What's up, it's Zayd.

Last night, I was thinking about how building my first company was radically different from what we're doing now at Valley—and it’s not just because I was in high school the first time. One was built in the best of times, and one was built in the hardest.

Here's what I learned about the difference between building organizations and building teams.

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The Science vs. The Art

Organizations are a science—a structured machine that executes with remarkable focus and speed. 

Teams are an art—an expression of empathy, emotion, relationships, and leadership.

Here's what I've learned about both after building and selling two companies before turning 22:

Good Times = Organization Building

In good times, everything feels easier:

• Money flows freely

• Hiring is straightforward

• Growth feels inevitable

• Processes seem to work perfectly

This is when most founders focus on building the organization—the systems, the processes, the scalable machine.

I did this with my first appointment-setting agency. We grew to over 100 people across the world, focused on scaling processes and systems.

But here's what I learned: Organizations built in good times often crack under pressure.

Bad Times = Team Building

The real magic happens in the tough times:

• When you're pivoting your entire business

• When the market turns against you

• When you have to make hard decisions fast

• When traditional playbooks stop working

This is when you discover who's truly on your team. At Valley, we've built differently. We look for specific traits:

1. Give time to people with skill gaps, not behavior gaps

You can teach someone how to use a new tool or write better cold emails. You can't teach someone to have work ethic or integrity. When I built my first appointment-setting agency, I spent months trying to "fix" people's attitudes—it never worked, and it cost us valuable time, momentum, and morale.

2. A players only

A bird in hand isn't always better than two in the bush (or however that phrase goes?) when it comes to people. If someone isn't clearly an A player, move on immediately. Full disclosure, this one took me a while to learn and then put into practice. It is not easy.

3. Find creators first, let them hire executors

99/100 people are executors—find the 1/100 who are creators for early stage. In my early days, I made the mistake of hiring too many executors too quickly—people who could follow processes but couldn't build them. What I've learned is that early-stage success depends entirely on finding those rare creators who can build something from nothing, then letting them build their own teams of executors around them.

The 7-Day Rule

One of my most important lessons: You can tell if someone will be a good hire within 7 days.

There's never a "good time" to replace someone who isn't working out.

It will always slow down a project, delay a launch, or kill momentum.

The 7-day rule is like dating—if you're making excuses for them in the first week, it's probably not getting better.

Your intuition will say "they're good enough and we need the extra hands on deck." In almost all cases, begin recruiting for a replacement at this point, because the funny thing about 'extra hands on deck' is they often end up rocking the boat.

The Hard Truth About Teams

Building teams requires harder decisions than building organizations:

• You can't hide behind processes

• You can't defer tough conversations

• You can't hope problems will solve themselves

But teams built in hard times are stronger than organizations built in good times. They're forged in fire, tested by adversity, and bound by shared challenges.

One of our key hires at Valley came from an unexpected place—a cold email. Shubh, who's now a part of our marketing team, sent me what might be the best cold email I've ever received. He showed exactly what we look for: creativity in approach (creator, not just executor), clear communication skills, and most importantly, the right behavioral traits from day one.

This wasn't just luck—it validated our hiring philosophy. He demonstrated both skill (writing a compelling cold email) and behavior (initiative, research, clear communication). Within that 7-day window, it was clear we had found someone special.

How I Can Help?

Let me book sales calls for you while you’re building your A-team. Seriously.

I built Valley to be your automated SDR and empower AEs. Get started today and watch your calendar fill up with qualified leads.