Principles Over Processes
Strong Principles—Not Rigid Processes—Are the Key to Thriving in a Fast-Moving Startup
You’re an ex-Meta, ex-Google, ex-Amazon, or ex-whatever. You’ve just landed a leadership role in a promising startup—a blank canvas where you can finally apply all those top-tier processes you meticulously learned at your ex-FAANG company. Excited, you dive in headfirst, rolling out popular frameworks, establishing roadmaps, and introducing methodologies that worked for the tech giants.
But soon, something feels off. Projects stall. Teams struggle under the weight of your playbook. Progress slows to a crawl, and the vibrant energy of the startup starts to fade. You, the experienced leader, are failing. Miserably. How is that even possible?
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: what worked in Big Tech doesn’t always translate to startups. In fact, it can sometimes make things worse.
I learned this lesson by working for various companies of different sizes and stages, as I discussed in a recent interview (in Spanish) for the fantastic “20 Caminos” podcast.
However, don’t just take my word for it—let me explain why this is the case and what steps you can take to approach it differently.
What worked in Big Tech doesn’t always translate to startups.
When Processes Backfired: Lessons from Two Startups
Processes are tools, not solutions. They’re excellent at maintaining order but terrible at creating momentum. Startups don’t need order; they need direction, clarity, and speed. That’s where principles come in.
Yet, before discussing why principles matter, I want to share two stories about startups I worked for. Both cases started with good intentions—using popular methodologies or frameworks to improve teamwork and delivery. However, these approaches created more problems than they solved.
The SAFe Misstep
During my time in London, the startup I was working at experienced rapid growth. We introduced SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) to address growing alignment and delivery challenges. The idea was to bring order to the chaos, align teams, and create a predictable cadence for delivering value.
At first, it seemed promising. We introduced Program Increment (PI) planning sessions, giving teams a clear structure and a shared direction. We mapped out dependencies, timelines, and objectives, which initially felt like a step forward. Teams welcomed the sense of organization and alignment SAFe seemed to offer.
However, the reality quickly set in. Teams were buried under a mountain of ceremonies, dependency management, and rigid timelines. Instead of empowering teams to make decisions, SAFe funneled everything through a highly structured framework. Autonomy eroded as the focus shifted from solving real problems to completing checklists and adhering to a process. Creativity and adaptability—the traits that helped us grow—started diminishing.
The lesson? SAFe didn’t solve our problems—it highlighted them. Instead of addressing root issues like unclear priorities and a lack of shared principles, it replaced chaos with rigidity. What we needed wasn’t more process but a stronger foundation of principles like ownership, simplicity, and customer-first thinking. Frameworks can help, but only when they serve principles, not the other way around.
The OKR Grind
A few years later, while working for another startup, we introduced OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) for the whole organization, promising clarity and alignment. Why wouldn’t it work for us if Google successfully used this methodology?
The idea was solid in theory and initially brought some much-needed structure. Teams had clear objectives and a renewed focus on measurable goals. However, as time went on, we started to notice cracks. The lengthy ceremonies required to plan and track OKRs began to feel like a burden. Objectives often felt top-down, leaving some teams disconnected from the “why” behind their goals.
While OKRs encouraged accountability, they also created silos, with teams narrowly focusing on their metrics rather than broader outcomes. The rigid quarterly cycles sometimes pressured teams to prioritize hitting numbers over delivering actual value. Although progress was being made, we lost sight of the bigger picture and the impact we wanted to have on our customers.
The lesson? OKRs can be helpful but must be grounded in principles like team-driven goals and meaningful outcomes. Without that foundation, they risk becoming more about compliance than inspiration. When tailored thoughtfully, OKRs have the potential to align and empower teams—but without principles, they fall flat.
Start With Solid Principles: The Startup Way
Startups thrive on agility, innovation, and speed. In their early stages, they don’t need heavy-handed processes; they need principles that guide decisions and inspire action. Principles provide clarity and direction in the chaos, enabling teams to adapt quickly and deliver business value.
When teams embrace principles like rapid execution, innovative mindset, and empowerment, they can navigate challenges effectively—even without a rigid framework. These principles can be embedded in the company culture, reflected in the hiring process, and reinforced through regular communication and feedback.
