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In today's newsletter:
Latest Podcasts: What You Missed
The 10 Money Skills Every Microteam Should Master - You’re great at what you do. But if the money side of your business feels confusing, stressful, or weirdly fragile, this episode is required listening.
What Can You Learn from 22 Microteam Success Stories? (…Plus 1) - Real microteams, real results, and the repeatable patterns behind outsized growth with tiny teams… and one notable failure.
Interview with Wade Foster, CEO of Zapier - How Zapier scaled with leverage, automation, and focus instead of hiring and organizational bloat.
Interview with Fabian Veit, CEO of Make - How advanced automation helps microteams remove busywork and scale faster without added headcount.
Scalebrity Spotlight: Terraria (Re-Logic): Team Versatility Over Headcount
"You're looking at job postings, thinking: "I need a designer. A backend engineer. A QA specialist. A community manager. A producer."
Five roles. Five salaries. Five coordination headaches.
Meanwhile, a game called Terraria has sold 60+ million copies, generated over $500 million in revenue, and maintained a 10+ year development cycle with consistent free updates.
Their team size? Never more than 11 people at peak. Often as few as 8.
While AAA game studios employ hundreds (sometimes thousands) to ship titles, Re-Logic, the team behind Terraria, proved that versatile generalists beat specialized headcount every single time.
They didn't build departments. They built a team where everyone could wear multiple hats, pivot quickly, and own outcomes end-to-end.
The Game Built by Generalists
Terraria launched in 2011. Created by Andrew "Redigit" Spinks as essentially a solo project with minimal help, it became an instant indie hit.
But here's what's remarkable: as Terraria grew into a cultural phenomenon, Re-Logic stayed small. Intentionally.
The numbers:
60+ million copies sold across all platforms
$500M+ revenue estimated
Peak team size: ~11 people
RPE (Revenue Per Employee): $45M+
Compare that to typical AAA game studios:
AAA studio average: 200+ employees, $100M-500M revenue = $500K-2.5M RPE
Re-Logic: 8-11 employees, $500M+ revenue = $45M+ RPE
They were 18x more efficient than traditional game studios.
How?
By hiring versatile generalists who could do multiple jobs, not specialists who could only do one.
Andrew Spinks didn't just code—he designed, balanced gameplay, created content, and managed community feedback. His team didn't have "lanes." They had ownership areas that overlapped and flexed based on what the game needed.
"We never wanted to be a big studio. We wanted to be nimble enough to pivot when players wanted something different, and small enough that everyone felt ownership over the entire game."
13 Investment Errors You Should Avoid
Successful investing is often less about making the right moves and more about avoiding the wrong ones. With our guide, 13 Retirement Investment Blunders to Avoid, you can learn ways to steer clear of common errors to help get the most from your $1M+ portfolio—and enjoy the retirement you deserve.