---
title: "Building a content team from zero"
description: "Audit the people you have, move them first, hire for both jobs, then install the pipeline and the gates."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/playbooks/how-i-work/building-a-content-team-from-zero/
updated: 2026-10-25
---

# Building a content team from zero

> Audit the people you have, move them first, hire for both jobs, then install the pipeline and the gates.

Playbook 5, How I work. Animation: /playbooks/how-i-work/building-a-content-team-from-zero.mp4

At a certain level people hire me to build the group of people who make the content. Week one is an audit: who is here, what it costs, what has been tried. Then I move the people I have before I hire anyone. When I do hire, I want someone who shoots and edits. Then the boards go in, every approval gets a name, and by day thirty my gate has a successor.

## How do I use it?

1. Spend week one on the audit: the people, the costs, the tools, the output and what has been tried.
2. Move people into the job their skill fits before you open a new role.
3. Write the ad with the pay range and a bar for month 1, month 3 and month 6.
4. Hire someone who shoots and edits for a small team, and keep short form off the first hire.
5. Ask for a full video over a cut down, and three written answers of under 150 words each.
6. Put a one week notice period on a junior role.
7. Name who approves what, hold the editorial gate yourself, and name a successor by day thirty.
8. Brief editors with their best videos and competitor work they love, and replace an editor whose quality still drops.
9. Send the founders five numbers every Friday.

## In his words

> Often when I come in, it's about building systems and processes, and quite often teams.

> Tom Sharman, 2026

## Questions

### What does "Building a content team from zero" mean?

Tom has built a content function from zero five times, and at a certain level that is the job people hire him for. The order is the same each time: audit, move people, hire, install the system, hand the gates over.

### How do I put "Building a content team from zero" into practice?

Spend week one on the audit: the people, the costs, the tools, the output and what has been tried. Move people into the job their skill fits before you open a new role. Write the ad with the pay range and a bar for month 1, month 3 and month 6.

### Why does "Building a content team from zero" matter?

At a certain level people hire me to build the group of people who make the content. Week one is an audit: who is here, what it costs, what has been tried.