Having trouble hiring your founding team? Here's a framework.

8 min read6 days ago

Hiring the initial set of people for your business is an art; it’s different for everyone and depends upon your use case, but there are certain green/red flags that you should look for.

Back in the summer of 2006, you found yourself sitting and downloading Pirated music; the quality wasn’t great, and you found it unethical to the Musicians in the Industry. The legal options were expensive; there should be a better way to have a win-win situation for Musicians, Music Label companies and consumers. Streaming songs on the internet shouldn’t be hard, that’s what you thought. Hence you started on your vision. After all, it would be the future of Music.
But you found a sudden roadblock—how to hire the right set of developers and legal people—and how to even start conversations with Big Label Music companies. You had no idea; you struggled and gave up.
If this would have been the end of the story, we wouldn’t have Spotify today. Luckily, there are a few things I have learnt after a decade in Startups and Hirings that I should be able to help you find the right people and build your dream.

Build a lean team

At this stage, you're unsure if your idea will last, if the MVP will succeed, or if you'll achieve PMF. Also, you might be light on the cash component, and hiring a full-blown team with limited cash will shorten your runway. Hire only people who are complimentary to your skills, and try to do most of the things yourself.

Product-wise, if you are not a tech person, there are many low-code/no-code tools to build your idea and landing pages; just build it yourself. It has 2 advantages:

You will save on capital.
You will be much closer to your product, and there will be no communication gap.

Any product which isn’t the core of your business should be done via a 3rd party vendor or tool. Don’t waste time building it yourself; it's not your core business. Examples include KYC, logistics, and payment systems (if these are not part of your core offerings).

In the times of AI, SaaS, and no-code solutions, spend less time figuring out the already-solved problems and more time on your core business.

Attitude matters more than Skills

Let's say there are 2 people whom you shortlisted for a crucial role in your founding team. Let’s call them Mark and Tim.

Mark is the ideal candidate for the paper; he has a decade of experience in the field, has worked in corporations, and is very polished in communication. Have aced the interviews and have been very clever in speaking the language of the consumer and founders. Resume shows certifications and recommendations. Accomplished, and it feels has achieved quite a lot professionally. Lacks hunger.
Tim has worked in corporations as well as startups. Has displayed an impact on the businesses and products he has worked with. He feels stuck with the current MNC he’s working with since it lacks freedom. You find an itch and a hunger in him to create a much larger impact; however, he doesn’t have any certifications to back up the skills.

Who will you choose?

Some pointers in choosing the right person

People who are hungry to make an impact should check if there’s an urge to do so.
People for whom finance isn’t the primary objective—yes, it’s important, but it shouldn’t be the primary motivator.
Never say never attitude.
They figure it out no matter what.
People who are open to other people’s perspectives. Shouldn’t be someone who has strong opinions on things.
Should have a high degree of ownership.
Should have failed but have good learnings from that failure. (Check if they have owned their failures or not.)
Speaks with enthusiasm about the past products they have worked with and the impact they have created.
People who have the courage to step outside of their comfort zone and take on challenging tasks.
Should be a Swiss Knife; can don multiple hats.
Should be eyeing long term.
Don't hire individuals who require certain processes or infrastructure to be in place; instead, choose those who are willing to start with a clean slate.
Should come from referrals.

Hire Swiss Knives.

How do you figure out that someone can work outside their comfort zone?

Give them an open-ended problem. See how far they go to get the results.
Check at what point they give up. You can give them clues or push them in the right direction.
e.g. When hiring a founding engineer, I tend to ask them to build something like a database or a search engine over 2–3 days. They can google, but it’s so open-ended that it shows how far they go to get it done. You will be surprised to know that many people let it go at this step. It also showcases their interest in core engineering.
These folks never give up; they figure things out no matter what, and they do not whine about not having enough resources. They actually construct their own routes.
Their work demonstrates their tendency to solve complex problems.
Check if they have done work completely outside of their comfort zone or are at least willing to do so. (from an engineering perspective, frontend doing the backend, backend figuring out infrastructure, security, etc.). These people are the Swiss Knives.

Hire people who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, and ready to get into trenches with you.

How do you figure out ownership?

Check previous work to see if they tend to own certain metrics in their previous organizations.
Ask them about numbers and the impact their work has created for the organization. People who own them are exceptionally well-versed in numbers.
These are the people who will work even on a Friday night when things go awry. Try to find these kinds of cues in their previous work.

Hire people for whom the mantra is “Never say Never”

How are you certain that they are capable of accepting responsibility for their mistakes?

Ask them about their previous failures. High-ownership and extra-dedicated people will always have failures; stay away from people who say that they never failed (probably never tried).
Ask what they learned from such failures/mistakes. It shows that they owned their mistake and made sure that it never happened again.
Failures teach you more than any mentor or a book can teach.
People who never failed, have never learned, and probably have never tried.

Hire people who own their mistakes, and learn from it not to make it again

How can you tell if they are passionate about what they do?

"What is the product you built that you are most proud of, and why?" is the question to ask.
Check if they talk about the impact they have created from the product.
This is probably not something you should do on a daily basis because it will usually be extremely tough.
Check for that spark when they talk about it.

Hire people who love what they do and it shows in their eyes

How can you tell if they are there with you for the long haul?

It is very difficult to test this, but do check their previous work record and the switches.
Ask the reason for the switches. A red flag is frequent switches for salary hikes.
Should have stayed long at least one of their previous organizations. The sweet spot is 3–4 years. But they should have some good work to show for the time they have spent; they shouldn’t have just carried on just for the wages.
People who tend to switch jobs frequently might not stay with you for long. Clear signs that someone might be there for the short term are if they are asking for higher pay, don’t like the technology being used (for engineers), or find their work boring without exploring other options within the current company. Consider whether any of these reasons might be applicable to your organization in the short term, within the next 1–2 years.

Life’s a marathon, hire those who have patience to see it through

Choose the person with the right attitude; skills can be acquired, but attitude is inherent. Based on the example, Tim may be a better choice.

Hire from your network or via referrals

I agree that it’s tough to get these people. The best way to find them is via referrals or through your immediate network; vetting is an extremely important process.

Hiring the wrong person can set your company back by months. You should either directly know the person or via someone whom you trust. One of the major reasons for the failure of startups is conflicts among co-founders, and this can be extrapolated to the founding team as well, to a good extent.

Endnote

Hiring is difficult, and finding the right people for your precious idea is tricky. One wrong move can lead to further distance from your goal.

Pay these people well, if not with Salaries right away, give them generous Equity/ESOPs, as these are mission-driven and are not trying to build their career with you in the early stages of your startup. (Please don’t be greedy with them).

It’s an art, from my experiences over years of hiring for early-stage startups, this is my go-to mantra:

I use the following phrase when I hire (in my mother tongue, Hindi):

काम 19 चलेगा, इंसान 20 होना चाहिए।

which loosely translates to:

Hire for the right attitude, skills can be acquired (if the person is 80/100 in skills, but a 100/100 in attitude, it’s the right hire).

PS: These are my personal experiences hiring over the years; there are numerous other ways to do the same thing. Please share yours.