🚀 3.2.1. The $100M Mistake ::: Atomic Scaling

Kylian Mbappé’s salary at Real Madrid? $34 million a year — that’s $650,000 per week. Zuckerberg just paid three times that — in signing bonuses — to lure top AI talent at Meta. Here’s the paradox:

Companies spend millions hiring the best people, but pennies making them work well together.

3 Ideas from Me

I. Great Talent ≠ Great Team.

Most companies assume if you hire the smartest people, magic happens. It doesn’t. Talent alone doesn’t make a high-performance team. It’s how they work together that drives results. Supercell built $12B in revenue in six years with just 300 people. Scale AI sold 49% of its share to Facebook for 15 billions, meanwhile its main competitor Surge AI hit $1B+ ARR with 110 people and $0 in VC.

II. Focus on Team Performance, Not Just Individual Talent.

Atomic Scaling was born from a single question over coffee in Helsinki: “Why don’t you stop hiring and focus more on your existing team?” That question changed everything for me.

If you’re struggling to hire, losing people, or feeling your team isn’t delivering, you’re not alone. The solution isn’t more hiring. It’s better teamwork. Smaller teams. Magical pair. Clearer roles. Better rhythm. Deeper trust. When you shift from constant hiring to making your existing team great, you get less chaos, more trust, better ideas, faster execution.

The $100 million mistake isn’t paying the signing bonus. The mistake most founders make is failing to invest equally in building team performance as they do in hiring talent.

III. Design Your Teams Like Formula One.

High performance is engineered — it doesn’t happen by accident. Think like Supercell: “Remain as small as possible, as long as possible.” Your goal isn’t to collect “superstars.” It’s to design high-performing units that deliver.

If your organization is struggling, stop looking outside for saviors. Look inside: The question isn’t “Did I hire the best?” It’s “Did I make them work their best together?”

2 Quotes from Others

I.

“The best team indeed makes the best game. But great individuals do not necessarily make a great team. Great individuals working well together make a great team.”— Ilkka Paananen, Co-Founder & CEO of Supercell

II.

“No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.” — Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder of Linkedin

1 Action for You

Ask yourself: What did I do this week to make my team work better together?

• Did I reduce friction?
• Improve clarity?
• Strengthen collaboration?

Don’t just hire. Build a team.

Ludovic Bodin

2× Unicorns | $1.5B+ in Exits | Bestselling Author of Atomic Scaling | Founder of BOBIC Generational Wealth

P.S. Want my 5-step SOP for building high-performance teams? ​
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WHAT THEY ARE SAYING:

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