> As the founder of a company that's gone from just the co-founders working together to a small and growing team, one of the things I miss is that I can't expec

> As the founder of a company that's gone from just the co-founders working together to a small and growing team, one of the things I miss is that I can't expect the same level of sacrifice and commitment out of early employees as I did out of the founding team. You should look at this as a feature, not a bug. Employees who will never be as invested as the founding team are like thermometers. Take their temperature on a regular basis and it can reveal important facts about your company that you'd probably be blind to otherwise. > ...if you're hiring smart, talented people you're probably fighting for them, and they know that if this company fails they'll just go work at Google or Facebook or one of the other places they turned down job offers. Not all of the smart and talented people out there are Google or Facebook material, which is one of the reasons startups should stop trying to build the New York Yankees. Don't exclude people with potential. With a focus on employee development, you can grow great employees who are going to be far more loyal to you because you gave them an opportunity.