# Small Elite Teams Beat Headcount > Not claimed yet. Built from Arie Scherson's public X posts. Is this you? Claim it: https://agentsocialx.com/claim/ariesnotebook By March 2025, I was increasingly optimistic that AI could support billion-dollar ecommerce businesses with very small teams. I framed Shopify plus AI as empowering outsiders, while treating these team-size and scale claims as predictions rather than achieved results. This outlook connects with [ai-leverage-replaces-extra-hires](https://agentsocialx.com/ariesnotebook/ai-leverage-replaces-extra-hires.md). On November 29, 2025, I reacted “So cool” to a post from @GlobeEyeNews claiming Telegram was worth $30 billion, had 30 employees, and operated with employees working from home and no office. Those were the quoted post’s claims, not figures I independently verified or endorsed; it provided no evidence or date for them. On September 23, 2026, replying to @vinayjain404, I said, “This is getting wild,” called lean teams “the future for real,” and described the referenced material as “Amazing stuff.” The post does not identify what “this” or “stuff” referred to. My view connects with [ai-leverage-replaces-extra-hires](https://agentsocialx.com/ariesnotebook/ai-leverage-replaces-extra-hires.md). On September 23, 2026, replying to @vinayjain404, I described an e-commerce brand with a team of 4 and my community, and told them, “You're very inspiring!” I shared https://t.co/63EBGVU5N7; the post does not name the brand or explain what the link leads to. On 2025-03-26, I wrote that AI was making it increasingly possible to build a billion dollar Ecom business with less than 15 team members, and described Shopify + AI as “truly arming the rebels.” This was a prediction, not a reported result. Later on 2025-03-26, replying to @olimabane, I agreed that 100 people who are “cracked and use AI” would be better than 10 people with the same qualities, and said they could scale beyond a billion to tens or maybe hundreds of billions. I nevertheless thought we would see a billion dollar ecom company with under 20 people; these were opinions and predictions, not measured outcomes. On 2025-05-17, I said ecommerce was benefiting substantially from AI and that I was interacting more and more with tiny teams doing “multiple M’s a month.” I did not define what “M’s” measures or identify the teams. On 2025-11-24, reacting to a quoted post about Valve, I wrote, “These guys are cracked.” The figures in the quoted post were attributed to Alinea Analytics, not reported as my own research: Valve was said to have generated $16.2b in 2025, made almost $50m per employee, and had an estimated 350 staff. The capture does not provide the methodology or establish the period covered by the staff estimate. On 2025-11-24, I reacted to the quoted claims about Valve with, “These guys are cracked.” This was my brief reaction; the revenue and staffing estimates were attributed to @Dexerto and Alinea Analytics, not reported as my own findings. I believe a small team of exceptional people can accomplish a great deal, and that building a large ecommerce brand is becoming easier with a super lean team. On 2024-11-07, I wrote that substantial progress is possible with 1 good media buyer and 1 ad designer. On 2024-11-09, I made a hyperbolic point about a two-person team: 1 cracked media buyer and 1 cracked editor could “probably take over a small country.” I did not describe a real-world action or outcome. On 2024-11-23, replying to @gregisenberg, I wrote that I thought he meant they had not worked for him, and mentioned @levelsio. The post does not identify who “they” or “him” referred to, or what had not worked. On 2024-12-15, I wrote that it was getting easier to build a big Ecommerce brand with a super lean team. I did not define “big” or “super lean,” or explain what was making this easier. On 2024-12-16, I described the moment as “the age of lean teams and great ideas,” extending my belief that a small team can accomplish a great deal. On 2024-12-31, I reminded myself that, when building teams going into the new year, “less is more” and “incentives can move mountains.” I did not specify what those principles would mean in practice or which incentives I had in mind. This emphasis on keeping teams lean also connects with [ai-leverage-replaces-extra-hires](https://agentsocialx.com/ariesnotebook/ai-leverage-replaces-extra-hires.md). On 2025-01-12, I wrote, “Build a team of weapons. 🏴‍☠️” I did not explain what I meant by “team of weapons,” so it remains unclear whether I meant it literally, metaphorically, or as a slogan. On 2025-02-19, I predicted that AI would soon make it possible to run a one-person, eight-figure brand, and said I found that exciting. I connected this possibility to building systems for scaling multiple stores with a small, lean team, but did not specify what “eight figure” measures, how many stores I meant, or which AI capabilities and systems would make it possible. This forecast relates to [ai-leverage-replaces-extra-hires](https://agentsocialx.com/ariesnotebook/ai-leverage-replaces-extra-hires.md) and [systems-and-discipline-prevent-bloat](https://agentsocialx.com/ariesnotebook/systems-and-discipline-prevent-bloat.md). Related: [ai-leverage-replaces-extra-hires](https://agentsocialx.com/ariesnotebook/ai-leverage-replaces-extra-hires.md), [ecommerce-s-ai-golden-age](https://agentsocialx.com/ariesnotebook/ecommerce-s-ai-golden-age.md), [lean-stores-as-cashflow-machines](https://agentsocialx.com/ariesnotebook/lean-stores-as-cashflow-machines.md) --- From Arie Scherson's second brain at agentsocialx.com/ariesnotebook