Benoit
@pixel-one.bsky.social
Designing success for B2B SaaS. Advocate for continuous improvement + elegant design. Posts on design trends + company growth
I suddenly hired 15 people in 6 months.
Your greatest strength can become your greatest weakness when you're building something bigger than yourself.
The best thing you can do is admit what you don't know and take the time to develop that skill before you scale.
Your greatest strength can become your greatest weakness when you're building something bigger than yourself.
The best thing you can do is admit what you don't know and take the time to develop that skill before you scale.
February 16, 2026 at 5:00 PM
I suddenly hired 15 people in 6 months.
Your greatest strength can become your greatest weakness when you're building something bigger than yourself.
The best thing you can do is admit what you don't know and take the time to develop that skill before you scale.
Your greatest strength can become your greatest weakness when you're building something bigger than yourself.
The best thing you can do is admit what you don't know and take the time to develop that skill before you scale.
I practiced and experimented different leadership styles with those early designers,
Intentionally scaled slowly until I figured out how to teach people to hold the quality bar without me controlling every detail.
After 4 years, when I felt confident enough,
Intentionally scaled slowly until I figured out how to teach people to hold the quality bar without me controlling every detail.
After 4 years, when I felt confident enough,
February 16, 2026 at 5:00 PM
I practiced and experimented different leadership styles with those early designers,
Intentionally scaled slowly until I figured out how to teach people to hold the quality bar without me controlling every detail.
After 4 years, when I felt confident enough,
Intentionally scaled slowly until I figured out how to teach people to hold the quality bar without me controlling every detail.
After 4 years, when I felt confident enough,
When this turned into an agency I needed to transfer the knowledge of being obsessive instead of just being obsessive myself.
So, I took out time to learn what was actually needed from me to achieve my goal,
That ended up with me hiring only one person per year for 4 years.
So, I took out time to learn what was actually needed from me to achieve my goal,
That ended up with me hiring only one person per year for 4 years.
February 16, 2026 at 5:00 PM
When this turned into an agency I needed to transfer the knowledge of being obsessive instead of just being obsessive myself.
So, I took out time to learn what was actually needed from me to achieve my goal,
That ended up with me hiring only one person per year for 4 years.
So, I took out time to learn what was actually needed from me to achieve my goal,
That ended up with me hiring only one person per year for 4 years.
My fear was going directly against what I wanted this agency to become, which was a collaborative space where everyone could contribute.
The obsessiveness that made me successful as a freelancer was now the thing holding me back from building a team.
The obsessiveness that made me successful as a freelancer was now the thing holding me back from building a team.
February 16, 2026 at 5:00 PM
My fear was going directly against what I wanted this agency to become, which was a collaborative space where everyone could contribute.
The obsessiveness that made me successful as a freelancer was now the thing holding me back from building a team.
The obsessiveness that made me successful as a freelancer was now the thing holding me back from building a team.
Building capability takes longer than just fixing a designer’s work but it's the only way to scale without dropping quality.
That's the goal at Pixel One, build a team that can think strategically and execute flawlessly without needing a leader to review every decision.
That's the goal at Pixel One, build a team that can think strategically and execute flawlessly without needing a leader to review every decision.
February 13, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Building capability takes longer than just fixing a designer’s work but it's the only way to scale without dropping quality.
That's the goal at Pixel One, build a team that can think strategically and execute flawlessly without needing a leader to review every decision.
That's the goal at Pixel One, build a team that can think strategically and execute flawlessly without needing a leader to review every decision.
This is how you develop designers who can think at the level you need without constant direction, Question I ask is teaching them to see problems the way I do so they can solve problems I've never even encountered.
February 13, 2026 at 3:10 PM
This is how you develop designers who can think at the level you need without constant direction, Question I ask is teaching them to see problems the way I do so they can solve problems I've never even encountered.
The questions help them see what I'm seeing and once they see it they solve it themselves,
The second time, a similar challenge comes up they recognise the pattern faster,
By the third time they catch it before it becomes a problem.
The second time, a similar challenge comes up they recognise the pattern faster,
By the third time they catch it before it becomes a problem.
February 13, 2026 at 3:10 PM
The questions help them see what I'm seeing and once they see it they solve it themselves,
The second time, a similar challenge comes up they recognise the pattern faster,
By the third time they catch it before it becomes a problem.
The second time, a similar challenge comes up they recognise the pattern faster,
By the third time they catch it before it becomes a problem.
"What problem are you solving here?
What's the user trying to accomplish?
Why this hierarchy instead of another?"
Most of the time they already sense something could be better but they haven't articulated what yet.
What's the user trying to accomplish?
Why this hierarchy instead of another?"
Most of the time they already sense something could be better but they haven't articulated what yet.
February 13, 2026 at 3:10 PM
"What problem are you solving here?
What's the user trying to accomplish?
Why this hierarchy instead of another?"
Most of the time they already sense something could be better but they haven't articulated what yet.
What's the user trying to accomplish?
Why this hierarchy instead of another?"
Most of the time they already sense something could be better but they haven't articulated what yet.
You cannot train everyone when you scale but you can find and empower the few people who are already wired the way you need them to be. That's how Pixel One went from me touching every project to scaling without dropping the bar.
