4 ms·
Ask HN: How do I know in an interview if someone can handle startup-life?
So I'll freely admit I work stupidly long hours- I live on Redbull, and get off on making things that I can look back at, and say "Yeah, I'm proud of that."
My primary job is in IT, but I'll jump in on and spend two hours creating user stories or writing marketing copy.
There's been times that I added code which is still in production years later.
Things are hectic, but challenging, rewarding, and if you put in the effort, you can make a real difference.
One of the things I've found is that when you work with people for a while, you get a feeling for who'd you want to steal for your next company. The sort of people you know are perfect for this sort of environment, and really thrive in it.
Basically, as Joel says- People who are Smart, and Get Things Done.
Here's the tough part- How do I find those people BEFORE the Hire/NoHire decision is made?
Are there any tricks to finding people in the interview or phone interview, and get a sense of how well they'll work in such a weird world?
- rick888 16y ago"So I'll freely admit I work stupidly long hours- I live on Redbull, and get off on making things that I can look back at, and say "Yeah, I'm proud of that." My primary job is in IT, but I'll jump in on and spend two hours creating user stories or writing marketing copy. There's been times that I added code which is still in production years later." Are you expecting your employee to go through those same sacrifices while at the same time only getting a paycheck?
- e1ven 16y agoI'm not a founder here; I just get enjoy this. See also: The people at Reddit. I'm not expecting people to climb over Everest, but there's a difference between people who show up, and people who try to make a difference. I've worked big companies Twice before.. In both cases, I knew it was wrong for me within two weeks of starting. I didn't stay at either longer than a month. There IS something very different about the entire startup environment. I just don't know how to select for it.
- rick888 16y agoIf I'm going to get a percentage of the business, I would definitely work my ass off after-hours with red bull to get the app/business going. However, if I am just an employee, I will do my best, but not put in anything beyond what I am paid to do.
- bartonfink 16y agoI don't know what the secret is, because "smartness" is vague enough that it's not objectively measurable. We aren't talking about lifting weights or running the mile where you can know your own abilities and compare them to another person's - intelligence just doesn't work that way. Interviews and conversations are the best way I know of to tell how "smart" someone is, but there are problems there as well. The problem I have in mind (there are others) is that it's not very easy to tell if someone is smarter than you are. I find that it's easy to tell if someone is less intelligent than I am because they don't recognize their assumptions, draw incorrect inferences or are otherwise sloppy. However, in a sense I'm just testing for the absence of stupidity and not the presence of intelligence. I find it very difficult to tell if someone's actually smarter than I am or just more knowledgeable. What I would suggest is that you have several people interview this person separately (ideally on separate topics) and use their opinions to formulate a judgement. If, after conversations on different topics, 5 engineers say "this girl seems to know her stuff" then it's a much safer bet that this is person is a bar-raiser than if it's just you. Yes, you'll likely be turning lots of people away, but that's what happens if you keep raising the bar.
- cancelbubble 16y agoAsk them how they would feel about working more than 40 hours a week for 1 year and little money on what is most likely vaporware. Be sure to let them know they'll have equity in the company. Bonus points if they enjoy foosball.