[manigandham]

You're doing fine. Writing down all communications is a solid step. Don't get caught up in process this early because you're going to burn up valuable time and effort.

Worry about your customers, your product and the end goal, whatever that is for the ML/hardware you're making. Make sure everybody understands that and things will work out until you get to >10 people.

Also remember that culture is something that grows bottom up. You don't set it by decree, rather it's something that forms from the shared values and motivations of the people you hire. Keep that in mind when forming your team because those early employees will have a massively outsized impact on the company going forward.

[hapanin]

Yeah. No plans for any hires in the next 2 months at least, maybe longer. I think in general I'm actually too passive about culture and process since I assume everyone is as proactive as I am. Too little decree results in anarchy or weak leadership.

[manigandham]

You're way too early to be thinking about this now. Seriously. Strong leadership doesn't come from setting rules, it comes from being the example so that others willingly follow you.

Just focus on making the best product you can and taking care of your customers, and make sure the others are doing the same. You'll find that people either understand and copy the behavior or they'll start wavering, at which point you can figure out why and if they should stay with the company.