[pettycashstash2]

This is a challenging situation. A few thoughts: Yes, it is possible for companies to succeed even if early team members prove poorly matched or incompetent for their roles. However, it will be an uphill battle and require extra effort from other team members to compensate. Communication with the founders/leadership is key. Share your objective concerns and examples (without blame or accusation). Highlight specific problems and where deficiencies are hindering execution and operations. Propose potential solutions if you have them (additional training, reassigning roles, letting go, etc). If no changes are made, you'll have to decide if you are willing/able to carry the extra workload long-term. This could potentially lead to frustration and burnout over time. Set clear boundaries for your own work capacity. Focus your energy on the parts you can control - doing excellent work, communicating effectively, and finding creative solutions where you are able. But you alone likely cannot compensate for major underperformance in other roles forever. At some point if major issues persist with no intervention or change, you may need to have a frank talk with leadership about whether this situation threatens the viability of the company's success. Offer to help find solutions, but don't sacrifice your own health trying to single-handedly save an unwilling/unable team. The ideal outcome would be recognizing where the gaps are early and promptly getting the right people into the right roles. But sometimes early teams need to stumble a bit before figuring that out. Just don't let it drag you down in the process. I wish you patience and discernment navigating this startup's growth pains!

[asilia]

Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment.

Have you seen an example where a company has succeeded with mediocre early team members?

I feel torn about this because I don't want to quit so early (it's only been a few months) for many reasons—financial, looks weird on CV, genuinely like the founders—but also don't want to shoot myself in the foot staying in a possibly sinking ship.

[mlhpdx]

I have, yes. What’s really important is the way members of the early team compliment each other. We’re all mediocre; some are just more willing to admit it and seek about those with the ability to make us most effective.

Looking through the stereotypes of “best” people you’ll find exclusionary habits that undermine success as often (or more often) as enabling it.

[asilia]

Thanks for your response. What have been some of the success-undermining exclusionary habits you've observed?

[therm0]

What do you honestly get out of spamming GPT-generated responses? Sock puppet account for astroturfing?