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Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building
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Selected for "Best Books of 2023" by Bloomberg and The Economist!
“Whether you are a new manager or a CEO, there are going to be moments when you feel alone and need help. Odds are, the advice you need is in Scaling People. You are going to pull this book off your shelf over and over!"
—Kim Scott, New York Times bestselling author of Radical Candor and Just Work
A leader at both Google and Stripe from their early days, Claire Hughes Johnson has worked with founders and company builders to try to replicate their success. The most common questions she’s asked are not about business strategy—they’re about how to scale the operating structures and people systems of a rapidly growing startup.
Scaling People is a practical and empathetic guide to being an effective leader and manager in a high-growth environment. The tactical information it puts forward—including guidance on crafting foundational documents, strategic and financial planning, hiring and team development, and feedback and performance mechanisms—can be applied to companies of any size, in any industry. Scaling People includes dozens of pages of worksheets, templates, exercises, and example documents to help founders, leaders, and company builders create scalable operating systems and lightweight processes that really work.
Implementing effective leadership and management practices takes effort and discipline, but the reward is a sustainable, scalable company that’s set up for long-term success. Scaling People is a detailed roadmap for company builders to put the right operating systems and structures in place to scale the most important resource a company has: its people.
- Print length480 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherStripe Press
- Publication dateMarch 7, 2023
- Dimensions6.25 x 1.4 x 9.25 inches
- ISBN-101953953212
- ISBN-13978-1953953216
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From the Publisher
Praise for Scaling People
Odds are, the advice you need is in Scaling People.
“Claire Johnson gave me some of the best feedback of my career: ‘You don’t ask for help often enough.’ Whether you are a new manager or a CEO, there are going to be moments when you feel alone and need help. Odds are, the advice you need is in Scaling People. You are going to pull this book off your shelf over and over!"
—Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor and Just Work
The practical guide to running a world-class organization.
“The practical guide to running a world-class organization… Claire has demystified how you run a large, high-performance organization, with clear concepts and practical templates that you can start implementing today.”
—Jason Citron, founder and CEO of Discord
To be added to the shelf of any people leader and manager.
“I was excited to learn that Claire Hughes Johnson has taken her many years of operating excellence from Stripe and Google and distilled it into a new book. Scaling People is a key book to be added to the shelf of any people leader and manager.”
—Elad Gil, entrepreneur, investor, and author of High Growth Handbook
Approachable, entertaining, and exceptionally useful.
“Scaling People is approachable, entertaining, and exceptionally useful, with lots of heart and humor. Claire leverages her years of unparalleled experience to provide a deeply helpful resource to read and revisit again and again.”
—Aileen Lee, founder and managing partner of Cowboy Ventures
Scale your business from 10 to 10,000 without losing what makes it special.
“If you want to scale your business from 10 people to 10,000 without losing the things that make it special, Scaling People is the handbook you need.”
—Ravi Gupta, former CFO and COO of Instacart, general partner at Sequoia Capital
Strong frameworks, sound advice, and tried-and-true processes for any company.
“There’s a lot of reinventing the wheel in a startup environment. Scaling People offers strong frameworks, sound advice, and tried-and-true processes that any company can use to build stronger foundations and sustainable success.”
—Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn, partner at Greylock, host of Masters of Scale
Two decades of leadership expertise in one accessible volume.
“Claire Hughes Johnson is the ultimate operator. She distills two decades of management and leadership expertise into one accessible volume with real-world examples and actionable guidance.”
—Mallun Yen, founder of Operator Collective
Everything you need to know about building and scaling a company.
“Everything you need to know about building and scaling a company, being an exceptional leader and manager, and getting the best out of your people in one empathetic and enjoyable package—with easy-to-use worksheets and templates to boot.”
—Frances Frei, author of Uncommon Service and Unleashed, professor at Harvard Business School
About the author
Claire Hughes Johnson is a corporate officer and advisor at Stripe. Previously, she was chief operating officer at Stripe from 2014 to 2021, helping the company grow from fewer than 200 employees to more than 7,000. At various times, she led business operations, sales, marketing, customer support, risk, real estate, and all of the people functions, including recruiting and HR. Prior to Stripe, she spent 10 years at Google leading business teams, including overseeing aspects of Gmail, Google Apps, and consumer operations, as well as serving as a vice president for AdWords, Google Offers, and Google’s self-driving car project. She serves on the boards of Ameresco, The Atlantic, Aurora Innovation, and HubSpot, and is a trustee and current board president of Milton Academy. She lives outside of Boston with her husband, two children, and two neurotic dachshunds.
About the publisher
Stripe Press publishes ideas for progress in science, technology, and economics. Our collection includes new ideas from emerging and established thinkers and industry leaders, as well as reimagined editions of enduring works. We curate our titles for a global audience of builders and practitioners who are shaping the future of policy and industry.
