom line

scaling technical teams is part art, part science. the science is about processes, metrics, and systems. the art is about people, culture, and leadership.

the teams that scale successfully do both: they build robust systems AND maintain human connections.

scaling your technical team?

i'd love to hear about your challenges. every team is different, and the best scaling strategies are the ones adapted to your specific context and culture.