Why we hired a head of people during the age of AI

A rocket needs its tail to lift off. Without it, the launch fails. But once altitude is reached, that same tail becomes drag. If it doesn’t detach, it limits how high the rocket can go. Founders are the same. Early on, my obsession and need for control were my biggest assets. I succeeded because I outworked everyone, took the biggest risks, and made the tough calls myself. But as the company grows, these exact traits can drag me down. For me, the real skill now is knowing what to let go of and exactly when to do it. Over the past two years, I’ve watched founders proudly announce that they’re cutting head count and replacing people with AI. Andreessen Horowitz has invested across nearly every layer of the AI stack, effectively putting eggs in every basket. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has predicted the rise of “solo-unicorns,” billion-dollar companies built by one technical founder and a stack of models. For many people in tech, building a unicorn with zero employees feels like the ultimate proof of genius. I understand the appeal. In my first startup, my cofounder and I believed we could do everything ourselves. Even though we had no background in sales, we were convinced we would outperform anyone we hired. We treated delegation as weakness and hiring as dilution. However, that mindset limited our ability to scale. The ego trap in early-stage tech In 2012, my cofounder and I started SailPlay, a SaaS platform for loyalty and marketing automation. We eventually sold it to Retail Rocket. Enterprise customers require integration, customization, and hands-on implementation. Beyond selling software, you’re selling trust and operational alignment. Yes, we exited successfully. But looking back, I’m certain we could have built something 10 times larger if we had been more mature as leaders. If we had done the psychological work earlier, the company would have grown faster and further. Intch, my current company, is already 40 times larger in annual revenue than my previous venture,