Let’s talk about the real budget killer.

It’s not your AWS bill.

It’s not your office snacks.

It’s that underperformer you should’ve let go six months ago.

The one you keep rationalizing.

The one that brings down the team’s energy.

The one that’s always "almost there" but never actually there.

Yeah. That one.

Fast to hire, slow to fire = organizational rot

Startups love to move fast.

Until it’s uncomfortable.

You sprint to fill the role. You close the offer in 48 hours. You announce them at All Hands like a new product launch.

Then a month in, the vibe’s off. Three months in, the team is frustrated. Six months in, the founders know. But nobody says it.

So they stay.

And fester.

What happens when you don’t fire

• Morale drops (good people hate carrying dead weight)
• Standards slip (nobody wants to be the jerk who speaks up)
• Velocity tanks (you spend time working around the issue)
• Culture decays (people stop believing you care about excellence)

Your team notices before you do. And if they don’t see you act, they start rewriting their resumes.

Firing is not failure, but avoiding it is

Firing is a decision. Avoiding it is a cost.

You don’t save face by waiting.

You just:

• Spend more on salary
• Spend more on emotional cleanup
• Lose more time
• Lose better people who are tired of the mess

Every month you delay is a month your high performers lose faith in you. And then they peace out.

"But what if they get better?"

Sure. Maybe.

But hope is not a strategy.

• Have you set clear expectations?
• Given real feedback?
• Provided coaching?
• Established a timeline for change?

If yes, and nothing’s changing?

It’s time.

If no? That’s on you. But also, fix it fast.

The real cost

Let’s do the math:

• $130,000/year in salary
• $80,000 in burned engineering hours supporting or fixing their work
• $100,000 in lost momentum (projects slowed, opportunities missed)
• 2 strong people quit because they were tired of dragging dead weight

Cost of firing? An awkward convo, one offboarding plan and two weeks of transition.

What are we doing here?

What high-performing orgs do differently

• Clear performance bars
• Fast feedback loops
• No tolerance for mediocrity masked as "potential"
• Support systems, but also accountability

And when it’s not working? They move.

Not because they’re heartless.

Because they care too much to keep dragging.

Firing fast doesn’t mean firing recklessly

We’re not talking about knee-jerk decisions.

We’re talking about:

• Clarity on expectations
• A documented process
• Honest feedback
• A chance to improve
• A clear decision when that doesn’t happen

Kindness is clarity.

What’s cruel is keeping someone in a role where they’re not thriving and nobody believes in them anymore.

Want to avoid this altogether?

Hire better.

Ask sharper questions. Watch how they think. Set expectations from Day 1.

(We can help you with this, by the way. It’s kinda our thing.)

And then? When someone doesn’t meet the bar, act with compassion and conviction.

What this looks like in practice

• Weekly syncs with a feedback doc
• Clear criteria for success
• One-month improvement plan with defined outcomes
• Regular check-ins
• A final decision with context and respect

No ghosting. No passive-aggressive calendar drops. No "they’ll figure it out."

Just directness. Support. And a decision.

TL;DR

Hiring fast feels strategic. Firing slow feels kind.

But both can ruin your team if done wrong. Speed matters. But so does courage. Make the call.

Your team is waiting for you to lead.