I review hundreds of pitch decks every year. The ones that get behind the scenes: how we built and scaled right stand out immediately.
People always ask me how we built our recommendation engine. This is the real, behind-the-scenes story of the technical challenges, the team dynamics, and the leadership decisions that made it all possible.
The Counterintuitive Truth
Here's what surprised me most about behind the scenes: how we built and scaled: the best practitioners do less, not more.
When I was building MovieLaLa, we tried to do everything at once. We had the best technology, the smartest team, and we still almost failed because we spread ourselves too thin.
The lesson I took from that experience, and from watching hundreds of other companies, is that the data tells a different story than your gut. It sounds simple. It's incredibly hard to execute.
What I've Learned From 99 Companies
After investing in 200+ startups and running two companies to successful exits, I've developed a pretty clear picture of what works with behind the scenes: how we built and scaled.
The biggest misconception is that you need to the best solutions are often the simplest ones. That's backwards. The companies that win are the ones that you need to move fast and break things.
I remember sitting with the Anthropic team early on and discussing how they thought about behind the scenes: how we built and scaled. Their approach was counterintuitive but brilliant.
Why Most Approaches Fail
Let me be direct: about 70% of the approaches I see to behind the scenes: how we built and scaled are fundamentally flawed. Not slightly off. Fundamentally flawed.
The root cause is usually one of three things:
- Copying what big companies do without understanding why they do it. What works for Google doesn't work for a 10-person startup.
- Over-engineering the solution when a simple approach would work better. I've seen teams spend six months building something that could have been done in two weeks.
- Ignoring the human element. Technology is the easy part. Getting people to actually use it is where the real challenge lives.
The AI Angle
I can't talk about behind the scenes: how we built and scaled in 2026 without mentioning AI. As someone who's invested in Anthropic, OpenAI, Scale AI, and Hugging Face, I have a front-row seat to how AI is transforming this space.
The short version: AI makes good practitioners better and bad practitioners worse. It's an amplifier, not a replacement.
I've seen companies use AI to 10x their behind the scenes: how we built and scaled capabilities. I've also seen companies waste millions on AI solutions that solved the wrong problem. The difference comes down to understanding what you're actually trying to achieve.
This connects to broader themes around managing AI teams, AI change management, AI transformation leadership that I've been thinking about a lot lately.
Final Thoughts
After two exits, 200+ investments, and more mistakes than I can count, here's what I know for sure about behind the scenes: how we built and scaled: there are no shortcuts, but there are smarter paths.
The smartest founders I work with treat behind the scenes: how we built and scaled as a competitive advantage, not a checkbox. They invest in it early, measure it obsessively, and never stop improving.
If you're just getting started with behind the scenes: how we built and scaled, don't be intimidated. Everyone starts somewhere. The key is to start with the right mindset and the right framework, and then execute like your company depends on it. Because it probably does.
Frequently Asked Questions
What experience informs this perspective?
This perspective comes from over a decade of building companies in Silicon Valley, two successful exits (RemoteTeam to Gusto, MovieLaLa to Gfycat), and investing in 200+ startups including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I write about what I've lived.
What's the most common pushback you get on this?
People often push back by citing exceptions or edge cases. And they're usually right that exceptions exist. But building a strategy around exceptions rather than patterns is a losing game for most founders.
Do all experts agree with this view?
No, and that's fine. The best ideas in business are often contrarian. I share my perspective based on my experience and data, but I encourage you to seek out opposing viewpoints and form your own conclusions.