ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski Reveals Why He Interviews Every Hire Even As Startup Passes $200 Million Revenue And $6.6 Billion Valuation

Company Overview - ElevenLabs is Europe's fastest-growing artificial intelligence company, achieving over $200 million in annual revenue with just 250 employees organized into 20 micro-teams [2][3] - The company is expected to surpass $300 million in revenue by year-end, having accelerated its growth from $100 million in 20 months to $200 million in just 10 additional months [3] Hiring Practices - CEO Mati Staniszewski personally interviews every hire, a practice he plans to maintain even as the company scales to 1,000 employees, viewing it as essential for quality control and company culture [1][4] - The primary constraint in this hiring approach is the velocity of hiring rather than the willingness to interview candidates [4] Origin and Inspiration - ElevenLabs was founded out of frustration with Poland's movie dubbing system, which utilized a single monotone narrator for all characters, leading to a lack of emotional depth [5][6] - The idea for ElevenLabs emerged during a hack weekend project in early 2021, where Staniszewski and co-founder Piotr Dąbkowski experimented with audio technology [5]