Define Team Roles and Gaps

Map your current org structure and identify which roles are critical to deliver on strategy. Highlight capability gaps, prioritize hires or partnerships, and define what each function is responsible for not just by title, but by outcome.

Why it's Matters

Even the sharpest strategy falls flat without the right people in the right roles. As startups scale, misaligned or missing roles cause friction, slow delivery, and stretch founders too thin. Clear roles, accountabilities, and hiring priorities are the bridge between vision and execution.

What You Need to Do

Map out your current org structure and capabilities
Define critical roles for delivering on the strategy
Identify key gaps (people, skills, bandwidth)
Decide what to build in-house vs. hire, outsource, or defer

How to Approach It

Start with your strategic goals:

What must be true (people-wise) to execute the strategy?
Where are current people overstretched, under-leveraged, or unclear?

Create a high-level org structure:

Visualize functions (Product, Engineering, Growth, Sales, Ops, etc.)
Assign leads (or plan to hire them)
Clarify scope of each function

Define roles and responsibilities:

Avoid job title inflation or vagueness
Prioritize roles that create leverage, unblock bottlenecks, or drive revenue
Use a RACI or similar model to show who owns what

Identify gaps and hiring priorities:

Short term: urgent skills you’re missing
Mid-term: roles needed to scale
Long term: leadership roles you’ll need to grow

Decide what to insource vs. outsource:

What should be core and owned by the team?
Where does external support (freelancers, agencies, partners) make sense?

Deliverables

Updated org chart (current + future)
Role descriptions or hiring briefs
RACI or team accountability map
Shortlist of hiring priorities (with justification)

How to Tell if You Got It Right

Your team knows who owns what
Key functions are covered even if not all internal
You have a realistic plan to close talent gaps
People are focused, not just busy

What to Watch Out For

Everyone doing everything (lack of ownership)
Misplaced seniority: too many leads, not enough executors
Hiring for pedigree, not fit or leverage
Over-dependence on one or two people