6 ms·

Who should you hire at a startup?

31 points by swombat 17y ago

eb 17y ago
Speaking of hiring... any startups looking to hire? The HN jobs section has been empty for a while and the previous "Ask HN: Who's Hiring? (take 2)" thread is a bit stale. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=759452 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=759452
- jack7890 17y ago
  SeatGeek is hiring. We're looking for a CTO and LAMP developer: http://www.seatgeek.com/main/jobs http://www.seatgeek.com/main/jobs
  - pchristensen 17y ago
    I'm neither a CTO nor a LAMP developer, but SeatGeek is awesome and had a great preso at TC50. Any NYC people should take a look!
- icey 17y ago
  You could always start a new "who's hiring" thread!
- cgherb911 17y ago
  eb, we're an iphone app/hardware start up. email us info@phonehalo.com.
shabda 17y ago
> There are people who tell startups that they should hire the most senior people that they can find. Are there? Doesnt this article just knock down a lot of strawmen?
- swombat 17y ago
  I haven't met any such people myself, but isn't that a typical suggestion from VCs?
- msuster 17y ago
  Yes, many people tell you this, including VCs. That's why I wrote the post. The problem is that much advice you get as a startup is bad. If someone's done it before listen closely and make up your own mind whether they have the right answers. If someone has only sat on the sidelines be more circumspect. The unfortunately reality of life is that most advice is bad and it takes people who swim against conventional wisdom to do great things.
kurtosis 17y ago
Someone mentioned this the other day, but I don't think it was ever given a satisfactory answer - is it really worth it to work for a tiny company that will likely crash? Does the expected payoff from the tiny equity share justify the insecurity / lower comp / lack of benefits etc.? Shouldn't you be automatically suspicious of anyone that would sign on to a deal like this? If they are so great / can execute why aren't they working on their own ideas instead of yours? I don't think this article ever answers the question.
- aaronblohowiak 17y ago
  "Does the expected payoff from the tiny equity share justify the insecurity / lower comp / lack of benefits etc.?" -- No. Ask any veteran of the valley (bonus points if they were around for both bubbles,) and they will tell you that the money isn't the reason to join a startup.
  - kurtosis 17y ago
    So what's left? Is working in someone else's startup a way of "paying dues" to get connected with people necessary to form your own? Suppose that people believe that working for someone else's small company will get them connections to form their own - is this realistic? Is this a typical outcome or is it rare and only read about in post hoc businessweek articles?
    - aaronblohowiak 17y ago
      You're asking me why people work at startups? It has cultural cache, a more relaxed/crass work environment, junior people can work on harder problems than they would otherwise, you wear "many hats", less large-company bs (though you trade that for small company bs,) and so on. There is an article on the front page about working for startups as a means of networking to eventually found your own, but that is a pyramid scheme.
- pchristensen 17y ago
  It may not be worth it monetarily, but you will meet a lot of people and learn important things like: - dealing with high pressure - finding a market where one might not exist - wearing dozens of different hats - making difficult prioritization decisions with limited info Basically, seeing up close what a founder has to go through will show you whether you want to deal with it or not.
vaksel 17y ago
noone, the whole employment thing is too much of a pain in the ass for an early stage startup
idlewords 17y ago
Someone who knows when to use "whom".
cgherb911 17y ago
I think there is too much analysis in the article because you'll never find the perfect person willing to work for little to no pay. Just only hire people smarter/better/more experience than you. When you're a 100 person company and you find that your the dumbest one in the entire building, congratulations. You have a killer team.
- msuster 17y ago
  The point of my article is not to hire the "perfect" person - to the contrary. People will advise you to hire the "perfect" person based on what they did in the past. The point of my article was to say hire the person who hasn't done this level before but is high potential. In every group hiring discussion I've ever been in people argue for the most senior person. I always argue against it.
gbookman 17y ago
I definitely agree that for a startup, it's better to hire someone who's looking to step up and build the business, not looking down to grab some equity. However, I don't think someone's résumé is the only way to determine whether someone is looking up or looking down. There are plenty of experienced guys who have been there, done that, but are looking to accomplish something really significant. These guys are perfect for startups because they're just as interested in achieving lofty goals, plus they already have money to support themselves.
RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago
> There are people who tell startups that they should hire the most senior people that they can find. When I was involved in a management buyout we went to loads of people to get advice, funding, resources, etc. Without exception the funding people - government sponsored in some cases, independent VCs in others - said that we were light on management skills (which we were) and we needed to find someone to fill the gap. They then went on to suggest people who were demanding ukp30k for one day a week, plus equity. Here we were putting everything we had into this, and these people were insisting on a full living wage for 1 day a week, plus a piece of the profits pie. OK, we weren't exactly a startup, but this "advice" really is given.
- msuster 17y ago
  The people who give this advice have never built a successful startup IMHO. It's bad advice. Many people give it. Conventional wisdom seldom pays.
  - RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago
    It is, however, also difficult to argue your point with people who have financed successful MBOs, and who have the money you need.

