When to Actually Hire
Most early-stage founders hire too early and for the wrong reasons. The right trigger isn't 'we have money' , it's 'this work is breaking us and won't go away.'
#hiring
Hiring is the most expensive, slowest, and hardest-to-reverse decision a startup makes. Treat every hire like a 12-month commitment that locks in burn, attention, and culture.
Bad reasons to hire
- We just raised , we should look like a real company.
- I'm tired and want to offload this.
- A competitor has this role.
- An investor told us to.
- We found someone great and 'will create the role for them.'
Good reasons to hire
- The work is recurring, not a one-off project.
- It has been broken for 4+ weeks and is now blocking revenue, customers, or shipping.
- You can write the first 90 days of work in concrete deliverables.
- You know what 'great' looks like in this role and how to evaluate it.
If you can't write the job in outcomes for the next 90 days, you don't need a hire , you need clarity.