"I don't need you! I only need this chair. And maybe this stapler." (Paraphrased- TJ)

6) Economies of scale do not apply in regards to physical things. Creative and intellectual, yes.

Easy here. More people in the teams, more you need to supply them. Some need expensive tools. Each team member is unique and must be catered to in some regard. Sure, Post-It notes and staplers you can buy in bulk. But not a Quad-Quad G5 Power Mac with 16GB of RAM, 1.5TB of storage, and a 30" LCD monitor. Plus software. If none of that made any sense, it's a geek-out. Office space, phones, anything that a new member gets, it's always a onesy-twosy thing. No start-up really gets a bulk discount for ordering 300 Herman Miller Aeron chairs for a starting staff of 5.

Additionally, as a team grows, the "buying" of people (salary, bonuses) doesn't get cheaper with the more you "buy". The return is through creative ideas, smarter working processes, departmentalized work, and sharing of the workload. Essentially an increase in the bottom line.

"Fixed the newel post!" (CV)

5) Tools can be shared between teams, but crucial (read: expensive) tools have to be doubled.

Sure, everyone can borrow a cup of sugar or share the same user manuals, but each team needs to have its own set of tools. Tools are used to get the job done, whether the job is changing a light bulb or using a multi-million dollar HD video satellite distribution system. So each team needs either access to the same toolbox, or a separate toolbox for its very own.

On the race team, we share one toolbox, but have duplicate tools for each team to use. These are crucial tools; like car radios, tire equipment (measurement tools), battery chargers, and tire pyrometers (basically a tire thermometer). A tire pyrometer costs a few hundred bucks for a top-of-the-line product, and since Team A has one, Team B needs to have the same one because tools remain constant among the users. Car communications also are important. A set of radios for the car and driver setup, crew sets, battery chargers, belts, and extraneous parts, it can cost up to $5,000 for the tools. It isn't cheap, but these are the tools required to get the job done, and both teams need them.

The basic and oddly-used hand tools are not expensive and can be readily used and available between the teams. On the race team, $500-600 would double the amount of hand tools available and replace missing ones.

In relation to expansion, another critical tool that can't be duplicated (and is expensive) is the leader of the new team. It isn't possible to sustain two teams that share one leader. Each team will have to become autonomous, yet still strive for the same goals.