Getting the hiring course of proper is among the most crucial and difficult features of constructing a startup. Early hires form your organization’s tradition, operational effectivity, and future development, but many founders face this process with out prior hiring expertise or a transparent sense of what their evolving enterprise actually wants. With out being considerate about hiring—from crafting compelling job descriptions to setting constant compensation and onboarding practices—startups danger bringing in workforce members who’re misaligned with the corporate’s wants or tradition, creating friction and slowing momentum. Over the course of my three a long time as a startup operator, government coach and educator of entrepreneurs, I’ve noticed that investing the time upfront to construct robust hiring practices not solely helps appeal to the precise expertise but additionally lays a basis for a wholesome, scalable group.
When you can’t forestall occasional mis-hires, you possibly can attempt to decrease the chance by together with a challenge part in your hiring course of and even contemplating a challenge as a paid consulting engagement (“attempt before you purchase”) for each you and the candidate. This enables the candidate to show what they’re able to and what it is perhaps prefer to work with them—and them with you—as soon as they’re on board full time. Initiatives may give you the next diploma of confidence that that is “the one,” which might be tremendous laborious within the early phases of your startup if you find yourself unsure what “the one” even is. If this isn’t a try-before-you-buy state of affairs, I like to recommend that tasks are carried out simply earlier than you might be able to do reference checks and make a suggestion. This may be an particularly useful step in case you are down to 2 finalists you actually like so you possibly can evaluate how every one approaches a challenge.
Until you propose to do a trial engagement with them, attempt not to decide on a challenge that takes a couple of to 2 hours to do except you pay them for the work. A startup I’ve labored with gives to pay for the time taken to do a challenge, and if the candidate declines fee, the startup makes a donation to a charity of the candidate’s alternative as compensation for his or her time.
Under are some tasks that may be efficient at startups. Remember that these tasks take a look at the candidate’s method greater than whether or not they do the work completely. Construct alignment along with your workforce on what beauty like for every challenge and plan to debrief as soon as the project is full and/or offered. Listed below are just a few examples of what good would possibly seem like.
“The First 90 Days”
It is a good normal take a look at for any new rent, particularly an government, but additionally for a individuals supervisor or technical chief. Have the candidate clarify what their first ninety days on the job will seem like. Both depart it huge open or supply just a few prompts like, “Who will you spend time with?” or “How will you get to know the enterprise?” or “What accomplishments do you hope to make by the top of the primary ninety days?”
Engineering and Design Initiatives
Whereas there are some nifty instruments on the market that may take a look at coding abilities for engineers, I’m a powerful advocate for testing the softer abilities. Those that design and/or construct your product ought to be capable of show their work past coding or portfolio samples. The most effective sort of challenge here’s a temporary situation about constructing a brand new function or functionality on your product that may enable the candidate to show not simply depth of syntax information or design greatest practices, but additionally how they are going to work on an issue along with your workforce. These tasks might be achieved as “homework,” though it’s good if it may be achieved in individual or as a part of a video interview. Current a situation and ask the candidate how they are going to method it. You possibly can give them some alone time to consider it after which ask them to speak by means of it. Ask them to quote how they thought of it and to elucidate the route they took and why. Put together to have one other method or concept for the situation after they stroll by means of their work. This might help gauge how the candidate handles suggestions and if they’re prepared to collaborate on concepts.
Eventualities for Non-Engineering Groups (Advertising, Gross sales, Product)
I desire situation exams over displays of a non-engineering candidate’s previous work as a result of such exams will present you ways they use their expertise to method one thing new. Eventualities it’s possible you’ll ask them to work by means of might be precise challenges you might be dealing with, or they are often hypothetical. Listed below are some fast examples of situation exams for just a few purposeful areas:
• Product: Our CTO simply got here again from a “listening tour” with a few of our prospects and desires to discover a brand new set of options to broaden our product choices. These choices should not on the product roadmap. What steps would you are taking to know these new options and the way would you method the prioritization course of?
• Advertising: We’re about to launch a brand new product for our prospects. What steps would you are taking to plan for this product launch and the way will you measure its success?
• Gross sales: We’re constructing a product to draw new prospects in a brand new phase. What info do you’ll want to put together your workforce to promote this new product and the way will you set gross sales targets for the workforce?
You possibly can think about related situations for finance, buyer sup- port, or different purposeful roles. Keep in mind, these candidates don’t understand how what you are promoting features day-to-day, so this isn’t about whether or not they have an ideal plan however extra about how they method the issue.
With all of the interviews and tasks, you continue to could not get it proper each time. Once more, hiring is laborious. That’s why the try-before-you-buy method is usually the easiest way to go for each the candidate and your startup. One strategy to ease that course of, if a trial candidate can work full time earlier than changing to a everlasting worker, is to supply them fairness in your startup that will likely be granted after they convert, however with a backdated vesting schedule to after they began their trial.
Should you’re hiring for a task for the primary time and nobody in your workforce has expertise with that position—so nobody is aware of what beauty like—ask an skilled advisor, investor, or buddy with expertise to be a part of the interview course of. They need to be capable of interview the candidate and enable you to formulate the tasks it’s possible you’ll assign.
Excerpted with permission from “After the Thought: What It Actually Takes to Create and Scale a Startup.” Copyright © 2025 by Julia Austin. Obtainable from Fundamental Enterprise, an imprint of Hachette Guide Group, Inc.
