Startups dream of scaling fast. Founders often believe that hiring a “growth team” early will help them reach more users, get higher sales, and attract investors. Yet, Alex Schultz, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Meta, believes that this approach harms more than it helps. Schultz shared his advice recently, urging early-stage startup founders to handle growth themselves rather than rushing to build separate teams. His comments highlight the fine balance between experimentation and discipline during the earliest stages of a company’s journey.
The Role of Founders in Early Growth
Schultz explained that founders must take ownership of growth in the beginning. They understand the product better than anyone else. They know why they built it, who should use it, and what problem it solves. If they delegate growth too early, they risk losing this connection with users.
When a founder personally runs small campaigns, talks to users, and tests ideas, they receive unfiltered feedback. That feedback shapes the product’s design, pricing, and communication. Schultz argued that only founders can turn these insights into meaningful changes. A hired team may miss the subtleties, and the company could waste money on strategies that do not work.
The Myth of Early Growth Teams
Many investors and advisors tell startups to hire growth experts right after raising seed money. Schultz pushed back on this trend. He pointed out that early growth teams often focus on scaling channels before product-market fit exists. Without a clear fit, spending on growth becomes wasteful.
Startups that rush into marketing or advertising often attract users who try the product once and never return. Schultz stressed that true growth comes from building a product that people love and want to use repeatedly. A team cannot “hack” long-term adoption if the product fails to solve a real problem.
Product-Market Fit Comes First
Schultz insisted that product-market fit must guide every startup before growth becomes a priority. He defined product-market fit as the moment when users adopt the product naturally, talk about it with friends, and return without reminders.
When founders see this natural pull, growth teams can help accelerate the trend. But if that pull does not exist, early growth strategies mask the product’s weaknesses instead of fixing them. Schultz warned founders not to mistake a paid surge in users for genuine demand.
Lessons from Meta’s Journey
As Meta’s CMO, Schultz drew from years of experience growing Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. In the early days of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg and his co-founders personally handled user acquisition. They went from dorm to dorm at Harvard, introducing the platform directly to students. This direct approach gave them priceless insights about what worked and what failed.
Only after strong user adoption did the company expand to new campuses and countries. Growth teams came much later, when the product already had deep demand. Schultz said this lesson applies to today’s startups as well.
Why Founders Should Own Growth Initially
Schultz gave three main reasons why founders should personally lead growth in the early stages:
- Deep Connection with Users: Founders must feel the friction users face and fix it quickly. Only direct involvement reveals these insights.
- Efficient Use of Resources: Early startups cannot afford big teams. Founder-led growth keeps spending lean and focused.
- Clearer Vision: Growth strategy depends on the product’s core value. Founders can best translate that value into outreach.
He believes these reasons outweigh any perceived benefits of early hires.
When to Build a Growth Team
Schultz did not reject the idea of growth teams entirely. He said timing matters. Once startups find clear product-market fit, they should hire specialists to scale efficiently. At that stage, the product already works, and users love it. Growth teams can then amplify success by running large campaigns, improving onboarding flows, or optimizing conversions.
He added that founders should stay involved even after hiring growth experts. A founder’s vision and connection to the user must continue guiding strategy. Growth teams work best when they act as extensions of that vision, not replacements for it.
Risks of Ignoring This Advice
Schultz highlighted the risks startups face when they rush into building growth teams:
- Burning Capital Too Fast: Paid campaigns without strong retention drain money quickly.
- Confusing Investors: Artificial spikes in users may mislead investors, leading to misplaced expectations.
- Low Morale: Teams get discouraged when campaigns bring sign-ups but not loyal customers.
- Strategic Drift: Startups may chase numbers instead of building value, drifting away from their original mission.
These risks can kill a startup before it has a chance to succeed. Schultz urged founders to slow down, focus on product-market fit, and only then expand growth efforts.
The Startup Ecosystem’s Obsession with Growth
Schultz also commented on the culture of startups today. Many founders face constant pressure from investors to show growth charts that move up quickly. The ecosystem rewards fast numbers more than patient building. He believes this obsession harms startups in the long run.
He argued that healthy companies do not need to prove themselves with vanity metrics. Instead, they should aim for steady, loyal adoption. This kind of growth may look slower at first, but it creates stronger companies over time.
Examples from Other Startups
Several successful startups followed this approach. For example, Airbnb’s founders personally photographed hosts’ homes in the early days. They did not outsource this work. This hands-on involvement taught them what users wanted and shaped their growth strategy.
Similarly, Dropbox started with a simple explainer video that the founders themselves produced. They waited until users showed real excitement before spending big on growth campaigns. These stories reinforce Schultz’s point that early founder-led growth creates stronger foundations.
Final Advice for Founders
Schultz closed his advice with a simple message: founders must do the work first. They should talk to users, run small tests, and shape growth strategies themselves. Once the product proves its value, they can hire experts to expand.
He believes startups that follow this path stand a better chance of becoming sustainable businesses. Startups that skip these steps often collapse under the weight of premature scaling.
Conclusion
Alex Schultz’s warning offers a valuable reminder for every startup founder. Growth teams bring power, but only at the right stage. Startups must focus first on creating a product that solves a problem and delights users. Founders must lead this process directly, learning from each interaction and adjusting quickly.
When the time is right, growth teams can accelerate success. But until then, patience, focus, and founder-led growth remain the keys to long-term survival.
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