Building Autonomous Teams

I should caveat - article has nothing to do with AI.

What I’ve noticed is that most companies say they want high accountability. The reality is so many aren’t structured to allow it.

If a team owns a KPI, it should also own the levers to impact it. Otherwise, accountability is diluted.

Take Growth, for example:
If Growth is responsible for conversion (CVR), but has to rely on Design or Engineering resourcing to run tests, then accountability breaks down. Suddenly the answer to “Why isn’t CVR moving?” becomes a story about bottlenecks and excuses. “We asked design but they haven’t done it yet” or “Engineering is backlogged so we can’t move on our goal”. These excuses - whilst potentially true, are incredibly unhelpful.

But when teams are structured autonomously—owning both the KPI and the levers—they can answer with clarity:

• “Here’s what we’ve tried.”

• “Here’s what isn’t working.”

• “Here’s what we’re testing next—do you have advice?”

That’s what accountability looks like in practice: faster loops, fewer excuses, clearer responsibility.

Decision-Making

Accountability is only half the story. The other half is decision-making. Not all decisions are created equal—and treating them the same slows companies down.

The trick is to distinguish between irreversible (Type 1) decisions and reversible (Type 2) decisions.

Type 1: Irreversible Bets

High-stakes calls that shape the future of the company.

• Examples: Major capital allocation, acquisitions, existential company bets.

• Who decides: Founders (with consensus among founders where needed)

• Why: It’s the founder’s job to inject risk into the business. Everyone else naturally optimizes for safety; founders are the only ones positioned to take asymmetric bets.

Note: in larger organizations this might be a consensus based decision or board vote. However, we see even in bigger companies - an irrational founder is pushing the boundaries.

• Evan Spiegel (Snap) pouring resources into Spectacles. Wrong timing, but the instinct (AR glasses) was right. (poor move)

• Larry Ellison (Oracle) pushing thin clients in the 90s. Premature, but visionary. (poor move)

• Apple killing the iPod with the iPhone or Netflix cannibalizing DVDs with streaming. (great moves)

Despite the risk, this quote makes it clear why we founders to make these bets.

These are hard to reverse, shape the company’s trajectory, and need founder conviction.

At Superpower: we launched a $199 membership—a company-shaping bet that touched product, ops, and brand. Technically reversible, but as a launch, closer to Type

Ready to see the $199 bet in action? Join Superpower.

Type 2: Reversible Experiments

Smaller calls that can be rolled back quickly.

• Examples: Landing page changes, ad copy, pricing tests, product sequencing.

• Who decides: The team or leader who owns the KPI.

• Why: These are cheap experiments. Delegating them keeps speed high and avoids decision gridlock.

Type 2 decisions are the bread and butter of autonomous teams—they allow rapid iteration without waiting on founders or committees.

Why This Matters

• Autonomous teams create accountability loops that are fast and unambiguous.

• Clear decision frameworks prevent bottlenecks, giving founders space to focus on the existential bets while teams move quickly on the reversible ones.

This is how you get velocity without chaos: give teams both the mandate and the means to move KPIs, and give founders the space to swing for the fences.

Until next time,

Ajay

🧠 Ajay’s Resource Bank

A few tools and collections I’ve built (or obsessively curated) over the years:

• 100+ Mental Models
  Mental shortcuts and thinking tools I’ve refined over the past decade. These have evolved as I’ve gained experience — pruned, updated, and battle-tested.

• 100+ Questions
  If you want better answers, ask better questions. These are the ones I keep returning to — for strategy, reflection, and unlocking stuck conversations.

• Startup OS
  A lightweight operating system I built for running startups. I’m currently adapting it for growth teams as I scale Superpower — thinking about publishing it soon.

• Remote Games & Activities
  Fun team-building exercises and games (many made in Canva) that actually work. Good for offsites, Zoom fatigue, or breaking the ice with distributed teams.

✅ Ajay’s “would recommend” List

These are tools and services I use personally and professionally — and recommend without hesitation:

• Athyna – Offshore Hiring Done Right
  I personally have worked with assistants overseas and built offshore teams. Most people get this wrong by assuming you have to go the lowest cost for automated work. Try hiring high quality, strategic people for a fraction of the cost instead.

• Superpower – It starts with a 100+ lab tests
  I joined Superpower as Head of Growth, but I originally came on to fix my health. In return, I got a full diagnostic panel, a tailored action plan, and ongoing support that finally gave me clarity after years of flying blind.
  (Want a discount code? Just reply to this email.)