--- title: "Sam Stoffel: rebuild the team, then find the formats" description: "Rehire the whole team, find three formats, build a system that ships three a day. The formats outlived Tom leaving." canonical: https://tomsharman.com/lessons/sam-stoffel-rebuild-the-team-then-find-the-formats/ updated: 2026-10-25 --- # Sam Stoffel: rebuild the team, then find the formats > What was the strategy with Sam Stoffel, and what did it produce? Rehire the whole team, find three formats, build a system that ships three a day. The formats outlived Tom leaving. Sam had been making content for about seven months with no luck. He had a content strategist, a photographer and videographer, and an editor with no experience. After a short period I decided the team was not good enough, and we rehired. A script writer and producer. A content producer and creative director. Freelance specialists for scheduling and LinkedIn. What I walked into had no strategy and no clear direction. The classic mistake: telling Sam's story with no value back to the audience, and no mission, purpose or enemy. ## What changed? We developed that as a team. We got better at telling his stories, and we found formats that worked. That is what let us scale so quickly: formats that met the audience's needs, told through Sam's insights, true to his brand, and a system that could output three times a day. ## What is the proof? The formats outlived me. Selfie videos, podcasts and reviewing personal brands: those three were what I walked out the door with at the end of April 2026, and they are still the formats he runs. 0 to 500,000 followers in 10 months. ## Questions ### What did Tom change first at Sam Stoffel? The team. He rehired it: a script writer and producer, a content producer and creative director, and freelance specialists. ### Which formats worked? Selfie videos, podcasts and reviewing personal brands, output three times a day. ### What did it produce? 0 to 500,000 followers in 10 months, and formats that are still running after Tom left.