The sad part is most founders I know commit #2 and don’t realize it’s what destroys their culture, upsets the balance, and makes it harder to hit your goals. Doing it even once can lead to death if you’re pre PMF with a limited runway.
This hit the nail on the head. Super well articulated and tangible. I had the same debate recently. Let's hire the ex-"rockstars" and we will figure out how they fit in later. The promising part was people who actually built tech teams know the difference.
Thanks! My favorite part about this thinking is that even when a rockstar randomly shows up, it only takes a couple of minutes to think about the business needs first. So you can have your cake AND eat it. You can (often) think about the biz need AND hire the rockstar.
Love it -- spot on (forwarded this to all our hiring managers). Combine these principles with "Digital Employees" and it becomes even more critical to do this exercise.
I modified your "Empire Builder" a little -- instead of the empire builder hiring his army of 7 soldiers, he has to instead define his 7 "AI Employee" soldiers to solve the problem at hand.
Lots of truth in the scenarios you outlined. Way too much time spent on hiring without knowing why you're actually hiring and what specific outcomes the hire will be accountable for.
Great point, Gaurav. Frankly, it's surprising to see rational founders make such irrational decisions. But a cluttered mind makes one do crazy things.
I read a similar insight recently from Obie Fernandez, Principal Engineer at Shopify:
How to build elite teams:
👉 Hire half the people you think you need.
👉 Keep the same budget.
👉 Pay those people double.
(And first articulate the specific role for which you need to hire people.)
I like this a lot
The sad part is most founders I know commit #2 and don’t realize it’s what destroys their culture, upsets the balance, and makes it harder to hit your goals. Doing it even once can lead to death if you’re pre PMF with a limited runway.
💯
VC pressure, often
Or inexperience 😅
"What happens next?
The exec is a flop. So is the empire they built.
The entire thing needs ripping out a year later."
Like re-playing a movie. Especially execs from large startups braught into a startups.
Funny this story seems to resonate most with people. Even more common than I already thought it was!
This hit the nail on the head. Super well articulated and tangible. I had the same debate recently. Let's hire the ex-"rockstars" and we will figure out how they fit in later. The promising part was people who actually built tech teams know the difference.
Thanks! My favorite part about this thinking is that even when a rockstar randomly shows up, it only takes a couple of minutes to think about the business needs first. So you can have your cake AND eat it. You can (often) think about the biz need AND hire the rockstar.
Totally!
Love it -- spot on (forwarded this to all our hiring managers). Combine these principles with "Digital Employees" and it becomes even more critical to do this exercise.
I modified your "Empire Builder" a little -- instead of the empire builder hiring his army of 7 soldiers, he has to instead define his 7 "AI Employee" soldiers to solve the problem at hand.
Love that
A great read. Must read before hiring for any founder, early stage startup 👍
thank you!
This is so great!! Thank you for writing it.
thanks :)
Lots of truth in the scenarios you outlined. Way too much time spent on hiring without knowing why you're actually hiring and what specific outcomes the hire will be accountable for.
🎯
fantastic read, packed with value
thank you 🙏
Definitely valid point.
For instance, you only need ONE man in engineering team. Me: https://william.wizmax.tech/