We will never have more than 100 people working at Agency

How many people does your company have?

The higher the number, the greater the liability now.

For a century, business growth meant more people.

→ More people meant more coordination

→ More coordination meant more complexity

→ More complexity meant slower execution

Elias Torres learned this the hard way.

→ He grew Drift to 800 people before selling for $1.2B

→ His verdict? "Drift is the biggest failure in my life."

Why?

Because coordination killed speed, innovation, and joy.

Now at Agency AI, he is capping full time headcount at 100 people — and it's the company's guiding principle.

We're witnessing a fundamental shift:

→ From coordination problems to leverage problems

→ From "how to manage more people" to "how to amplify fewer people."

Three forces are creating unprecedented leverage:

→ AI automates routine work

→ Fractional talent works on-demand

→ Internet scales distribution globally

The AI companies are unlocking massive leverage: Midjourney: $12.5M revenue per employee (40 people) Cursor: $5.0M revenue per employee (20 people) Cal AI: $3.0M revenue per employee (4 people) ElevenLabs: $2.0M revenue per employee (50 people)

That's not just efficiency. That's leverage.

Small teams with the right technology now outperform entire corporations.

This will change what leaders prioritize: Not headcount

→ Impact Not hierarchy

→ Capability Not process

→ Automation Not control

→ Amplification

This changes the sort of talent which thrives: Not career climbers

→ Problem solvers Not specialized cogs

→ Versatile creators Not direction followers

→ Autonomous thinkers

For a century, we built companies around coordination - how to make thousands work together.

Now we're building them around leverage - how to give ten the impact of a thousand.

This isn't just a new way to win. It's a new game entirely.

P.S This post was inspired by Elias' recent posting and interview on the 20VC podcast. Links in the comments.