Most startups suck at hiring. Here's how to get it right.

Recruitment isn’t rocket science (as evidenced by half of the recruiters sliding into your DMs), but startup founders continue to make some schoolboy-level errors. The cost of a bad hire is hard to quantify, but in the case of an early-stage business relying on friends-and-family or pre-seed rounds, it can mean a premature death for an otherwise exciting business. Here are some tips I’ve developed over the years to ensure you hire smarter and more successfully, giving your startup the best chance of success:

Don’t pay for anything (for a while)

It’s understandable to want to call in outside help, especially when you’ve got competing priorities. Outsourcing and delegating are critical skills for leaders. The reality is that you should be able to make your first ten or so hires without engaging a recruiter or paying for LinkedIn ads. If you can’t, you need to work on building your network, and being comfortable calling upon them when need be.

What network building looks like in this case - attending industry events, reaching out to key voices in relevant sectors, doing some good old LinkedIn prospecting and talking to people who you think would be your ideal hire. Conversations are free, so go get amongst it and see what happens. You'll be surprised.

You are not Google; don’t hire like them

Google has a six/seven/eight stage interview process depending on seniority and role type. Google can get away with such a gauntlet because there’s a promise of a big salary, real share grants and the rest. You are not Google, as much as you might think you will be in the future. No one in their right mind is going to run through two months of hoops to work in a dirty coworking space for peanuts.

Keep your recruitment process light (three stages tends to be the happy medium), conversational (don’t make it feel like a big occasion - just talk), and honest (don’t oversell the day-to-day - the right person will be okay with the chaos).

Hire generalists first, specialists come later

Enterprise businesses have the depth of headcount to warrant hiring subject matter experts in most parts of their org. You do not - as such, the best way to cover skills gaps is to hire people that can play a few different roles as required. Don’t bring on a non-coding CTO; bring on someone who is as comfortable in front of VSCode as they are a boardroom. Don’t bring on a Head of People; bring on someone who can cover HR, talent as well as general ops and processes.

A word of warning here, though - those generalists that serve you well from 0-50 people will need to transition into more specialist roles as the org’s needs change. If they’re unable to grow and change within the business, you’re going to be in for some tough conversations.

Executors over strategists

This one is super closely tied to the previous tip. Fundamentally, you need people who are able to deliver the core outcome required of their business function. No one is ‘above’ any task as part of their role, and everyone needs to be willing to stretch beyond their core skillset as required. For example: if you’ve got a sales/GTM hire who’s unwilling to pick up the phone, you’ve made the wrong hire.

Look for, and assess during your interview process, the candidate’s propensity to identify a problem, take ownership and just ‘get it done’. If they spent the majority of their time and effort

Err on the side of caution

During the zero-interest-rate era, VC-backed startups hired aggressively with the view of more people = more growth = more better. They were ill-informed and their ‘growth at all costs’ mantra resulted in the enormous waves of layoffs that defined 2022-2023. We’ve now shifted into more realistic thinking, so ‘doing less with more’ is the meta.

What this looks like when it comes to hiring - opting for more flexible work styles (fixed-term engagements, non-critical work being outsourced to agencies), hire during ‘down periods’ where there’s a glut of candidates in-market, and be hypercritical about how much of a ‘need’ a role is as opposed to a ‘want’.

If you’re looking for a hand in making your first hires, feel free to send me a DM, or even better, sign up for Antler’s next Residency. You’ll get a bunch of coaching/mentoring support (with hiring, raising funds, structuring your business etc.), the opportunity to pitch for pre-seed funding and a bunch more. Check out antler.co/australia for info.