Stages of organisational design | Lucy Stonehill (BridgeU, acq by Kaplan)

In this Emerge Product-Market Fit Academy episode, Lucy Stonehill, co-founder of BridgeU, explains the general stages of organizational design that startups typically go through. She describes the initial horizontal structure of early-stage startups, where roles are clear but responsibilities are shared among a tight-knit team. As startups grow and achieve product-market fit, they evolve into team-based structures with distinct functional teams. Over time, a management layer emerges, leading to a circular organizational design. In larger startups or scale-ups, matrix structures may develop, supporting dedicated projects, product lines, or regional offices. Watch now to understand how to navigate these stages of org design as your startup grows.