Lessons in Running a Startup: When You're A Small Team

By Nishant Mehta — Mar 11, 2025

MehtaCognition is a small team by design. I don't have designs or desires to grow it into something bigger. Running any size of team has its benefits and challenges, but a small team has unique constraints that force clarity of vision and values, and the mistakes are costly when one lacks that clarity. The team has grown and shrunk, and I have learned from my mistakes with each person, iterating on the question, "Who succeeds at MehtaCognition?" This post is based on my experience managing and leading a small, remote team in a startup environment for 3+ years.

The first member of the team was added three years ago and only after she wore me down (as she likes to say). I didn't want to grow MehtaCognition into a serious business back then. Growing a team meant that what was born out of a practical necessity would now become a bigger responsibility.

But adding team members has its benefits. There are structural constraints to consulting. Because consulting is a service-based business, unlike making cars or iPhones, growth is dependent almost completely on the quantity and quality of the people you hire. One can argue this is true of all companies. Vinod Khosla, formerly of Sun Microsystems and now a famed VC, says: "The team you build is the company you build." If MehtaCognition, like any business then, is a reflection of the quantity - but really the quality - of its people, then I think it's worth it for me - and you - to spend a bit of time on the question, "Who succeeds on a small team?"

My Top 10 Lessons on Leading and Managing a Small Team:

The answer is never more people; it's fewer or different people.
1. Quality, not quantity, is almost always the answer. More people does not equal more value. One wrong hire can quickly ruin culture and reputation, and will almost certainly cost the company more time, money, and headaches.
There's no place to hide.
1. Everything is magnified on a small team because there's nowhere to hide. In a bigger team or organization, there will be others who will pick up the slack, or distract the leader's attention, but small teams cannot afford, or tolerate, the same level of inefficiency or ineffectiveness. When you're a small team, you cannot afford average.
Only "yes, and..." people should apply.
1. There's no established job description, hours, or roles and responsibilities. Everyone on the team is expected to step in when a need arises and say 'yes' so we can do what needs to get done. Those who want to work set hours, or only do what's comfortable, will not make it on small teams who are moving fast. When you're a small team, you can't specialize in just one thing.
Get the boring right.
1. Teams and organizations cannot afford to miss base strokes. Names are important to individuals, so spell them correctly. Punctuation and grammar show care and concern for proper communication. Meeting deadlines, consistent formatting of font, text, tables, numbers, and so on show similar respect and attention. More importantly, it shows that we didn't just rush through our client's assignment.
Figure it out.
1. We need 'figure it out' kind of people. Problem solvers and also problem finders. Thinkers and also doers. When you're a small team, just one or the other isn't enough.
We need flexible thinkers and doers.
1. One associate head I spoke to last fall said what I had been struggling all year to clearly define: "Nishant, my problem is I'm looking for people who are both thinkers and doers, but I can only find thinkers who cannot do or doers who cannot think." For those who can think or do but not both, rigidity is their liability. Flexible thinkers and doers also demonstrate what Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos have both famously said in their own words, "Have strong opinions loosely held."
We need both team players and self-managers.
1. As a founder and leader of a small team, I have my own work, clients, and projects while also overseeing the team's responsibilities. As a remote team, I also don't require the team to clock in and out. People can take whatever breaks and time off they need. This is all doable and possible only when people are really good at managing others' expectations, communicating their work progress and questions, asking for support before it becomes an issue, and getting the job done well and in a timely fashion. Surprisingly, like #6, we have found team players but poor self-managers, or self-managers who cannot play well on a team. We have also found neither quality in at least two individuals, none of whom work at MehtaCognition anymore.
There's no place for big egos at the table.
1. When I drafted our leadership norms at The Children's School to reflect the team atmosphere and culture, the first one said: "It's not about you." Related to numbers 3, 5, and 7 on this list, this one is a big non-negotiable for me. Resilience is crucial here because in a small, startup team environment, we face tens of decisions every day to which we don't have clear structures, systems, or answers in place and need to figure it out. Egos that cannot accept feedback, or bounce back, will not survive a small team or startup. So do your job with little drama and maintenance so I - and others - can do theirs.
We are building the engine while driving the car.
1. We need people who exude Zero to One energy. There are those built for startups and small teams, and there are those who prefer or thrive in conditions that go from One to N. It's important to know where you fit. Startups provide a blank or unfinished canvas and an opportunity to build something from nothing, flexibility to stretch and experiment with new ideas or frameworks. But they also lack some amount of clarity, certainty, and stability.
Demonstrate accountability. It's not enough to just show responsibility.
1. The Head of School or CEO is almost never responsible, but they are always accountable. So while we could walk away as consultants, it's important that we don't. Instead, we own the process and the outcomes. We are responsible and accountable, and we are responsive.
  - Tactical:
    - Reply within 24-hours to all internal and external messages. Remember: You never just represent yourself or write on your own behalf. At all times, you represent the team.
    - Clients shouldn't have to remind us of our responsibilities, or reach out to us for an update. It's our job to keep them top of mind.
  - Strategic:
    - Our mission is to enable the success of our client partners. So we anticipate questions and concerns, and proactively raise them and address them.
    - Lean in with the intent and effect of a partnership. We are on the same team, not on opposite sides.
    - At all times, we are looking out for the leader at the top. They should both know it and feel it.

Running this business, in one way, is like running a small school where you have few - if any - backups, and one has to always be ready to pitch in as a bus driver, receptionist, tour guide, or more because nothing is off-limits, and there's always a first time.