Org Design (template + worked outline)
Team structure, skill mix, hiring. Concepts:
../WARMUP.mdCh. 3. Org design is strategy — the team shape encodes the build-vs-buy boundary.
Teams (by subsystem ownership, not by layer)
| Team | Owns (phases) | Rare hires | Size (early) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform Core | HAL + runtime (P05, P09) | kernel/compiler, systems C/C++/Rust | 4–6 |
| Serving | KV-cache, batching, engine integration (P07) | LLM-serving/perf engineers | 3–5 |
| Infra / SRE | scheduling, observability, releases (P06, P10) | GPU-savvy SREs | 3–4 |
| Security | licensing, attestation, sovereign (P11) | applied crypto / security eng | 1–2 (consult across) |
Hiring map (role → competency → interview bar)
Map every open role to a phase's competency; use ../../interview-prep/
as the bar. The rare, must-get-right hires: kernel/compiler (P02/P03) and GPU SREs
(P04/P10). Generalists fill faster.
Seniority shape
- A few principals who set and defend the standards (P12 Ch. 4) and de-risk the hardest bets (P12 Ch. 9).
- More senior ICs executing.
- Few juniors early — steep ramp, thin mentorship in a deep domain.
Build-vs-hire calls
- Don't hire a compiler team (adopt Triton/MLIR + hire integrators) unless the strategy commits to Option C (P09).
- Do invest early in Platform Core and SRE — they're the bottleneck for both the roadmap and reliability.
Your additions
- The first 5 hires, in order, and why:
- Where you'd accept a generalist vs hold out for a specialist:
- How the org shape would change at 3× headcount: