Startups are increasingly prioritizing lean headcounts while delivering outsized growth by using automation and AI. Several companies achieved hundreds of millions in revenue with teams under 50 employees. Tiny teams have produced rapid valuations and sizable funding rounds across Europe and the U.S. Average employee counts at seed-stage consumer startups fell from 6.4 in 2022 to 3.5 in 2024. The trend spans consumer-facing and fintech sectors and includes founders running operations with bots and code rather than large support or sales forces. Predictions foresee one-person or zero-workforce unicorns becoming feasible. VC contraction and efficiency metrics are reinforcing lighter, automation-driven scaling.
A decade ago, startups often equated success with rapid headcount growth. The formula was simple: build a product, raise a round, hire fast. Bigger teams meant bigger bets. But the rulebook is getting rewritten as a new generation of startups scales with leaner teams and fewer people. They're not building out sprawling customer support or sales teams, and seem to be automating what once warranted entire departments.
Cursor, which became the fastest-growing SaaS company in history , generated $200mn in revenue with 30 employees. Midjourney made $200mnn with 40 . 's site Tiny Teams tracks these small-but-mighty operators, with several emerging from Europe too. Sweden's Lovable has a 25-strong team and achieved a $1.8bnn valuation just over six months after launching. Vlayer Labs, headquartered in Warsaw, secured $10mnn in pre-seed funding with 20 employees, while Berlin-based Juna AI raised with a seven-person team.
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