The best lessons don’t come from books. Sometimes, they come from a night at Coldplay with a friend.
Last week, I met up with Dan Baker from Valatam in East London, just before the Coldplay concert. Technically, Dan is a competitor, he runs two outsourcing agencies. Most people would hold back in that situation. I don’t.
Why? Because I met Dan through EO, the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. And in EO, I learned that even when we’re in the same industry, we don’t compete with each other. The only real competition is with ourselves.
To grow my business, I need to grow myself not fear what competitors are doing. That’s why every time Dan and I meet, we talk openly. And I walk away with ideas, feedback, and perspectives you can only get from someone who’s walked the same road.
I’m grateful for friends who prove that you can cheer each other on, learn from each other, and still win in business.
P.S.: The Coldplay concert made a memory. But peer learning makes change.
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Stop Expanding. Start Scaling.
Stop Expanding. Start Scaling.
Your next hire shouldn’t “add capacity.”
It should change how your business operates.
Most founders hire when they feel pressure.
More clients → hire.
More work → hire.
More overwhelm → hire.
But adding headcount without upgrading structure just creates more management.
Here’s the real shift:
Stop asking,
“Who can help me?”
Start asking,
“What responsibility must fully leave my plate?”
That’s the difference between growth and scale.
Growth adds people.
Scale redistributes ownership.
Before you hire, define:
• What decision will I no longer make?
• What metric will they own completely?
• What outcome disappears from my to-do list?
If nothing structurally changes, you didn’t scale.
You just expanded.
If you’re hiring this quarter, don’t just fill a role.
Design leverage.
And if you’re not sure what should leave your plate first — let’s map it out.
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The Hiring Conversation: Building Teams with Heart
Some ideas arrive fully formed.
But others take years to find their place. For me, building companies has always been more than just building products or services. It’s about the people:The ones we hire,
The ones we grow with, and sometimes
The ones we have to let go.
Over the years, I’ve come to embrace that people component more and more. Leadership without people at heart is nothing. That’s why I’m bringing back The Rosemary Czopek Podcast with a new season called ‘The Hiring Conversation’. I want this to be a place for candid, open talks with (women) founders about what it really takes to build great teams from people:How do they hire?
How do they lead?And how do they build teams that last?
We’ll talk about what worked, and most importantly, what didn’t. Because it’s the failures that teach us the most. Learning from those who’ve been there and are willing to share their experiences has always been the most effective for me. And that’s what I want this new season to be:
A place for mutual learning.
