I liken this to a government contract seller - nobody will ever get fired for choosing IBM/Microsoft/BigCo as a vendor if it fails, but you certainly can for ch

I liken this to a government contract seller - nobody will ever get fired for choosing IBM/Microsoft/BigCo as a vendor if it fails, but you certainly can for choosing that small shop that can usually get stuff done faster. Cover Your Ass isn't a good incentive pattern when you're trying to hire engineers, which is hard enough already. At the same time, its really difficult to balance the time. My trick (and I think this is common): interview anyone that comes in on a referral within reason.