Here’s why principles are so crucial:
They empower teams to adapt: Startups operate in an environment of ambiguity and constant uncertainty. Yesterday’s solutions might not solve tomorrow’s problems. Principles like bias for action give teams the confidence to act decisively, even without explicit instructions.
They scale with growth: While startups inevitably introduce processes as they grow, principles ensure they stay aligned with the company’s values. For example, if default to transparency is a core principle, teams will naturally create processes that foster communication and build bridges rather than silos.
They encourage accountability: Processes can assign tasks, but principles instill ownership. A principle like end-to-end responsibility ensures team members feel accountable for outcomes, not just deliverables.
The problem is that at a lot of big companies, process becomes a substitute for thinking.
— Elon Musk
The Power of Principles: Learning from Ray Dalio
Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, describes principles as “fundamental truths that serve as the foundations for behavior that get you what you want out of life.” In his bestselling book Principles, Dalio shares how actionable principles helped him build one of the world’s most successful hedge funds.
For Dalio, principles weren’t abstract ideals—they were practical guidelines that empowered individuals to act with clarity and purpose. His principles created alignment, encouraged innovation, and allowed his organization to thrive in complex, high-stakes environments. If you haven’t watched it, I highly recommend the video “Principles for Success by Ray Dalio.“
The takeaway for startups? Principles are the guardrails that keep your team focused on delivering value while staying nimble. Processes should evolve naturally from these guiding principles—not the other way around.
Principles are ways of successfully dealing with reality to get what you want out of life.
— Ray Dalio
A Word of Caution: Principles Need Processes to Scale
As much as principles guide startups in their early stages, growing companies can’t escape the need for structure. Here’s where a common pitfall emerges: the illusion of still being small and nimble.
Startups often pride themselves on their agility—fast-moving and adaptable. But as your company grows, that scrappy energy becomes more challenging. Operating like a 30-person startup when you’re a 300-person organization creates chaos. Decision-making slows because there’s no clarity on who owns what. Critical projects fall through the cracks because informal communication doesn’t scale.
This isn’t about abandoning principles. It’s about introducing processes that serve your principles. Processes aren’t the enemy; they’re tools to support and scale your values. The key is ensuring they don’t overshadow the principles that made your startup successful in the first place.
Finding the Balance
As startups scale, the challenge is striking the right balance between agility and structure. Here are three pieces of advice to effectively scale up your startup:
Principles first, processes second: Let your principles guide which processes to introduce. For instance, if one of your principles is quality first, establish a streamlined process to ensure every bug is identified, triaged, and resolved as soon as possible and within the set Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
Evolve without overloading: Introduce processes incrementally and evaluate their impact. If a process doesn’t add value, adapt or discard it. For instance, once your engineering team grows, you might implement Requests for Comments (RFCs) and Architectural Decision Records (ADRs) to discuss and document technical decisions. If they don’t add the value you expect, try using a lighter version of them or eliminate them.
Maintain cultural alignment: Your processes should reflect your principles, not stifle them. Processes should empower teams, not bury them in bureaucracy. For example, in a high-performance culture, introducing 30-60-90 day plans for new hires can give clear goals for onboarding, allow new team members to understand expectations, and provide milestones to measure early success. However, they must remain flexible—adjust them based on individual needs and avoid rigid enforcement that might discourage innovation or autonomy.
Final Thoughts
Startups hold a special place in my heart because they thrive on principles like transparency, ownership, agility, empowerment, and innovation.
These principles are the lifeblood of early-stage companies, driving their creativity and agility. However, as every leader soon learns, no two organizations are the same—what worked in one company might fail spectacularly in another. That’s why adaptability is one of the most vital skills for leaders navigating the complexities of growth.
Processes are tools, not solutions. Principles are the proper foundation of success. In an early-stage startup, establish solid values and principles that align your team and inspire action. As your company grows, thoughtfully introduce processes that complement those principles, ensuring they enhance your culture rather than dilute it.
The secret to scaling a startup isn’t clinging to the illusion of being small and nimble—operating as if you’re still a 20-person team when you’ve grown far beyond that. It’s about preserving the agility and adaptability that define nimbleness, but in ways that align with your growth stage. By allowing your principles to guide your actions and creating processes that align with your values, you can scale while preserving the speed and creativity that initially fueled your startup’s success.
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