Some other folks have hinted around this, but I think the best way to look at this is by rephrasing the title: "How to Hire When Everyone Who Wants to Work for

Some other folks have hinted around this, but I think the best way to look at this is by rephrasing the title: "How to Hire When Everyone Who Wants to Work for a Startup Wants Their Own" By that I don't really mean "work for a startup" so much as "work in the stereotype of startup culture." If you're starting with a very small team and trying to build with no profitability while you try to attract a major buyer, then yeah you're going to have to work within that culture of young people willing to take on the attendant risks. If you're trying to build a viable business that happens to be a startup, perhaps you need to look beyond that initial group - because if you're only looking at 20-somethings with Macbook Airs working in coffeeshops, you're going to get a disproportionate number of people who want not just a startup but their own startup.