"What do I do if my investors tell me to fire a bunch of my team?"

Alex sent this question to the Peer Effect Post Bag. And the answer from James Johnson and Freddie Birley cuts deeper than "evaluate your team."

This is Season 6, Episode 1 of Post Bag—where founders, CEOs, and leaders submit their hardest questions and get straight answers from two coaches who've worked with dozens of scale-ups. No fluff. No corporate speak. Just practical takes on the problems that keep you up at night.

Here's what makes this different:

The question seems straightforward: investors say fire people, what do you do? But James and Freddie immediately go two levels deeper.

First: Is your team actually the problem?

Second (and this is the one most founders miss): Why are you even asking this question?

The reality check:

This isn't about whether your team needs changes. That's the surface question. The deeper issue is: who controls your business? If you feel like your board does, you've already lost. They're there to enable and magnify you, not direct you.

Disagreements often come from fundamental misunderstandings. High stakes and exhaustion make founders defensive. And once you're defensive, you're reactive. Once you're reactive, you've given up control.

If you're asking "what do I do when investors tell me X," the real question is: why are you asking permission?

One action: Listen to the full episode for James and Freddie's complete framework on founder-board dynamics.

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Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com