Shaheen also advises on selling the company to potential hires by emphasizing interesting product challenges and learning opportunities from the founders. Once an offer is extended, he suggests showing commitment and thoughtfulness to close the deal. He underscores that early hires shape the character of the company and are crucial in laying the foundation for the company's future.
Key takeaways:
- Building a wide funnel of qualified candidates is the first step of hiring, and this can be achieved through various channels such as startup friends, job boards, GitHub pull requests, and community-specific groups.
- During the interview process, it's important to ask questions that identify commitment and talent, and to be transparent with hires about what they should expect from the company.
- Engineers care about different issues than customers or investors, so the sales process should be tweaked accordingly, with an emphasis on interesting product challenges and what they can learn from the founders.
- Once a formal offer has been extended, it's crucial to show the candidate that they are valued, as the character of the company in the future is shaped more by early hires than initial product, customers, investors or even the idea.