Leaner start-ups, fewer roles? The “tiny teams” trend and what it means for freelancers and solopreneurs
SPECIAL REPORT
Explore how the rise of “tiny teams” in tech, exemplified by Gamma’s success, signals a shift impacting freelancers and solopreneurs
Do you consider yourself a freelancer or solopreneur? You may be thinking, what’s the difference?
In my estimation, a solopreneur wants to replicate what a 200-person company can do, but as a solo act. Or with a very “tiny team” to execute their growth trajectory. They think big yet keep headcount small.
A freelancer, on the other hand, is happy to hop from project to project, client to client and also work as a solo act. They are the industrious honey bees that collect varied pollen from their surroundings (i.e., multiple clients and industries) to then create a golden nectar (varied and specialised knowledge).
A solopreneur might hire freelancers, but it’s usually rare for a freelancer to hire a solopreneur. Therefore, you may view the following trend we are about to discuss as either good or bad, depending on whether you see yourself as a freelancer or an entrepreneur. This is going to rattle some nerves and create several camps of thinking. Regardless of which camp you sit in, this trend is happening. Fast.
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A recent profile in The New York Times has put a spotlight on a burgeoning trend that could significantly impact hiring for freelancers and scaling up for solopreneurs: the rise of the “tiny team”.
The article featured Gamma, a San Francisco-based AI design start-up boasting a mere 28 employees yet serving an impressive 50 million users. This challenges the traditional Silicon Valley mantra of rapid scaling through massive funding and headcount, suggesting a leaner, more efficient future for business.
Gamma’s founder, Grant Lee (pictured in the main photo), articulated this shift in a LinkedIn statement, highlighting the company’s profitability over 15 consecutive months, its consistent revenue growth, and a lifetime negative net burn. This success, Lee argues, isn’t accidental but a result of a deliberate organisational design focused on maximising impact per individual.
“We’re not just surviving—we’ve been profitable for 15+ consecutive months, with revenue growing month over month, and lifetime negative net burn (we have more money in the bank than we’ve raised),” said Grant.
This trend will lead to more startups, but with smaller teams and fewer job openings. This doesn’t just impact freelancers, it affects all workers.
However, according to Lee and a very revealing prediction by Eryn Peters in our conversation about the future of work, smaller teams aren’t the only big shift we have to prepare for: generalists are in, specialists are out.
Generalists over specialists: a shift in hiring habits?
Gamma’s approach hinges on hiring “versatile generalists” capable of tackling problems across various domains, rather than creating specialised silos. You can see from Gamma’s team profiles that many people have worked outside of tech before they got into tech and AI. Including Lee.
They also favour “player-coaches” who both lead and execute, negating the need for extensive management hierarchies.
AI tools such as Claude, Cursor, and NotebookLM are deeply integrated into their workflows, acting as “force multipliers” that empower each team member to achieve significantly more.
This is evident by instances at Gamma where a growth PM built their own analytics system instead of relying on a separate data team, and a marketing lead used an LLM to analyse customer interactions and develop actionable personas.
This emphasis on individual empowerment and AI-driven efficiency begs the question: Will this model become the norm, leading to smaller company sizes and a reduced demand for traditional specialist roles?
Data and the drive for efficiency
While statistics specifically tracking the “tiny team” phenomenon are still emerging, several trends point towards this direction. The increasing sophistication and affordability of AI and automation technologies are undeniably enabling smaller teams to achieve outputs previously requiring much larger workforces.
For example, solopreneurs now can have faster development cycles. AI can accelerate development processes, from prototyping to marketing, which allows smaller teams to launch products rapidly, potentially reducing the need for large, departmentalised structures.
This efficiency is a hallmark of the “tiny team” approach. Here are some examples:
Increased productivity through automation: Reports from McKinsey and Deloitte consistently highlight the potential for AI to automate a significant percentage of existing tasks, freeing up human capital for more strategic and creative work. This could translate to smaller teams managing larger workloads.
However, McKinsey sees AI adoption moving faster in larger companies. Startups such as Gamma are disproving this theory. That is perhaps because Lee and the team built the foundation of the company with AI, where established companies are now integrating AI into their existing processes.
The McKinsey Global Survey on AI finds that organizations are beginning to take steps that drive bottom-line impact—for example, redesigning workflows as
they deploy gen AI and putting senior leaders in critical roles, such as overseeing AI governance.The findings also show that organizations are working to mitigate a growing set of
gen-AI-related risks and are hiring for new AI-related roles while they retrain employees to participate in AI deployment.