Stripe Press is based in South San Francisco, with team members across the US and in London. We are a part of the global payments infrastructure company Stripe.
Related titles by Stripe Press:
- High Growth Handbook by Elad Gil
- An Elegant Puzzle by Will Larson
- Get Together by Bailey Richardson, Kevin Huynh, and Kai Elmer Sotto
Editorial Reviews
Review
—The Economist
“The smartest and most useful book I’ve read on management this year.”
—Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic
“Scaling People reflects Claire’s rich experience and formidable tactical mind. In its substantiveness, rigor, and practicality, it stands out from the bland avalanche of traditional managerial fare. It is a book written by a genuine expert with real, tangible lessons to impart.”
—Mario Gabriele, founder of The Generalist
“Claire Johnson gave me some of the best feedback of my career: ‘You don’t ask for help often enough.’ Whether you are a new manager or a CEO, there are going to be moments when you feel alone and need help. Odds are, the advice you need is in Scaling People. You are going to pull this book off your shelf over and over!"
—Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor and Just Work
“The practical guide to running a world-class organization… Claire has demystified how you run a large, high-performance organization, with clear concepts and practical templates that you can start implementing today.”
—Jason Citron, founder and CEO of Discord
“I was excited to learn that Claire Hughes Johnson has taken her many years of operating excellence from Stripe and Google and distilled it into a new book. Scaling People is a key book to be added to the shelf of any people leader and manager.”
—Elad Gil, entrepreneur, investor, and author of High Growth Handbook
“Scaling People is approachable, entertaining, and exceptionally useful, with lots of heart and humor. Claire leverages her years of unparalleled experience to provide a deeply helpful resource to read and revisit again and again.”
—Aileen Lee, founder and managing partner of Cowboy Ventures
“Through the entire history of startups and entrepreneurship, the world expects founders and young executives to succeed and thrive as their company grows larger and larger. Yet no one takes the time to give them the skills and processes that are necessary to achieve great leadership. Now someone has—hats off to Claire Johnson for writing Scaling People.”
—Bill Gurley, general partner at Benchmark
“If you want to scale your business from 10 people to 10,000 without losing the things that make it special, Scaling People is the handbook you need.”
—Ravi Gupta, former CFO and COO of Instacart, general partner at Sequoia Capital
“There’s a lot of reinventing the wheel in a startup environment. Scaling People offers strong frameworks, sound advice, and tried-and-true processes that any company can use to build stronger foundations and sustainable success.”
—Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, partner at Greylock, host of Masters of Scale
“Claire Hughes Johnson is the ultimate operator. She distills two decades of management and leadership expertise into one accessible volume with real-world examples and actionable guidance. Scaling People proves that it’s possible to operate in a high-growth environment while simultaneously focusing on and caring about developing people—and that doing so also leads to a fundamentally stronger business.”
—Mallun Yen, founder of Operator Collective
“Everything you need to know about building and scaling a company, being an exceptional leader and manager, and getting the best out of your people in one empathetic and enjoyable package—with easy-to-use worksheets and templates to boot.”
—Frances Frei, author of Uncommon Service and Unleashed, professor at Harvard Business School
“Claire Hughes Johnson has been in the catbird seat at two companies: Google and Stripe. She participated in Google's transformative journey in the decade following its IPO. Since then, she has helped Stripe develop from a two-floor office into a global, multibillion-dollar infrastructure company on which millions of businesses depend. Two eras, two companies—one Claire.”
—Michael Moritz, partner at Sequoia Capital
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Stripe Press
- Publication date : March 7, 2023
- Language : English
- Print length : 480 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1953953212
- ISBN-13 : 978-1953953216
- Item Weight : 2.3 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.25 x 1.4 x 9.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Claire Hughes Johnson currently serves as a corporate officer and advisor for Stripe, a global technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet. Claire previously served as Stripe’s Chief Operating Officer from 2014 to 2021, helping the company grow from less than 200 employees to more than 7,000. At various times, she led business operations, sales, marketing, customer support, risk, real estate, and all of the people functions, including recruiting and HR.
Prior to Stripe, Claire spent 10 years at Google leading a number of business teams, including overseeing aspects of Gmail, Google Apps, and Consumer Operations, as well as serving as a Vice President for AdWords online sales and operations, Google Offers, and Google’s self-driving car project.
Claire holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and an MBA from Yale University. She currently serves on the boards of the renewable energy company Ameresco, the multi-platform publication The Atlantic, the self-driving technology company Aurora Innovation, and the customer management software company HubSpot. She is also President of the Board of Trustees at Milton Academy. She currently lives outside of Boston, MA, with her husband, two children, and two neurotic dachshunds.























