# Building Teams That Scale And What Happens When They Don't | Peloton, Meta, Blaze Talent | Will Blaze

- Show: [TRADEOFFS](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs)
- Published: 2026-04-13
- Length: 59m
- Episode: 13
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2026-04-13-building-teams-that-scale-and-what-happens-when-they-dont-peloton-meta-blaze-tal
- Listen: https://tradeoffs.fm/13

## Summary

Will Blaze, founder of Blaze Talent, discusses his experience scaling engineering teams at Peloton and Meta, and his current work with companies like CoreWeave, Andium, and Sandbar. He explains the trade-offs between hiring full-time employees versus contractors, emphasizing that contractors reduce risk for startups during volatile growth phases. Blaze also details the importance of structured interviews, the use of AI tools like Gem and BrightHire to augment recruiting efficiency, and the challenges of maintaining quality of hire in high-growth environments.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2026-04-13-building-teams-that-scale-and-what-happens-when-they-dont-peloton-meta-blaze-tal#t=0) Introduction: Will Blaze and Blaze Talent
- [1:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2026-04-13-building-teams-that-scale-and-what-happens-when-they-dont-peloton-meta-blaze-tal#t=103) Will's Career: Birchbox, Peloton, and Meta
- [5:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2026-04-13-building-teams-that-scale-and-what-happens-when-they-dont-peloton-meta-blaze-tal#t=333) Layoffs at Peloton and Starting Blaze Talent
- [7:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2026-04-13-building-teams-that-scale-and-what-happens-when-they-dont-peloton-meta-blaze-tal#t=471) ATS Recommendations: Gem, Ashby, and Greenhouse
- [10:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2026-04-13-building-teams-that-scale-and-what-happens-when-they-dont-peloton-meta-blaze-tal#t=623) Current Hiring Landscape: AI, LLMs, and iOS Engineers
- [14:50](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2026-04-13-building-teams-that-scale-and-what-happens-when-they-dont-peloton-meta-blaze-tal#t=890) Return to Office and 9-9-6 Culture
- [19:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2026-04-13-building-teams-that-scale-and-what-happens-when-they-dont-peloton-meta-blaze-tal#t=1172) Using AI Tools: Gem, BrightHire, and MetaView
- [25:45](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2026-04-13-building-teams-that-scale-and-what-happens-when-they-dont-peloton-meta-blaze-tal#t=1545) When to Hire: Full-Time vs. Contractors
- [32:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2026-04-13-building-teams-that-scale-and-what-happens-when-they-dont-peloton-meta-blaze-tal#t=1931) Scaling Culture and Quality of Hire
- [47:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2026-04-13-building-teams-that-scale-and-what-happens-when-they-dont-peloton-meta-blaze-tal#t=2835) Interview Fraud and AI Deepfakes

## Topics

- [Hiring & workforce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/hiring-and-workforce)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Blaze Talent (company)
- Peloton (company)
- Meta (company)
- CoreWeave (company)
- Andium (company)
- Sandbar (company)
- Gem (tool)
- BrightHire (tool)
- MetaView (tool)
- NVIDIA (chip)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [#010: From Pebble to Intel: can hardware startups beat the big players?](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/coredump-sessions/2025-06-11-010-from-pebble-to-intel-can-hardware-startups-beat-the-big-players) (Coredump Sessions)
- [S6E34 John Lembke | Best Practices for Hiring Engineers](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2025-08-22-s6e34-john-lembke-best-practices-for-hiring-engineers) (Being an Engineer)
- [#79 First Hire Series: Behind the scenes on hiring with Sweet Nothings](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2023-02-14-79-first-hire-series-behind-the-scenes-on-hiring-with-sweet-nothings) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [185: Nice Mahogany Table](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2017-01-25-185-nice-mahogany-table) (Embedded.fm)
- [219: Hiring Your First Team Members at a Hardware Startup](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2024-03-28-219-hiring-your-first-team-members-at-a-hardware-startup) (Product Startup)

## Citing this page

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