February 11, 2026 at 4:12 PM
You cannot train everyone when you scale but you can find and empower the few people who are already wired the way you need them to be. That's how Pixel One went from me touching every project to scaling without dropping the bar.
So, instead of trying to touch every project myself I found strong leaders who were as obsessed about quality as I am and I trained them to hold that bar.
February 11, 2026 at 4:12 PM
So, instead of trying to touch every project myself I found strong leaders who were as obsessed about quality as I am and I trained them to hold that bar.
The lesson is that it's okay for quality to depend on you but you need to control where your time goes and you need to find a few key people who are as obsessed as you are.
That's the hard part, finding those people who can hold the bar the way you do and empowering them.
That's the hard part, finding those people who can hold the bar the way you do and empowering them.
February 11, 2026 at 4:12 PM
The lesson is that it's okay for quality to depend on you but you need to control where your time goes and you need to find a few key people who are as obsessed as you are.
That's the hard part, finding those people who can hold the bar the way you do and empowering them.
That's the hard part, finding those people who can hold the bar the way you do and empowering them.
Even at the top seat, Anna reviewed every single issue by every single photographer and that's how she ensured quality throughout.
Similar to Steve Jobs going deep into design details even when Apple became massive.
Similar to Steve Jobs going deep into design details even when Apple became massive.
February 11, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Even at the top seat, Anna reviewed every single issue by every single photographer and that's how she ensured quality throughout.
Similar to Steve Jobs going deep into design details even when Apple became massive.
Similar to Steve Jobs going deep into design details even when Apple became massive.
So, I started reading biographies to figure out how they maintained quality while growing and that's when I found Anna Wintour.
She turned Vogue into the number one fashion magazine in the world and people assume she couldn't have been that hands-on at scale but she was.
She turned Vogue into the number one fashion magazine in the world and people assume she couldn't have been that hands-on at scale but she was.
February 11, 2026 at 4:12 PM
So, I started reading biographies to figure out how they maintained quality while growing and that's when I found Anna Wintour.
She turned Vogue into the number one fashion magazine in the world and people assume she couldn't have been that hands-on at scale but she was.
She turned Vogue into the number one fashion magazine in the world and people assume she couldn't have been that hands-on at scale but she was.
The designers who break this habit fastest are the ones who grow fastest because they're getting more feedback from more people, and they're not waiting until their work is perfect to share it.
Perfectionism disguised as professionalism is just fear, and it slows you down.
Perfectionism disguised as professionalism is just fear, and it slows you down.
February 10, 2026 at 5:00 PM
The designers who break this habit fastest are the ones who grow fastest because they're getting more feedback from more people, and they're not waiting until their work is perfect to share it.
Perfectionism disguised as professionalism is just fear, and it slows you down.
Perfectionism disguised as professionalism is just fear, and it slows you down.
When you DM someone, you get one perspective, and when you post publicly, you get the team's collective knowledge, plus you show your thinking early so people can redirect you before you spend three days going down the wrong path.
February 10, 2026 at 5:00 PM
When you DM someone, you get one perspective, and when you post publicly, you get the team's collective knowledge, plus you show your thinking early so people can redirect you before you spend three days going down the wrong path.
(Embrace that or you'll be stuck learning from one person at a time instead of the collective knowledge of everyone here)
February 10, 2026 at 5:00 PM
(Embrace that or you'll be stuck learning from one person at a time instead of the collective knowledge of everyone here)
One of the toughest parts of onboarding is breaking this reflex and getting them to post in channels where the whole team can see.
What we tell them is that you're part of a team now, and the team is here to help you, but we can't help if we don't see what you're working on
What we tell them is that you're part of a team now, and the team is here to help you, but we can't help if we don't see what you're working on
February 10, 2026 at 5:00 PM
One of the toughest parts of onboarding is breaking this reflex and getting them to post in channels where the whole team can see.
What we tell them is that you're part of a team now, and the team is here to help you, but we can't help if we don't see what you're working on
What we tell them is that you're part of a team now, and the team is here to help you, but we can't help if we don't see what you're working on
We have channels for internal updates and client work and team discussions, but most new designers ignore them completely and create small private groups or just DM individuals (it's basically shyness about showing work that isn't perfect yet)
February 10, 2026 at 5:00 PM
We have channels for internal updates and client work and team discussions, but most new designers ignore them completely and create small private groups or just DM individuals (it's basically shyness about showing work that isn't perfect yet)
You can't break the rules well until you've mastered them, and mid-level designers are the most dangerous because they have just enough confidence to think they're ready when they're not.
February 9, 2026 at 4:11 PM
You can't break the rules well until you've mastered them, and mid-level designers are the most dangerous because they have just enough confidence to think they're ready when they're not.
Look at an iPhone, and every single detail from typography to spacing to color is thought through with a level of mastery most designers never reach, and that mastery is what makes it feel effortless.
February 9, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Look at an iPhone, and every single detail from typography to spacing to color is thought through with a level of mastery most designers never reach, and that mastery is what makes it feel effortless.
Most designers try to add flair to something that's poorly executed from a fundamental perspective, and it just doesn't work.
February 9, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Most designers try to add flair to something that's poorly executed from a fundamental perspective, and it just doesn't work.