189. How to build a $10M company without meetings or managers, with James Hawkins, Co-CEO at PostHog
🎧 Welcome back to Truth, Lies & Work, the award-winning psychology podcast from the HubSpot Podcast Network, hosted by Chartered Occupational Psychologist Leanne Elliott and business owner Al Elliott.
This week, we’re joined by James Hawkins, co-founder and co-CEO of PostHog—a dev tools company turning $10M+ ARR without any managers, meetings, or micromanagement. James’s approach? Treat your company like a bunch of tiny startups.
👀 If you’ve ever wondered what work would feel like without middle managers, weekly check-ins, and change committees… this is your episode.
💡 Key Takeaways from James Hawkins
⚙️ Small Teams > Big Bureaucracy
James explains how structuring PostHog into autonomous 2–6 person teams has helped them ship faster, stay scrappy, and avoid the productivity drag of large orgs.
🔁 Engineers Lead, Managers Step Aside
Forget micromanagement. At PostHog, engineers decide what gets built—and team leads don’t even get paid more.
💥 Just Ship It
Forget pre-meetings and permission-seeking. PostHog favours “build it and test it” over endless validation and speculation.
🔍 Radical Transparency
From salaries to sabbatical policies, PostHog runs almost everything in public. Their internal company handbook? It’s online for the world to read.
🚀 Chaos is a Feature, Not a Bug
James shows how a dose of “organised chaos” can unlock innovation, ownership, and next-level productivity—if you hire the right people.
🔗 Resources & Links
PostHog website
James on X (Twitter)
PostHog’s Newsletter
https://newsletter.posthog.com/
📢 Enjoyed this episode?
Follow or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, leave a review, and share this episode with a fellow founder, engineer or curious manager who wants to do work differently. And come say hi on LinkedIn—we’d love to hear your thoughts.
🧠 General Support with Mental Health and Well-being
If you’ve been affected by anything in this episode or are currently struggling with your mental health, the following resources may help:
Mind: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/
Samaritans (UK): Call 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
💬 Connect with Al & Leanne
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Al: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisisalelliott/
Leanne: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetleanne
Email: hello@truthliesandwork.com
Book a call: https://savvycal.com/meetleanne/chat