{"id":887,"date":"2014-12-11T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-12-11T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.thinkapps.com\/?p=887"},"modified":"2016-03-31T17:14:13","modified_gmt":"2016-04-01T00:14:13","slug":"how-start-startup-cofounder-team-execution-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinkapps.com\/blog\/post-launch\/how-start-startup-cofounder-team-execution-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Start a Startup: How to Hire the Best Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to Sam Altman<\/a><\/span>, president of Y Combinator<\/a><\/span>, your ideal cofounder is James Bond<\/a><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Altman\u00a0doesn\u2019t mean your startup should be filled with trigger happy philanderers who spend their free time getting wasted. A great cofounder is unflappable, tough, and knows what to do in every situation. He or she\u00a0needs to act quickly and be decisive, creative, and ready for anything.<\/p>\n

James Bond happens to embody all of these qualities, so you want to find\u00a0someone like him. (Don’t worry, though, the tuxedo is optional.)<\/p>\n

Cofounders, team, and growth\u00a0are just some of the topics Altman covered during his lecture<\/a>\u00a0at Stanford University as part of his\u00a0How to Start a Startup<\/a>\u00a0series.<\/p>\n

(For more startup advice, check out\u00a0How to Start a Startup: The Book<\/a><\/em>. It’s\u00a0the ultimate reference guide to creating a successful tech startup.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cofounder Relationships Are\u00a0Critical<\/h2>\n

Altman told Stanford students that cofounder relationships are among the most important in the entire company.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone says you have to watch out for tension brewing among cofounders and you have to address it immediately. The number one cause of early death for startups is cofounder blowups,\u201d Altman warns. \u201cBut for some reason, a lot of people treat choosing their cofounder with even less importance than hiring. Don’t do this!\u201d<\/p>\n

Having a Lot of Employees Doesn’t Mean You’re Cool<\/h2>\n

Of course, after you find\u00a0a cofounder, you\u2019ll probably want to start hiring employees. But Altman cautions to resist the urge to hire people right away.<\/p>\n

A startup that has many employees may seem cool, but careful hiring in the early stages is key for the longevity of your startup. Only hire when the workload is too much for your existing team.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the cost of getting an early hire wrong is really high. In fact, Altman says one bad hire can kill a young startup.<\/p>\n

Building an effective team takes time and thought. And without a really good team, it will be harder to execute on your ideas and grow your startup. So don\u2019t rush the process.<\/p>\n

Learning from Airbnb<\/h3>\n

Five months. That\u2019s how long YC alum\u00a0Airbnb<\/a> spent interviewing their first employee. And they only hired two employees their first year.<\/p>\n

Before hiring anyone, the founders wrote down a list of the values that they wanted every Airbnb employee to have. The most important value? Candidates had to \u201cbleed\u201d Airbnb. If they didn\u2019t, they wouldn\u2019t hire them.<\/p>\n

For example, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky<\/a> used to ask people if they would take the job if they got a medical diagnosis giving them only one year left to live. That question alone was enough to weed out the people who didn\u2019t really possess the values Airbnb espouses.<\/p>\n

Your employees play a huge part in\u00a0defining your company. That\u2019s why you need to hire people that believe in your startup almost as much as you do.<\/p>\n

Hiring Amazing People<\/h2>\n

\u201c<\/b>The best source for hiring by far is people that you already know and people that other employees in the company already know,\u201d Altman explains.<\/p>\n

And experience is not always a reliable factor. Experience matters when you\u2019re hiring someone to manage a large part of your organization. But for your early hires, consider their aptitude and their belief in your mission instead.<\/p>\n

Startups don\u2019t operate like traditional businesses, so why hire like one?<\/p>\n

Altman recommends working on a project in lieu of an interview. (Or you could be like these guys<\/a> and take prospective candidates to Vegas for a few days. To each their own.) If you\u2019re settled on conducting traditional interviews, then you should at least ask about projects that people have worked on.<\/p>\n

Altman also proposes contacting their references and asking questions such as: Is this person in the top five percent\u00a0of people you’ve ever worked with? What specifically did they do? Would you hire them again? Why aren’t you trying to hire them again?<\/p>\n

Skills to look for in a potential hire:<\/p>\n