When (let's call her) Maya joined the company, she came from a well-known competitor, bringing with her a decade of experience, fresh energy, and sharp ideas about how to take things to the next level. She was hired to scale the product team which was exactly what the company needed at that stage of growth.
But from week one, it was clear: something wasn’t clicking.
Her direct reports, many of whom had been there since the early days, responded with surface-level politeness but quiet resistance. Her ideas were met with tight smiles and vague pushback. In leadership meetings, she noticed a kind of shorthand - references and in-jokes that made her feel like she was always arriving late to the conversation.
Three months in, Maya was already scanning job boards.
This is not a one-off story. At MojiiCo, we’ve seen it plenty of times.
As tech companies scale, they hire smart, senior people to help them grow, and then accidentally create an environment where those same people can’t thrive.
The unspoken divide
This is the culture gap no one talks about: the quiet tension between the legacy team and the new team.
On one side, you have the loyal early joiners. They built the product when it was still an idea in a slide deck. They’ve worn multiple hats, pulled all-nighters, and often carry a deep emotional bond with the brand.
On the other side, you’ve got the newly hired experts—brought in because the company needs to evolve. They come with best practices, structured thinking, and often, a fresh lens the company desperately needs.
Both sides are right. And both sides can end up feeling wronged.
Why it happens
Different cultural expectations: Legacy teams are used to moving fast and improvising. New joiners might expect clearer processes, roles, and norms.
Emotional ownership: Legacy folks often feel protective—this isn’t just a job, it’s theirs. So suggestions for change can land as criticism.
Unclear onboarding: Many scale-ups are brilliant at hiring, but not great at helping people settle in. New leaders arrive with high expectations but little support for understanding the company’s unwritten rules.
Narrative imbalance: New joiners are told, "You're here to fix things." Legacy folks hear, "Everything you built is wrong."
What this culture gap costs you
Great new hires walking out the door
Legacy team members feeling resentful and overlooked
Strategy getting stuck due to people tension
A team culture built on silos, not shared purpose
How to bridge the gap
The good news? This isn’t inevitable. You can work through it...with intention.
1. Talk about it.
Start by naming the tension. Don’t pretend everyone’s on the same page when they’re not. Give space for both the pride of the legacy team and the value the new team brings.
2. Share your story.
Most companies never tell a clear story of where they’ve been and where they’re going. Do it. Why are these new roles here? What stage is the company in? What do we want to keep, and what needs to change?
3. Make onboarding better.
Don’t just hand out laptops and org charts. Help new leaders understand how things have been done, what really matters, and where there’s room to try something new.
4. Mix people up.
Create ways for legacy and new team members to work together. Not in silos. Not as "us vs. them." Solve real problems as one team.
5. Build the next chapter together.
Culture isn’t a memo! It’s how people work together every day. Invite everyone to help shape what comes next. Make space for the past, the present, and what’s possible.
A final word
Companies don’t lose momentum at scale because of product problems. They lose it because of people problems.
The messy middle, when your founding culture meets your growth engine, is where many scale-ups stall.
At MojiiCo, we help teams get through this stage with clarity, care, and practical steps. We help founders and leaders move from simply hiring smart people… to actually building strong teams.
Because growth isn’t just about who you bring in. It’s about how you bring them together.
Ready to turn team tension into momentum?
If your culture feels stretched between old and new, let’s talk. At MojiiCo, we help leadership teams cut through the noise and build unity that lasts—without losing what made you great to begin with.
📍 mojii.co | Let’s get your team back on the same page.