Objective

Apply the concept of stage-appropriate hiring to a real scenario by mapping roles needed for a specific growth initiative and determining how to fill those roles.

Instructions

1. Identify Your Growth Stage

Briefly note your company's stage:

• Early startup (MVP stage, pre-product-market fit)
• Scaling SaaS (Series A/B funding, proven product-market fit)
• Mature enterprise (established market position, optimizing for efficiency)

Also note key growth goals for this stage. Examples:

• Early: "Achieve product-market fit" or "Reach first 100 paying customers"
• Scaling: "Expand to new market segment" or "Double ARR"
• Mature: "Improve CLTV by 20%" or "Enter adjacent market"

2. Select a Campaign/Project

Choose a specific upcoming growth initiative:

• Product launch
• Major marketing campaign
• Expansion into a new region or vertical
• New channel experiment (podcast, partner program, etc.)

Clearly define the scope in 1-2 sentences.

Example:

"Launch our new API product to developer audience in Q2, aiming for 500 developer signups and 50 paid API customers in first 90 days."

3. List Required Roles

Brainstorm all roles and skill sets needed to execute this project successfully.

Be comprehensive – include:

• Core execution roles: Content marketer, sales rep, product manager, etc.
• Supporting roles: Data analyst, designer, SEO specialist, customer support for FAQs
• Leadership roles: Project lead, executive sponsor

For each role, indicate:

• Type: Specialist or Generalist?
• Status: Exists on current team or Need to fill?

Example table:

Role	Type	Current Status
Project Lead	Generalist	Jane (Marketing Manager)
Developer Content Writer	Specialist	NEED TO FILL
Community Manager	Specialist	Mike (existing, 50% allocated)
Paid Ads Specialist	Specialist	NEED TO FILL
Sales Engineer	Specialist	Existing team
Data Analyst	Generalist	Shared resource (20% time)
Designer	Specialist	Existing

4. Assess Gaps

Review your list and identify critical gaps:

• Which roles are crucial but currently unfilled?
• Which roles are under-resourced (e.g., need 100% but only have 20%)?
• Which gaps are blockers vs. nice-to-haves?

For each gap, consider fill options:

• Reallocate existing team member
• Hire new full-time staff
• Contract freelancer or agency
• Postpone that aspect of the project
• Upskill someone internally

Consider project timeframe:

• One-time need → Contractor makes more sense
• Ongoing need → Full-time hire justified
• Urgent need (starts in 2 weeks) → Contractor or agency (hiring takes months)

5. Compile a Role Map

Organize information into a Role Map table or chart:

Role Needed	Who Will Do It	Type	Notes
Project Lead	Jane Doe (Marketing Manager)	Existing staff (generalist)	Oversees campaign end-to-end
Content Creator	Need to hire or freelance	Contractor (specialist writer)	Must have SaaS writing experience
Paid Ads Specialist	Agency (ABC Digital Marketing)	External agency	Short-term for launch window
Sales Enablement (SDR)	John Smith (Sales)	Existing staff (specialist SDR)	Dedicate 50% time during launch
Data Analytics	Open - not covered	Potential gap	Team will share this role until filled
Community Manager	Mike (Developer Relations)	Existing staff (specialist)	Reallocate 50% time to project

6. Analyze Alignment with Stage

Write a short justification (3-5 sentences) for why this role mix makes sense for your growth stage.

Example:

"As a Series A startup, we are keeping the team lean. We chose to outsource design and writing to contractors to stay flexible, while focusing our in-house hires on strategic roles like product marketing and developer relations. This fits our stage by minimizing fixed costs and allowing us to test channels before making full-time hires. Once we validate that developer content drives conversions, we'll consider hiring a full-time technical writer in 6 months."

7. Identify Dependencies and Risks

List 2-3 key dependencies or risks related to your staffing plan:

Example:

• Risk: Freelance technical writer may not understand our API deeply enough → Mitigation: Pair them with engineering team for first 2 weeks
• Dependency: Agency needs 3-week lead time → Action: Engage them by March 1 for April 15 launch
• Risk: Data analyst only 20% allocated may become bottleneck → Mitigation: Define analysis scope upfront, consider bringing in analytics contractor if needed

Deliverable

Create a Project Role Map document (1-2 pages) including:

1. Growth stage and project scope
2. Complete role list with current status
3. Gap analysis with fill strategy for each gap
4. Resource allocation table
5. Stage alignment justification
6. Dependencies and risks

Outcome

You'll have a clear plan of who is needed for a key growth project and how you will staff those roles. This roadmap can be immediately used to:

• Guide recruiting efforts
• Justify resource requests to leadership
• Identify contractor/agency needs
• Reality-check whether your project goals match available capacity

This exercise trains you to think strategically about talent needs before launching initiatives, preventing last-minute scrambles for resources.