As the company progresses, so are the challenges. The small team all of a sudden ends up with a bigger one. What developers were building with a V1, ship it quickly needs to change to MSP, aka minimum sellable product.
The journey and shape of the company change as it progresses in the journey. The process gets center stage. It is no longer a developer’s playground with technology and feature development. We have to account for technical debt and business continuity.
Most startups die because of payable users. These are the ones in the very early stages of their journey. They get all the jazz, investor interest, marketing, and PR. Where they miss out on is finding payable customers.
At the same, the ones who survive longer realize the need for process and siloed teams to keep revenue flowing, and the company continues building suits of products. The gear and priority must change from V1 development to a minimal sellable product.