How to Build an In-House Video Function
When I joined Circle, there was no video team. No systems. No precedent.
Two years later, we had a 3-person core team, 25+ contractors, and the capability to run a 20-person shoot for Times Square.
Here is how I built the function, and what I learned about building video teams in fast-moving companies.
Start with proof
No one cares about your process until you prove you can ship something good.
My first priority was to make work that made people say, “Okay, video is worth investing in.” Not to build the perfect team. Not to write the perfect brief. Just to ship proof.
That first win bought me the credibility to build the rest.
Hire for ownership, not just skill
The first hires matter more than the org chart. I looked for people who could own pieces of the work without me micromanaging.
A producer who could run a shoot. An editor who could make judgment calls. People who treated the work like it was theirs, not just a job.
Skill is table stakes. Ownership is what scales.
Build a contractor bench
Full-time hires are expensive and slow. Contractors give you flexibility.
I built a bench of 25+ nationwide contractors. Videographers, editors, animators, sound designers. People I could call on when production volume spiked.
This let us scale up for big campaigns and scale down between launches. The work stayed consistent without the overhead of a bloated full-time team.
Design workflows that outlast you
The goal is not to be the bottleneck. The goal is to build systems that work when you are not in the room.
I designed workflows for:
- Intake and briefs
- Review and feedback
- Handoffs between production stages
- Quality checks and final approval
These were not complicated. They were just clear. Everyone knew what they were responsible for and when.
Set standards early
Creative standards are easier to set at the start than to retrofit later.
I established the editorial and creative bar early: scripting standards, visual style, tone, and the judgment calls that make video effective. This made hiring easier, feedback clearer, and the work more consistent.
Standards are not restrictions. They are the guardrails that let people move fast without breaking things.
The difference between building and shipping
Many video producers can ship an asset. Few can build the function that ships assets consistently.
Building the function means:
- Hiring and developing people
- Creating repeatable workflows
- Setting standards that last
- Designing for scale
- Making yourself less necessary over time
That is what I did at Circle. That is what I can do for the right company.