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RPE & Efficiency
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Measure revenue per employee, make smarter hiring decisions, and grow your business without growing your headcount.

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What This Is: A complete playbook to calculate your revenue per employee, benchmark against industry leaders, and make data-driven hiring decisions. Every hire should pass the RPE test before you commit.

warningWhy You Need This

Most founders hire reactively: "We're overwhelmed, we need more people." But more people often means more complexity, higher costs, and lower efficiency. MailChimp built a $12B company by obsessing over RPE — revenue per employee.

This playbook forces you to ask: "Will this hire actually improve our efficiency, or just dilute it?" Five steps from calculator to quarterly tracker.

checklistHow to Use This Playbook

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    Calculate Your Current RPE: Establish your baseline — both basic and fully loaded.

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    Benchmark Against Your Industry: See how you compare to healthy and world-class ranges.

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    Model New Hires: Use the ROI calculator to predict impact before you sign an offer.

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    Apply the Decision Framework: Run every hire through 4 questions before committing.

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    Improve Systematically: Pull the levers that match your situation — from pricing to automation.

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    Track Quarterly: Monitor RPE trends to stay on top of efficiency.

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