The founder bottleneck
4 min read
Early on, the founder deciding everything is efficient: they hold the most context. At some size it becomes the binding constraint, and the symptom is a queue of decisions waiting on one diary.
The instinct is to delegate authority. The thing that actually unblocks it is delegating the criteria — writing down what a good decision of this kind weighs, so someone else can make it and be right.
That is a smaller, more achievable step, and it is reversible if it goes wrong.
Work through this decision
Weigh a team restructure against the alternatives, including doing nothing, and record why the shape changed.