The generalist phase of startups is a burden not a boost
Lately, my days are filled with client syncups, writing proposals and replying to slack channels. In comparison, there was only one thing to do last year — to code our first project and deliver it on time. The company has grown and more responsibilities has surfaced. Hiring, logistics, client follow-ups or visits, commercial discussions have stolen time from writing code, reviewing pull requests and making feature documents.
Although the novelty of doing newer things has been a great learning experience — to have a say in things I have very less knowledge/experience of is exciting to be honest. I’ve realised that I need to treat this phase as temporary, and not spread myself too thin. If there is anything to be built of significant value here, it will happen only if I (and everyone else) specialize in their strengths. Sure, I would be pulled in, in other demands, but those will not be the long-term differentiators for us. Startups don’t win by having people who “do a little bit of everything.” They win by having people who do critical things exceptionally well.
The aim is to keep going deeper in your skills and insights, fighting the pull from all things that require my attention. The north star aim is to become an expert in building complex AI systems for production. As the company grows, and more roles get added in, the tasks that are not our strengths will get taken up by incoming specialists, while time is freed for us to play to our strengths. The company will be able to build a momentum only around strong specialists.
Early stage startups have given rise to a special breed of role — the generalists. Typically these are smart kids who have both analytics and communication skill, and are willing to do dip their toe in everything. In a single day, one could look at MQLs and SQLs funnel, create a job posting, make edits to the pitch deck and provide inputs in the product sprint planning. Many-a-times, the founders themself fall in this category. If you are not owning a metric or responsibility you are detaching yourself from the ownership and accountability required for growth at early-stage startups. The aim is not to become a generalist. No playbook gets made, the sales pitch doesn’t improve, the code quality doesn’t improve. Nothing compounds without being a specialist.