All of our Team building articles

How to Scale Yourself Down — Not Up — as a Leader

After a four-decade career of toggling back and forth between big and small, Lightspark SVP of Engineering James Everingham shares his playbook for scaling down your leadership as you go from an org of hundreds or thousands to a handful of direct reports.

21 Ways To Shore Up Your Customer Success Org

When operating in a downturn, founders have to make the most out of what they have in order to grow, including their existing customer relationships. This often means shining a spotlight on customer success orgs. To help, we spoke to over a dozen customer success experts for their best advice, pract

‘Give Away Your People’ — How Managers Can (and Should) Prep for High Performers to Leave

Seasoned startup operator Clarissa Shen offers a fresh perspective on Molly Graham’s ‘Give Away Your Legos’ framework by sharing her own tactics on how to proactively manage for high performers to leave.

35 Impactful Questions Managers Should Ask Themselves Regularly

We asked top startup leaders to share the questions they ask themselves to become better managers and assembled their answers into a can't-miss checklist.

Your Startup’s Management Training Probably Sucks — Here’s How to Make it Better

Plenty of startups leave manager training on the backburner until they become a bigger company — or try to fit it into a 30-minute lunch-and-learn. Melissa and Johnathan Nightingale, founders of Raw Signal Group, unpack why this is a mistake and outline their top tips for management training.

The Art of Becoming a Better Listener — Tactical Advice for the Startup Setting

When it comes to annual resolutions and personal development goals, listening usually isn’t very high up on the list. User research leader and author Ximena Vengoechea makes the case for why you should put more intention and effort into sharpening this skill, offering tailored advice.

The Playbook for Hiring the Right Marketer at the Right Time for Your Startup

Should you hire a brand, product or growth marketer, and how do you know when you've found the right candidate? Maya Spivak, former marketing leader at Segment and Wealthfront, unpacks her frameworks for identifying the type of marketer your startup needs, interviewing and closing candidates.

The 25 Micro-Habits of High-Impact Managers

Sharp folks from across the First Round community share the small habits that great managers do, including delivering feedback with care, opening up about failure, and sending praise up the chain.

The Ultimate Guide to the Founding Designer Role

We summarized the most tactical, honest pieces of advice from a group of design experts on what it really takes to be a startup's first design hire — from choosing the right startup to join to excelling in the role and growing your team.