Companies with at least $500 million in annual revenue are changing more quickly than smaller organizations.–Quanum Black, AI by McKinsey/State of AI report
Rise of no-code/low-code platforms: Platforms that allow individuals without deep technical skills to build software and automate processes are empowering smaller teams to be more self-sufficient. Besides Gamm, Canva is another good example.
Focus on efficiency and profitability: In an increasingly competitive global market, businesses are under constant pressure to optimise costs and achieve profitability sooner. Smaller, more agile teams with lower overheads can be an attractive solution.
Preparing for the “Tiny Team” trend: opportunities v. challenges for freelancers
For freelancers and solopreneurs, this trend presents both opportunities and potential challenges.
Opportunities:
Demand for versatile skills: The emphasis on generalists within “tiny teams” could create higher demand for freelancers who possess a broad skillset and can contribute across multiple areas. Those who can demonstrate adaptability and a willingness to learn new skills will be highly valued.
Project-based flexibility: Smaller companies may increasingly rely on freelancers for specific projects or expertise, offering flexibility and diverse opportunities for independent workers.
Integration with AI: Freelancers who embrace and master AI tools relevant to their field will be better positioned to collaborate effectively with lean teams and offer enhanced value.
Challenges:
Potential reduction in specialist roles: If companies prioritise generalists, highly specialised freelancers might see a decrease in demand for niche services within smaller organisations.
Increased competition: As companies aim for maximum impact per person, they may seek out freelancers who can deliver exceptional results efficiently, potentially increasing competition for available projects.
Keep up the upskilling: To remain relevant, freelancers will need to continuously upskill and broaden their expertise to align with the needs of these versatile teams.
Adapting to the Future of Work
To adapt to the tiny team trend, freelancers should consider the following:
- Invest in developing a broader range of skills and stay updated on the latest technologies, particularly AI tools relevant to your industry
- When marketing your services, emphasise your ability to contribute across different areas of a client’s business and solve diverse problems. Showcase projects where you’ve successfully applied a range of skills
- Build relationships with smaller companies and start-ups that might be adopting this “tiny team” model
- Show you can deliver results efficiently and contribute directly to a company’s bottom line
The rise of the “tiny team” model, as we are witnessing with companies such as Gamma, signals a shift in how businesses are structured and how they approach talent acquisition.
While it may present challenges for some specialist freelancers, it also offers exciting opportunities for adaptable, multi-skilled individuals who can thrive in lean and agile environments.
A new breed of leadership according to Gamma:
“We’re reinventing leadership hiring at Gamma because we believe the old playbook is completely obsolete,” wrote Lee in an X post.
He said for decades, companies hired managers to manage and ICs to execute.
“This artificial separation created leaders who gradually lost touch with the craft they were meant to oversee. At Gamma, we’ve flipped this model entirely by exclusively hiring “player coaches” who both lead AND execute,” wrote Lee.
Try before you commit. For external candidates, we’ve completely abandoned traditional interviews in favour of 3-month work trials. Candidates perform the exact role they’d take permanently, creating transparency that no interview process can match.
Grant Lee, Founder of Gamma
The old way: Find seasoned managers with impressive titles who direct others’ work
The new way: Find leaders who explicitly say, “I still love doing the work myself.”
Lee explained Gamma’s two-track leadership approach:
“1) Identifying hidden talent within. Two of our engineering player-coach were individual contributors who previously held management roles elsewhere. We spotted their unique blend of technical excellence and leadership ability, then created positions leveraging both skills.
“2) Try before you commit. For external candidates, we’ve completely abandoned traditional interviews in favour of 3-month work trials. Candidates perform the exact role they’d take permanently, creating transparency that no interview process can match.”
But Gamma’s top signal? “The absence of hubris.”
Lee describes who he envisages as the optimal leader:
When discussing their work, do they show a “no job too small” mentality? Are they eager to roll up their sleeves alongside the team? Because the player-coach explicitly says they still love doing the work – not just directing others to do it.
This fundamental shift from credential-based hiring to capability-based selection has completely transformed our execution speed and team cohesion.
The future belongs to companies who recognize that leadership and execution are not separate domains – they’re inseparable parts of the same role.
Now, ask yourself that question again: Do you see yourself as a freelancer or solopreneur?