31 points by swombat 17y ago

eb 17y ago

Speaking of hiring... any startups looking to hire? The HN jobs section has been empty for a while and the previous "Ask HN: Who's Hiring? (take 2)" thread is a bit stale. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=759452 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=759452

jack7890 17y ago
SeatGeek is hiring. We're looking for a CTO and LAMP developer: http://www.seatgeek.com/main/jobs http://www.seatgeek.com/main/jobs
- pchristensen 17y ago
  I'm neither a CTO nor a LAMP developer, but SeatGeek is awesome and had a great preso at TC50. Any NYC people should take a look!
icey 17y ago
You could always start a new "who's hiring" thread!
cgherb911 17y ago
eb, we're an iphone app/hardware start up. email us info@phonehalo.com.

shabda 17y ago

> There are people who tell startups that they should hire the most senior people that they can find. Are there? Doesnt this article just knock down a lot of strawmen?

swombat 17y ago
I haven't met any such people myself, but isn't that a typical suggestion from VCs?
msuster 17y ago
Yes, many people tell you this, including VCs. That's why I wrote the post. The problem is that much advice you get as a startup is bad. If someone's done it before listen closely and make up your own mind whether they have the right answers. If someone has only sat on the sidelines be more circumspect. The unfortunately reality of life is that most advice is bad and it takes people who swim against conventional wisdom to do great things.

kurtosis 17y ago

Someone mentioned this the other day, but I don't think it was ever given a satisfactory answer - is it really worth it to work for a tiny company that will likely crash? Does the expected payoff from the tiny equity share justify the insecurity / lower comp / lack of benefits etc.? Shouldn't you be automatically suspicious of anyone that would sign on to a deal like this? If they are so great / can execute why aren't they working on their own ideas instead of yours? I don't think this article ever answers the question.

aaronblohowiak 17y ago
"Does the expected payoff from the tiny equity share justify the insecurity / lower comp / lack of benefits etc.?" -- No. Ask any veteran of the valley (bonus points if they were around for both bubbles,) and they will tell you that the money isn't the reason to join a startup.
- kurtosis 17y ago
  So what's left? Is working in someone else's startup a way of "paying dues" to get connected with people necessary to form your own? Suppose that people believe that working for someone else's small company will get them connections to form their own - is this realistic? Is this a typical outcome or is it rare and only read about in post hoc businessweek articles?
  - aaronblohowiak 17y ago
    You're asking me why people work at startups? It has cultural cache, a more relaxed/crass work environment, junior people can work on harder problems than they would otherwise, you wear "many hats", less large-company bs (though you trade that for small company bs,) and so on. There is an article on the front page about working for startups as a means of networking to eventually found your own, but that is a pyramid scheme.
pchristensen 17y ago
It may not be worth it monetarily, but you will meet a lot of people and learn important things like: - dealing with high pressure - finding a market where one might not exist - wearing dozens of different hats - making difficult prioritization decisions with limited info Basically, seeing up close what a founder has to go through will show you whether you want to deal with it or not.

vaksel 17y ago

noone, the whole employment thing is too much of a pain in the ass for an early stage startup

idlewords 17y ago

Someone who knows when to use "whom".

cgherb911 17y ago

I think there is too much analysis in the article because you'll never find the perfect person willing to work for little to no pay. Just only hire people smarter/better/more experience than you. When you're a 100 person company and you find that your the dumbest one in the entire building, congratulations. You have a killer team.

msuster 17y ago
The point of my article is not to hire the "perfect" person - to the contrary. People will advise you to hire the "perfect" person based on what they did in the past. The point of my article was to say hire the person who hasn't done this level before but is high potential. In every group hiring discussion I've ever been in people argue for the most senior person. I always argue against it.

gbookman 17y ago

I definitely agree that for a startup, it's better to hire someone who's looking to step up and build the business, not looking down to grab some equity. However, I don't think someone's résumé is the only way to determine whether someone is looking up or looking down. There are plenty of experienced guys who have been there, done that, but are looking to accomplish something really significant. These guys are perfect for startups because they're just as interested in achieving lofty goals, plus they already have money to support themselves.

RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago

> There are people who tell startups that they should hire the most senior people that they can find. When I was involved in a management buyout we went to loads of people to get advice, funding, resources, etc. Without exception the funding people - government sponsored in some cases, independent VCs in others - said that we were light on management skills (which we were) and we needed to find someone to fill the gap. They then went on to suggest people who were demanding ukp30k for one day a week, plus equity. Here we were putting everything we had into this, and these people were insisting on a full living wage for 1 day a week, plus a piece of the profits pie. OK, we weren't exactly a startup, but this "advice" really is given.

msuster 17y ago
The people who give this advice have never built a successful startup IMHO. It's bad advice. Many people give it. Conventional wisdom seldom pays.
- RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago
  It is, however, also difficult to argue your point with people who have financed successful MBOs, and who have the money you need.