How to grow your team

From Entrepreneurship Week 19-23 Jan 2026
Day Four Lightning Talk Highlights

When Is the Right Time to Hire?

One of the most common founder questions is not how to scale, but when. Tove addressed this head-on, making it clear that there is no universal answer.

“Unfortunately, there is no black or white answer.”
— Tove Oldebäck 

While money or incoming clients are often used as signals, real-life hiring decisions rarely follow a perfect formula. Risk, timing, and learning along the way are unavoidable parts of the process.

Hiring Is Emotional — and That’s Normal

Tove described hiring as one of the most exciting but emotionally demanding steps in entrepreneurship. Fear often comes from imagining worst-case scenarios — hiring the wrong person, running out of money, or losing control.

“It’s just a problem you haven’t solved yet.”
— Tove Oldebäck 

Her message was clear: founders have already solved countless problems without knowing how at first. Hiring is no different.

Not Every Problem Requires a Hire

One of the strongest insights from the session was that hiring is not always the right solution — especially early on.

“The solution is not always to hire someone.”
— Tove Oldebäck 

Consultants, advisors, or temporary support can often solve short-term problems, giving founders time to understand what the business truly needs before committing to permanent roles.

Start With the Goal — Not the Job Title

When it is time to hire, Tove encouraged founders to rethink traditional recruitment logic.

“I don’t start with your role title… you’re starting with the goal.”
— Tove Oldebäck 

By working backwards from what the company needs to achieve, founders can identify the skills, behaviours, and traits that actually move the business forward — rather than hiring based on assumptions.

Leadership Means Allowing Mistakes

Hiring great people also means trusting them — and accepting that mistakes will happen.

“If you hire fantastic people, give them space to be fantastic.”
— Tove Oldebäck 

Mistakes, she explained, are not failures but part of growth — for both teams and leaders.

When Things Don’t Work Out

The session also addressed one of the hardest realities of leadership: letting people go.

“There is no emotional way to make it good for everyone.”
— Tove Oldebäck 

Tove spoke openly about the emotional toll of these moments, emphasising the importance of grounding decisions in business reality rather than guilt — and allowing yourself to process the emotions separately.

Shifting Focus From Fear to Possibility

To close, Tove challenged founders to shift their mindset away from fear-based thinking and instead focus on what could go right.

“We have to think about the best things that can happen.”
— Tove Oldebäck 

Confidence, she reminded the audience, doesn’t come from certainty — it comes from trusting your future self to handle what lies ahead.