I can’t tell you how many founders have told me:
“People failed me.”
“People slowed us down.”
I’ve lived that lesson myself.
In the early days of our startup, operations hinged on three key people. We gave everything to keep them happy — three years of growth upfront, CXO and VP titles, even equity unlocked from day one.
We put them on a pedestal. And they milked it. They began acting in self-interest, even when it hurt the company. Worse, they created more dependencies to tighten their hold. As founders, we lived with the constant fear that losing them could mean losing the business itself.
That experience taught me the hardest truth: never build a company that survives only if certain people stay. Survival and growth must come from design, not dependency.
Where Most Founders Stop
We’ve all heard the standard advice: Design for accountability.
- Give people clear targets.
- Back them up with authority.
- Tie rewards to results, not effort.
Everyone knows this. Most founders try to implement it.
But here’s the hard truth:
Churn is bearable. The real danger is when people stay —slowing decisions, lowering standards, and spreading mediocrity—yet you feel trapped into keeping them.
No accountability chart will fix that. Because what you’re fighting isn’t a performance issue. It’s organizational fragility.
That’s why survival (and growth) can’t rest on accountability alone. It has to come from design.
So what do you do? You stop betting on perfect people — and start building a company that outlasts them.
Design a Business That Outlasts People
I’m not saying people don’t matter. In my darkest hours, it was my people who carried me through and helped rebuild the company.
But you don’t build a resilient business by chasing great hires. You do it by designing your company to rise above average performance and deliver beyond expectations.
That’s how you reduce risk in delivery — when results don’t hinge on star players, delivery stays steady.
Here is my two-pronged strategy playbook:
- Build systems so strong that even average people can perform above average.
Think of a call center agent.
Most are fresh. Many haven’t seen the world. Yet when you call with a complex credit card issue, they resolve it in minutes.
How?
They aren’t experts. They’re following detailed SOPs already tested against every variation and scenario. The system carries complexity. The agent just executes.
That’s why one agent can leave, another can step in, and the outcome remains the same. Average people perform like experts — because the system makes it possible.
Why can’t we do the same for our businesses?
- Develop a talent attraction + onboarding engine.
Most companies are built on a fragile hope:
good people will stay.
But reality is harsher. Some will leave for better pay. Some will burn out. Some will simply move on.
You can’t control that. What you can control is how fast and consistently you can attract talent and make them productive.
Top CEOs are system designers. They don’t leave recruitment to chance. They build a repeatable engine — clear talent pipelines, structured assessments, and smooth onboarding that shrinks time-to-productivity.
When a new hire contributes in weeks instead of months, churn loses its sting. Momentum continues. Projects don’t stall. And the business compounds forward, no matter who exits.
Retention matters. But great companies don’t bet growth on retention.
They’re always ready for the next capable person to step in without drama.
This is a core part of the People pillar of my coaching program. If you want to design a company that performs beyond star players — and thrives no matter who comes or goes — reply with PEOPLE and I’ll share how I work with founders on this.
On a side note, if you’re curious to know how to use brand-led strategies to recruit, read this post.
What This Really Means
You can’t control human nature.
But you can control the design of your business.
When you stop chasing “perfect people,” things shift. Systems take the weight. And the company compounds value — no matter who’s in the seat.
In the churn, you will find exceptional ones — people with both character and competence. When you do, do your damndest to keep them for the long haul.
And grow your business in a way that lets their ambition be fulfilled too.
That’s what smart CEOs are all about.
📌 Reflection for You:
Where in your business today does performance still depend on “star players”?
That’s the exact area where systems, onboarding, and design need to step in.
My top content from last week
Last week, I shared my biggest takeaways from 20+ years in the trenches — distilled into five lessons every founder can use.
It struck a chord because these aren’t theories. They’re hard-earned truths on reducing risk, building resilience, and scaling smarter.
📚 From My Bookshelf:
Actionable insights from books that transformed me and how I built.
Book: The First 20 Hours
I used to think learning something new meant committing 10,000 hours.
Turns out, that’s not just wrong — it’s the reason many founders delay learning what they need most.
This book shifted that for me.
I wrote an article where I’ve broken down how to use its approach to build real skills, fast — even with a founder’s calendar.
If you’re navigating new challenges but feel like you don’t have time to learn… start here.
Here’s a list of all books I have shared on this newsletter so far.
See you next Thursday,
Surabhi
