At a startup the most common failure mode I've seen is hiring someone who, even if they were good at there last job at BiggerCo, is terrible at what the startup

At a startup the most common failure mode I've seen is hiring someone who, even if they were good at there last job at BiggerCo, is terrible at what the startup (in a different business development stage) needs. Hiring a person who's been running a thousand-person org to take over a 1-10 person org is often insanity, but it can look smart because "wow, they were doing so much at such a successful place and have so many great stories to share." Run a 1000-person org and after all, even if you suck, some of your sub-departments are likely to hit on some great results that you can share in future interviews!