---
title: "Org planning"
description: "Headcount and AI, Organizational design, power structures, and frameworks for scaling team structures"
url: "https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/org-planning/"
---

[Edit this page on github](https://github.com/jadeforrest/blog/edit/master/src/content/wiki/people/org-planning.md)

[Wiki](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/) / [People Management](https://www.rubick.com/wiki/people/) / Org planning

# 🏢Org planning

Headcount and AI, Organizational design, power structures, and frameworks for scaling team structures

## Use power structures deliberately

-   This is a new favorite post of mine from Molly Graham, on [how to evolve your Company structure over time](https://mollyg.substack.com/p/startup-org-design-power-centers). It’s quite insightful, helped me see things in a new way, and will be something I refer to in the future. A very useful read! @jade

## Engineering ratios for various sized companies

-   Tomasz Tunguz on [R&D expense as a percent of headcount](https://tomtunguz.com/et30-headcount-analysis/). This is for “top enterprise companies”. They tend to move towards about 30% of headcount in R&D.
-   This [2020 Redpoint survey by Tomasz Tunguz](https://tomtunguz.com/redpoint-2020-gtm-survey/) shows a ratio of Engineers to AEs going from 2:1 (before 5M ARR), to 1.75:1 (below 20M ARR), and 1.25:1 (below 50M ARR) and 1:1 (below 100M). With some variation.
-   One leader’s read: “Engineering tends to be about 10-50% of headcount. This depends on revenue and growth. Large mature companies around 10%, very early stage companies at the top end. Oversimplifying: public, late-stage startups, PE backed between 15-20, and stage B and later with high growth 20-25.”

## Headcount and AI

-   [AI layoffs are backfiring in 2026](https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/05/06/ai-layoffs-backfire-as-cutting-staff-doesnt-cut-it-firms-warned/5230631)

## Mitosis method

![Org planning diagram showing mitosis approach](https://www.rubick.com/_astro/org-planning.yn2HC5xz_Z1c3BmR.webp)

## Math behind org design

-   [Distributed systems, coda hale](https://codahale.com/work-is-work/)
-   [The SaaS org chart, and how it should evolve as a startup grows](https://sacks.substack.com/p/the-saas-org-chart) Pretty well done. You can argue about details, but the high level pictures is pretty accurate.