Name: Be Deliberate With Team Selection
Uploaded: 2026-01-04T12:04:46+00:00
Duration: 6 min 4 s
Description: We explain how team selection within a company can influence both career growth and layoff risk, while stressing the imp

Be Deliberate With Team Selection

We explain how team selection within a company can influence both career growth and layoff risk, while stressing the importance of balance and personal fit.

- Team choice is one of the remaining factors within your control, and teams that are important to leadership or closely tied to core revenue are generally less likely to be cut.
- Importance is relative to executive priorities, not just revenue, so understanding what leadership truly cares about is key, especially at companies with strong founder influence.
- Choosing a high-priority team is usually good career advice anyway, since those teams tend to have more scope, visibility, and growth opportunities.
- You should not sacrifice genuine interest or passion just to chase perceived safety, because lack of engagement hurts performance and long-term career growth.
- This guidance is clearer at companies with product-market fit, while earlier-stage startups carry more inherent uncertainty, making stability harder to assess regardless of team choice.

We explain how team selection within a company can influence both career growth and layoff risk, while stressing the imp