The 80% Rule (Building on Shifting Sand)

When I took the reins of my team in Austin, I didn’t just inherit a department—I inherited a lot of empty chairs.

Eighty percent of my team didn't exist yet.

In a "normal" year, you’d grab coffee, whiteboard together, and get a feel for someone’s character by walking the floor. But this was 2021. The world was still operating through a 720p lens. I was a husband and father of five who had just moved 1,500 miles on a leap of faith, and now I had to find a dozen people I could trust to help me build a new legacy.

The "Engineer" in me wanted to hire for technical skills alone. Give me the person with the most experience, the best certifications, the best “home lab”

But I realized quickly that while talent builds the product, trust builds the team.

I had to become an Anchor. When you’re hiring that much of your team at once, you aren't just looking for "doers"—you’re looking for people who can handle the weight of the unknown. I had to learn to look past the resume and see the person. I had to ask: “Will they stay grounded when the storm hits? Can they trust me even if we’ve never shaken hands in person?”

I stopped looking for people who were just like me and started looking for people who were better than me at the things I needed to let go of. It was the hardest "delegation" of my life—entrusting the future of my career and my family’s stability to a team I was building through a screen.

It turned out that when you provide a steady anchor of trust and clear expectations, people don’t just show up to work—they show up to build. 🔨