Udemy

Leadership in Startups: Upside Down at 150 People

Name: Leadership in Startups: Upside Down at 150 People
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.6 (308 reviews)

4.6(308)9k students

Korshub's take

What Happens When a Startup Crosses 150 People

Drawing on firsthand experience running marketing at Udemy from roughly 5 employees through its growth to 250+, this course centers on a specific, disorienting moment: the leadership shift that hits a startup around 150 people, informed by Dunbar's number and the breakdown of informal, ad hoc communication.

Who It's For

Startup leaders and managers whose company is approaching or has just passed 150 people, where the systems and culture that worked before suddenly stop working.

Key Takeaways

Why growth past 150 people changes how a company must operate
Rethinking mission, vision, and strategy as the team scales
Redesigning culture, team structure, and org design for a larger company
Adjusting goal-setting and communication practices for scale

About this course

"Something weird happens to companies when they hit 150 people". This was the title of an article I read on Quartz last year and after reading it, my reaction was:

"Yes! That's it. Finally, someone understands what startups go through!!"

For context, my name's Dinesh Thiru and I run marketing here at Udemy. I joined way back in 2011 when we were about 5 people and have seen us through the whole wild startup ride of ups, downs, sideways, back ups and more. It's been incredible. The learning and leadership experience of a lifetime. But there was one time in particular that no one prepared me for...

In the summer of 2015, Udemy was 150 people... and by the end of 2016, we were 250. And that is when everything went upside down.

All the things that used to work stopped. All the things we thought would work didn't. And in a certain sense, we had to re-invent how we operated as a company.

And I blame it all on Robbin Dunbar.

Who's Robbin? Why did things go upside down at 150 people? What did we learn? And how did we survive?

Well, if your startup is getting ready to pass 150 people and you're looking for a leadership crash course on mission, vision, strategy, culture, team building, org design, goals, communication, and everything in between... please step inside!