How Do You Handle Recruiting as a Founder?

That’s a great question. Recently, I was looking for someone to help with my project, so I posted my job description on Upwork and received plenty of applications. I shortlisted seven, purely based on their skills. Then I interviewed all of them, and surprisingly, only one team really impressed me with their experience and knowledge. So, there wasn’t much to choose from. I guess there isn’t a lot of talent there, and you definitely should interview everyone. One of the teams I chose last ended up impressing me during the interview, even though their application didn’t stand out. So, don’t rush - spend as much time as possible finding the right candidate.

I've personally had success recruiting developers on Stack Overflow Jobs. The candidate pool there tends to be high quality since most have proven technical chops on SO. Definitely invest time in crafting an appealing job description that sells your vision and screens for must-have skills. Then be very selective - only move forward with the top 5-10% of applicants who really impress. Hiring mistakes are costly for an early stage startup. But when you find those true rockstars, move fast and sell them on the role before your competition does! Optimize for quality over quantity in the early days.

Use freelancers for the short term needs. It helps me keep things flexible and test out people before making a full time commitment.

Involves my team in the hiring process. Their input is invaluable since they’ll be working closely with the new hires.

I've learned to be really clear about expectations and the vision from the start. It weeds out people who aren’t fully on board.

Everage my network first Referrals tend to bring in people who are already pre vetted and are often a great fit for the team.

My focus on hiring slowly, even when it’s tempting to fill roles quickly. Rushing leads to costly mistakes down the line.