In October 2022, Elon bought Twitter for $44 billion.
Within weeks, he made immediate changes:
Fired top executives.
Ended the remote work policy.
Required employees to commit to work or leave with severance.
In doing so, he cut roughly 80% of the workforce – from 7,500 employees down to about 1,500.
People called him reckless, and most thought the company would collapse.
It didn’t.
In fact, that remaining 20% turned Twitter into one of the most efficient tech companies in Silicon Valley. They shipped faster, fixed more bugs, and ran the platform better than the bloated team ever did.
Why? Because Elon doesn’t measure success by how many people are on payroll. He measures it by output per person.
I share this with you because hiring is one of the biggest investments you’ll ever make.
Hiring too fast creates fragility. You bring on people before systems are in place. Bloated payroll. Bad hires poison culture. And suddenly you’re drowning in meetings instead of growing revenue.
Hiring too slow keeps you as the bottleneck. You’re doing everything yourself. You can’t scale. You burn out. And opportunities pass you by because you don’t have the bandwidth to execute.
The key is knowing when to hire, who to hire, and how to structure your team.
Here’s how I think about it:
Outsource roles that are performance-based.
If someone is incentivized by results, they don’t need to sit in your office. Ad buyers will tweak the creative. Sales reps will make the calls. Agencies will refine targeting. Because their money depends on it.
Build in-house teams for core functions.
If the role impacts brand, culture, customer experience, or daily execution – bring them in-house.
Collaboration increases speed. Standards stay high. Energy compounds. People perform better when they’re working together under the same roof with the same mission.
The next time you’re looking to hire, look for these signs:
- Are they driven by performance and results? Outsource.
- Do they need to collaborate daily to execute your mission? In-house.
- Are your systems ready to support them? If not, don’t hire yet.
Hopefully this helps you as much as it’s helped my clients.
And if you need help pressure-testing your business and knowing exactly when to hire, who to hire, and how to structure your team – I want you at the 10X Intensive.
On February 7th at the Fit Body Boot Camp HQ, you and 19 other entrepreneurs will be able to pick my brain on this, plus my CEO of Fit Body Boot Camp Bryce Henson, and Navy SEAL Jason Redman.
Bryce knows a thing or two about growing a massive team across hundreds of locations. Jason knows how to lead one under pressure. And I’ve done both.
Plus, you’ll meet 19 other entrepreneurs who can help you – and I’ll share my Rolodex of vetted people and agencies so you’re not guessing who to work with.
Talk soon,
Bedros Keuilian