From a purely "winning in the market" perspective, I think there-abouts. For optimal, I might go up a little bit more, since there are multiple products, but not a lot more. Some of the CI/CD stuff is pretty disconnected from the core product.
There are very, very strong individual pressures to overhire. "I managed a 500-person team" sounds a lot better on a resume or otherwise than "I managed a 5-person team" (even if the 5-person team did more).
I also wouldn't go all cash. I'd do the normal $150-$200k cash, and the rest in equity. I'd be very, very generous with equity.
There are also time pressures, whereas many things take time to build. 5 people x 4 years >> 20 people x 1 year, at least if kept productive (which is sometimes hard with longer timelines)
There are very, very strong individual pressures to overhire. "I managed a 500-person team" sounds a lot better on a resume or otherwise than "I managed a 5-person team" (even if the 5-person team did more).
I also wouldn't go all cash. I'd do the normal $150-$200k cash, and the rest in equity. I'd be very, very generous with equity.
There are also time pressures, whereas many things take time to build. 5 people x 4 years >> 20 people x 1 year, at least if kept productive (which is sometimes hard with longer timelines)