When we back a software business, one of the first questions we ask is: Who else do you need around the table to get to the next level?

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It’s not a judgment on the team that’s already there. Most of the founders we back have built extraordinary businesses, often with small, tight-knit teams. But taking a company from £10m to £50m ARR is a different game from getting to that first £5m. It takes different skills, different perspectives – and sometimes, different people.

Andrew Blatherwick , Chair at Relesys and an advisor to many scaling software businesses, puts it plainly: “The people you bring in when you're starting a business are not the same people you require to scale the business. This doesn’t just happen once. It happens three or four times through the company life cycle.”

The idea that leadership needs to evolve as the business evolves can be tough to accept, especially if the existing team has been in place from day one. Loyalty is often the biggest barrier to great business decisions.

But Andrew is quick to point out that change is often best for those individuals too. “If you thrive in an early-stage business, juggling multiple roles, you’re a lot less likely to enjoy a more structured, scaled-up organisation where the scope is narrower.”

Delaying change can be costly

One of the more common mistakes we see in growth-stage software businesses is under-hiring. Founders get squeamish about changing teams, or reluctant to pay top dollar to bring in additional experience. But in our experience, it’s better to move early and deliberately.

Andrew agrees: “Founders often wait too long. They hit a ceiling at around £6-10 million in turnover, at which point they start to see the limitations of their current team. By then, they’ve lost valuable time. If you're heading into a new growth phase, you should be hiring for it now.”

Hiring senior talent early gives you time to run a proper search, find the right fit and, crucially, gives new senior team members the chance to help shape the strategy, rather than react to it.

At Copilot Capital we never advocate personnel change for its own sake. But we know from many years’ supporting software businesses that change will be needed, and always requires difficult conversations. At these moments, we support our founders to act with confidence and honesty, rather than kicking the can down the road.

Understanding what ‘great’ looks like

For first-time founders, hiring senior talent is one of the steepest learning curves. If you’ve never worked with a great CRO or CFO before, how can you spot the right attributes and experience?

This is where trusted sounding boards — like chairs or investors — can add huge value.

As Andrew explains, “Founders often look to recruit in a very narrow talent pool of people they know, or have had recommended. But this doesn’t mean they’re the best person for the role. In most cases, casting the net wider exposes them to higher-quality candidates. Our role as advisors is to open up these networks.”

Investors like Copilot can also show founders what great looks like. For example, if there’s an amazing CFO in one of our companies, it’s well worth getting them in front of our other founders, so they have a clearer benchmark when hiring.

The other role investors and chairs can play is in sanity checking the final shortlist, ensuring the bar stays high. “You don’t want to take the process away from the founder; they need to believe in the hire, and need the chemistry. But they also need the confidence to say no — even if it’s the third interview.”

It’s also why we invest so much time in referencing, speaking to people who’ve worked with a candidate, ideally more than once, to fully understand their track record.

Critical senior roles to address early

There’s no one-size-fits-all when building leadership teams, but there are some consistent themes.

Andrew names three functions that typically need reinforcing early: finance, technology and sales.

“You start with someone who’s a great bookkeeper. But you ultimately need someone who can analyse the business, spot problems and forecast where you’re heading.”

In tech, the need for additional senior talent depends on the founder’s background. But at a certain point in the growth journey, even a strong technical founder will benefit from a CTO who’s operated at scale.

And finally, as Andrew points out, in sales, the issue is often the founder themselves. “Most founders made the first few sales. They know the product, they’re passionate — but that doesn’t make them good sales managers. There’s usually no process. No scalability. That only comes with experience.”

The network effect of great talent

When you get senior hiring right, you not only improve individual business functions, but you raise the bar across the business.

Take SecureFlag , where we helped hire a new CRO from our network. Within months, the CRO had recruited seven or eight more people from his network – all people he’d worked with before.

As Andrew points out, “When someone walks in and knows what good looks like – not just for the job, but for the team and the systems around it – they lift everything.”

“On the other hand, the wrong hire at the wrong time can kill momentum,” he continues. “Particularly if they come from a large corporate and try to impose big-company process on an entrepreneurial business where it isn’t needed or necessary.”

Senior talent is one of the biggest levers for growth

The best talent costs money. And that can be a source of friction, especially if the new hire earns more than other senior team members.

But the right hires need to be viewed as growth levers that will ultimately pay for themselves, adding value and bringing momentum, setting higher standards, and creating space for founders to transition to a more visionary CEO role.

It’s why founders must not shy away from the big decisions on senior talent. And it’s why, as Andrew concludes, it’s vital they’re supported as they navigate these choices.

“Knowing what good looks like. Knowing when the right time is to invest in the very best senior talent. And knowing when someone’s run out of steam. None of this is easy. This is where trusted advisors like chairs and investors come into their own.”

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