Building a Lean Dream Team: How We Found Our People
They say your team makes or breaks your startup. After building Cyfamod with what I consider the most awesome team any founder could ask for, I can confirm: they're absolutely right.
But here's the thing nobody tells you: finding great people when you're a scrappy startup with limited resources is hard. Really hard.
The Reality: We're Lean (Really Lean)
Let me be honest about our team size: we're small. Like, "everyone wears multiple hats" small.
But what we lack in numbers, we make up for in:
- Passion - Everyone believes in the mission
- Versatility - No task is "not my job"
- Ownership - Each person treats Cyfamod like their own company
How We Found Each Other
The First Hire: A Leap of Faith
Our first team member wasn't someone with a perfect resume. They were someone who:
- Understood the problem we were solving
- Asked smart questions about our approach
- Showed up with ideas, not just skills
Lesson learned: Hire for attitude and aptitude, not just experience. Skills can be taught; passion and drive cannot.
The Developer Who Saved Us
We needed a backend developer. Our budget? Let's just say it wasn't competitive with big tech.
We found someone who:
- Was excited about open source
- Wanted to build something meaningful
- Valued equity and growth over a big salary
They've since become our technical backbone. Not because they knew everything, but because they were willing to learn everything.
The Designer Who "Got It"
Finding a designer who understood both aesthetics and user experience was crucial. Schools need software that's beautiful AND functional.
We found ours through:
- Open source contributions (they'd designed for other projects)
- A shared belief in accessible design
- A portfolio that showed they could make complex systems simple
What Makes Our Team Special
1. We're Brutally Honest
No sugarcoating. If something isn't working, we say it. If someone's struggling, we help.
This transparency has saved us from:
- Building features nobody wants
- Letting small problems become big ones
- Burning out in silence
2. Everyone Owns Something
We don't have "managers" and "workers." We have owners:
- Someone owns the student management module
- Someone owns the fee tracking system
- Someone owns the parent communication features
Ownership creates accountability and pride in work.
3. We Celebrate Small Wins
Launched a new feature? We celebrate.
Fixed a critical bug? We celebrate.
Got positive feedback from a school? We celebrate.
In a startup, you can't wait for the "big win" to feel accomplished. Small wins keep morale high.
4. We Protect Each Other's Time
With a lean team, burnout is a real threat. We've implemented:
- No meetings after 4 PM
- "Deep work" blocks where interruptions are forbidden
- Mandatory time off (yes, mandatory)
A burned-out team ships nothing.
The Challenges of Being Lean
Let's not romanticize it—being lean is hard:
Wearing Too Many Hats
Our backend developer also handles DevOps. Our designer also does user research. I (the founder) also do customer support.
It's exhausting. But it's also taught us to prioritize ruthlessly.
Knowledge Silos
When only one person knows how something works, that's a risk. We combat this with:
- Pair programming sessions
- Comprehensive documentation
- Cross-training on critical systems
Imposter Syndrome
When you're a small team competing with established players, doubt creeps in. "Are we good enough?"
We remind ourselves: We're not trying to be them. We're trying to be better for our users.
What We Look For in New Team Members
As we grow (slowly), here's our hiring philosophy:
Must-Haves:
- Self-starters - We can't hold hands; we need people who figure things out
- Communicators - Remote work requires over-communication
- Mission-aligned - You have to care about improving education
- Humble learners - Nobody knows everything; everyone should want to learn
Nice-to-Haves:
- Experience with our tech stack (Next.js, Laravel)
- Previous startup experience
- Open source contributions
- Education sector knowledge
Notice the order? Attitude over aptitude, always.
Lessons Learned
1. Culture is Built, Not Declared
We don't have a fancy "culture deck." Our culture emerged from:
- How we treat each other during crises
- What we celebrate and what we criticize
- Who we choose to work with
2. Diversity of Thought Matters
We're a small team, but we're diverse in:
- Technical backgrounds (frontend, backend, design, product)
- Life experiences
- Problem-solving approaches
This diversity makes us stronger.
3. Equity is Powerful
Everyone on our team has equity. When Cyfamod succeeds, we all succeed.
This alignment of incentives has created a team that thinks like owners, not employees.
4. Remote Can Work
We're a distributed team. It's not perfect, but it's allowed us to:
- Hire the best people, regardless of location
- Reduce overhead costs
- Offer flexibility that big companies can't match
To Future Team Members
If you're reading this and thinking about joining a startup like ours, here's what you should know:
It won't be easy. You'll work harder than you ever have.
It won't be glamorous. You'll do tasks "beneath" your title.
It won't be stable. Startups are inherently risky.
But if you want:
- Impact - Your work will directly affect thousands of students
- Growth - You'll learn more in a year than most do in five
- Ownership - Your ideas will shape the product
- Purpose - You'll build something that matters
Then maybe we're the team for you.
Final Thoughts
I didn't set out to build the "perfect" team. I set out to build a team that could build Cyfamod.
What I ended up with is better than I could have imagined:
- People who challenge me
- People who cover my weaknesses
- People who believe in the mission as much as I do
We're lean. We're scrappy. We're not perfect.
But we're exactly the team Cyfamod needs.
Interested in joining our journey? Check out our GitHub or reach out on Discord. We're always looking for passionate people who want to make education better.