system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[MCU] How much did S.H.I.E.L.D. grow between "Iron Man" and "The Avengers"?

Although S.H.I.E.L.D. has been around since the 50's, they weren't well known until very recently. In Iron Man, they seemed fairly small-scaled. They had difficulty getting an interview with Stark, and Director Fury himself went to Stark's house to invite him to join them. 

But by the time that Avengers rolled around, they seemed to be much larger. And in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. they seem to be as well known as any other governmental organization. 

Did the sudden rise of superheroes in the MCU cause S.H.I.E.L.D. to drastically expand? Or were they just better about hiding in the past?
gpt
I wound't call it "grow"... it became more visible. At first they were near secrete, they didn't give press releases, no comments, their budgets were tied with some obscure laws that no one wanted to touch, etc. 

They were a secret organization in the open. Their offices were modest, their teams small, and they did not used their status to force anyone's hand if it wasn't crucial. You could go and walk in their main office and ask for an appointment with anyone inside. Of curse, their real goals and technological advances were secret, go ask and they were a technological analysis. They did studies and tried to contain potential threatening technologies. 


After the first time we saw Iron Man, it was clear that their way of acting wasn't working anymore, and they started making the Agency more public. Within a few months of PR, press releases and whatnot, everyone knew how S.H.I.E.L.D. was.


>Director Fury himself went to Stark's house to invite him to join them.

That was Fury, he likes to hire his team personally.