Hiring in crypto often feels like trying to time the top and bottom of the market—but with people’s livelihoods involved.
We’ve seen teams go from 3 contributors to 30 in a month… then scale back to 5 when the runway gets tight. Others grow slowly, stay lean, and miss key opportunities because no one has the capacity to seize them. Some founders hold on to underperformers too long out of loyalty or fear of community backlash. Others cut too early and lose trust.
It’s rarely clear what’s “right.”
- When is the best time to scale a team?
- How do you balance loyalty with performance in a space where vibes and narrative often blur real output?
- What comp models are actually working—flat pay, token upside, hybrid setups?
- How are you handling contributor offboarding without drama or damage?
- Do you have hiring frameworks, or is it still mostly gut calls and mutual excitement?
We’re all figuring this out. Would love to hear how others are approaching team growth right now—especially in a cycle that still feels unstable for most.
If you’ve had to scale up or scale down, what helped you make those decisions?
I am hoping to get a meaningful thread out of this post.