Matt D’Avella on scaling his team down:
I, personally, grew my team because I wanted to make more videos. I wanted to fund bigger projects and I wanted to work less.
The irony was that I was creating less, making less money, and I was working more than I ever had before.
You know, we’re talking about like, oh, you’re scaling this business and you’re making less money.
I was also making worse videos because I’m pulled in a million directions.
Like, I was making, I think, better videos most of the time by myself when I was just like— I was shooting, writing, editing— I was, like, a part of the entire process from beginning to end.
Matt hired a lot of folks (see the beginning of the vid) but, from my outside perspective, missed (or mis-hired) the key role: a great GM.
Your general manager’s job is to float as a buffer between you and exactly every single source of stress Matt mentions in the vid.
To quote Ali Abdaal:
…people ask, ‘How do you manage a team with 13 people?’
And the answer is, I don’t. Angus does.
Still want to edit all your own vids? Great — have at it. You’re free to cherrypick only the things that energize you, and leave the rest to your team.
High overhead is not the problem.
The problem is not in paying for editors, thumbnail designers, and production crew (critical roles, all). The problem is failing to pay for a good GM, first.
Most creators are getting the sequence wrong. An exceptionally intelligent assistant should be Hire #2, just after your editor — Hire #1, if you prefer to do the editing.
Once your assistant is on board,
- you contract a web dev to build out your url, then
- start trying out some writers to help you with your landing pages, blog posts and emails.
Only after your owned platform pieces are in place do you branch out to bringing on production crew, product dev, etc.
Riding shotgun through this entire team build-out process is your assistant, to whom you’ve been steadily handing off each piece of added complexity, and with whom you’ll eventually have a conversation.
If they’ve been awesome, that assistant is your future GM.
…or, creative director, chief of staff, COO — whatever you agree to call it.
(And — because we’re all grown-ups here — controversial, but true: Do not hire family. For the benefit of your business (and your family), keep every role on your team fireable.)
— Tang
Matt D’Avella’s owned platform is: MattDAvella.com.
