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Few.

(1 minute read.)

Things often don't require 'many'.

More on outsourcing…

Having in 'Zero.' noted my preference for outsourcing, I'm now suggesting that sizable and successful businesses can be built with far fewer resources than might be considered necessary… 'big' businesses don't always need a huge staff.

Consider this example…

  • Amazon has 20,000 employees.
  • eBay has 16,000.
  • Craigslist has… 30.

And although the figures are now outdated (I've used them for a while in my consulting activities, and nowadays have other things to do with my time than revisit and update), the principle of 'less can be more than enough' remains sound.

On the most recent numbers I saw, Craigslist was doing about $120 mil annual revenue and profit of $100 million. And, though a private company, has a projected market capitalization of billions.

Although eBay make a lot more money, Amazon is still struggling to be profitable.

So large and complex isn't always a smart move.

Perhaps relevant is this remark from Craig Newmark:

All you have to do to serve well is build a minimal infrastructure.

Any additional features are almost certainly superfluous and could even be damaging.

And, nuts though it may seem, I'm serious in suggesting this venture can be developed with perhaps just two key people overseeing it.

Ethos… »