[atlasunshrugged]

One thing not mentioned in many of these threads is using an Uber/Gigster style model where instead of having an internal bench of folks who are FTEs, you keep on a larger bench of contractors who are only paid when they work on a project. There are definitely pros and cons to this approach and I'm happy to dive in depth into them if it's of interest to folks (I was early at Gigster YCS15 and work at a firm, tribeai.com that has a similar model but focused only on ML projects).

But at a high level, this is something to consider if you have a good network of friends/former colleagues who are also solid devs who you can tap for projects to rapidly expand your services offering and capabilities without paying for a bench and taking the risk of having a bunch of people you have to constantly pay