Issue #56: Building a Superstar Leadership Team
The best leaders aren’t building their résumés — they’re building something that matters.
When you’re building a startup — especially one that’s growing fast — you don’t just need good people. You need the right people.
The kind who aren’t here to pad their résumés.
The kind who see this not as a stepping stone, but as the main event.
I’ve been lucky to work with some incredible operators over the years — people who could be sitting pretty with big titles and big paychecks at a well-known company, but instead choose to go deep on building something new, meaningful, and hard.
That’s what we’re trying to do at Cargado.
And lately, I’ve been thinking about how rare it is to get a team like that in the same room. It doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by design.
Let’s talk superteams.
Everyone talks about NBA superteams, but not everyone understands what makes them work.
(Also, let’s just get this out of the way: Michael Jordan is the GOAT. We don’t need a comment section to settle this. Carry on.)
Back to superteams. What LeBron did in Miami was revolutionary — not just teaming up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, but leaving money on the table to make it work. All three took less than max contracts so the team could sign glue guys like Shane Battier, Mike Miller, and Ray Allen — guys who don’t trend on Twitter but hit the shots that win championships.
The result? Four straight Finals appearances. Two rings. Legacy cemented.
Kevin Durant pulled a similar move in 2016 with the Warriors. He took $9 million less than market value so the team could keep veterans like Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. That move helped unlock two more titles and made Golden State a dynasty.
Now look at the Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani just signed a $700 million contract — and deferred $680 million of it so the team could keep building around him. Yoshinobu Yamamoto deferred another $50 million. Mookie Betts gave up guaranteed money to stay in L.A.
And what happened?
The Dodgers won the World Series in Year One.
That’s what happens when world-class talent checks their egos at the door and plays for something bigger.
So what does this have to do with startups?
Everything.
Founders love to say they’re “building a championship team.” But are you really?
Are you attracting people who care more about execution than optics?
Are you hiring teammates who aren’t chasing titles, but chasing outcomes?
Are you creating a culture where legacy > LinkedIn?
At Cargado, we’re assembling a team of builders. Not résumé polishers. Not people looking to make a pit stop on their way to a VP title somewhere else. We want people who are all in — on the mission, the team, and the impact.
Because startups are hard. Freight is harder. And cross-border freight? That’s a full contact sport.
You don’t build a company like this on vibes. You build it on execution. On trust. On a group of people who could lead anywhere, but choose to lead here — because they want the ring, not just the recognition.
And that’s the message to both sides of the table:
If you’re a founder building your leadership team:
Don’t chase logos. Chase alignment. Hire people who think like owners, not ladder-climbers. Make sure they’re playing the right role at the right time — and that they believe in the win, not just their slice of it.
And if you’re someone who wants to be a leader at a great company:
Stop looking for places to park your résumé. Look for a mission you care about. A team worth fighting for. A chance to actually build something — not just manage someone else’s playbook.
Because at the end of the day:
The world doesn’t reward potential. It rewards execution.
Rings > résumés.
And if that hits home for you, well — you already know where to find us.