How to Build High-Performing Startup Teams That Actually Scale | Ep 285 | DevReady Podcast

Claudia Barriga-Larriviere, Head of People at EatClub and Coach at Startmate, joins Andrew Romeo on the DevReady Podcast to explore how high-performing teams are built, scaled, and sustained in fast-moving tech startups. Drawing on her experience across incubators, scaleups, and high-growth environments, Claudia shares practical insights into people and culture strategy, leadership, and organisational design.

Claudia’s journey into startups began unexpectedly after leaving corporate life during the global financial crisis, leading her into incubators like Pollenizer and the broader startup ecosystem. She reflects on the stark contrast between corporate environments and startups, where speed, ownership, and real-time decision making define success. This transition allowed her to discover her strength in bringing structure and clarity to fast-paced, ambiguous environments while supporting founders and first-time leaders through critical growth phases.

Throughout the conversation, Claudia highlights the importance of accountability, clear systems, and strong team dynamics in startup success. She introduces key principles such as “done is better than perfect” and “always handing over”, emphasising the need to build processes that enable continuity and collaboration. High-performing teams, she explains, rely on a balance of builders, learners, and organisers working together with healthy friction, supported by diverse perspectives and strong communication.

As startups scale, Claudia stresses the importance of systems thinking over reactive hiring. She shares how teams often slow down when they add more people instead of improving processes, and why smaller, well-structured teams can outperform larger, fragmented ones. Reflection, data visibility, and clear feedback mechanisms are essential to ensure leaders understand what is happening across the organisation and can make informed decisions quickly.

Claudia also challenges traditional approaches to culture and leadership, advocating for “culture add” over “culture fit” and encouraging leaders to embrace discomfort through honest feedback and open communication. She emphasises that innovation is driven by creativity, which requires energy, balance, and supportive environments where people can thrive both inside and outside of work. Ultimately, building effective teams comes down to designing systems around real human behaviour, enabling sustainable performance, and fostering environments where diverse teams can succeed together.

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