🚀 We launched a new product that scaled from $0 to over $30MM+ ARR in under 12 months. Plus, we launched two new products in unrelated verticals that reached millions in sales. How did we ship so fast and with such impact? Here's the secret: 🧵👇
The magic wasn't in the ideas, but in an organizational structure change. We adapted Amazon's Single-Threaded Owner (STO) model for modern startups and scale-ups.
As we grew, functional organization slowed us down. Cross-team dependencies and disconnected team members were issues. I saw a lot of “create a Jira ticket, throw it over the fence, and pray an engineer gets to it” from the business teams and vice versa.
We tried Spotify's guilds and tribes, but non-tech teams were left out. We pivoted to Amazon’s STO model for clear ownership and accountability, but it needed tweaks for startups. We didn’t have Amazon's resources, deep pockets or hundreds of engineers to throw at problems.
Introducing Mission-Aligned Teams (MATs) - a hybrid of STO and functional reporting. MATs blend hardcore ownership with coaching and development at a fraction of the cost and resources required to run STOs. Here's why MATs worked:
1) Every MAT has a single mission and a single owner (MAT Lead) who is responsible and accountable. Clarity of focus and ownership is the most important part of this structure.
2) Most projects are MATs. If a project doesn’t have a clear MAT or single lead, it’s a no-go. We do not allow "side-hustle" projects. The best way to fail at something is to make it into many people’s part-time jobs.
3) MATs control their destinies with members from all functions including both tech and non-tech. No tossing Jira tickets over the fence, no RACI frameworks and no complex web of cross-functional dependencies.
4) MAT Leads have decentralized decision-making authority, allowing for clear prioritization and informed choices.
5) MAT Leads aren't people managers. They focus on mission and execution, while functional managers handle development and coaching. Neither MAT Leads nor MAT members have to be senior or unicorn talent.
6) Anyone can be a MAT lead, regardless of title, job level or tenure. MATs can be led by product, engineering, marketing, data, or business.
7) We offer standardized training and a MAT “bootcamp” to ensure a consistent execution framework. We can hire talent at any level and execute just as effectively.
8) MATs are flexible and can be spun up or down based on market needs. Leads and members can easily move between MATs. This lets us rapidly adapt to capture new market opportunities or double down on successful experiments.
This structure made us fast and focused. We now ship winning products and grow talent from within. One of our million-dollar projects was led by a new-grad MAT Lead!
Want to stay ahead? Comment or DM "I want to learn about MATs" and share this thread and I'll send a link to our MAT implementation template and guide.
