Choosing the Right Team Structure
Compare structures and learn proven models from top companies
Your Progress
Section 2 of 5Evaluating Team Structures
There's no universally "best" team structure—each has trade-offs. The right choice depends on your product complexity, company stage, and strategic priorities. Understanding these trade-offs helps you make informed decisions.
Compare Structures Across Dimensions
See how different structures perform on key dimensions:
Ownership Clarity
Crystal clear—each team owns specific features
Clear, but boundaries can overlap
Owns tech, but not end-to-end user value
Shared ownership creates confusion
Proven Team Models
Learn from successful models used by top companies:
Spotify Model
Squads, tribes, chapters, and guilds
Squad
Small cross-functional team (PM, Designer, Engineers)
Purpose: Build and own features end-to-end
Tribe
Collection of squads working on related area
Purpose: Coordinate on shared goals and dependencies
Chapter
People with same discipline across squads
Purpose: Share knowledge, set standards (e.g., all designers)
Guild
Interest group across the company
Purpose: Share learnings on topics like accessibility, testing
Advantages:
- +Clear autonomy at squad level
- +Knowledge sharing through chapters
- +Scales to large orgs
Trade-offs:
- -Can be complex
- -Risk of duplication
- -Requires strong culture
Note: Works best at 50+ people
When to Use Each Structure
🎯 Choose Feature Teams If:
- • You have distinct, independent features
- • Speed of iteration is critical
- • You want clear ownership and accountability
🚶 Choose Journey Teams If:
- • User experience consistency is paramount
- • You're optimizing conversion funnels
- • You have clear stages in user lifecycle
🏗️ Add Platform Teams If:
- • You have 5+ product teams
- • Duplication is slowing everyone down
- • Common infrastructure needs emerge
Structure Follows Strategy
Don't copy structure from successful companies blindly. What works for Spotify with 2,000 engineers won't work for your 20-person startup. Choose structure based on YOUR strategic priorities, stage, and constraints. And remember: structure isn't permanent—evolve it as you grow.
Key Takeaways
- •Evaluate structures on: ownership clarity, speed, UX consistency, scalability
- •Proven models: Spotify (squads/tribes), Amazon (two-pizza), Pod model
- •Feature teams for speed, Journey teams for UX, Platform teams at scale
- •Structure follows strategy—choose based on YOUR context, not what's trendy