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From One to Zero
Going smaller as a growth strategy
Xavier Amatriain (@xamat)
My journey
Takeaways
1. Many things repeat regardless of size/context
but….
2. Many important things don’t!
What remains unchanged
1. People above all (aka You are exactly as good as
your team)
2. Culture eats strategy for breakfast
3. Organizational scalability is key
4. Process matters
5. Clarity & ownership are important
What changes
1. Culture
2. Process
3. You will attract different people and for
different reasons
Beware of over/under-fitting
Why you should go smaller
● Build from scratch
● No “cultural debt”
● Run experiments
● Own successes and failures
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From one to zero: Going smaller as a growth strategy