Startup Hiring: An Entrepreneur Disagrees With Entrepreneur Magazine

I recently came across an article in Entrepreneur magazine that talks about startup
hiring mistakes.  I don’t know Brad Sugars (the author), but he’s a columnist at
Entrepreneur magazine and has written 14 books.  Though I’m impressed by the
fact that he’s a published author, I disagree with several points from the
article. 

I also was a bit put-off by the statement “the good thing is that there are
some hard and fast rules startups should follow”.  I may not know a lot about
startups, but one thing I do know is that there are very few “hard and
fast” rules.  And, those rules that are hard and fast are rarely interesting
enough to talk about.

So, here are my tips for startup hiring startups.  In some instances, these
conflict directly with the Entrepreneur article — in others, they’re just
different.

1.  Don’t Hire Based Solely On Intelligence/Brilliance:  You
interview the candidate and she has a PhD from MIT and is off-the-charts smart. 
That’s great.  Intelligence is an important factor in recruiting for most
startups.  But, hiring just on intelligence is usually a mistake.  You
need at least two more things:  A passion for getting things done and cohesion
with your culture.  (That’s a fancy way of saying that they agree with what you
stand for and “fit in”).

2.  It’s Ok To Hire The Inexperienced:  If you find
super-smart people that fit the culture and are able to get things done they may
be a great recruit — even if they lack experience.  At my startup HubSpot, we call this hiring people that
“haven’t seen the movie before” (this is our way of saying:  They don’t have
experience in the specific role/function).  We’ve had great success with this. 

3.  It’s ok to hire for an undefined role:  In an ideal
world, you have a nice clear job description and a role in mind for the person
you’re trying to hire.  And, your network is so strong and your luck so good
that precisely the perfect candidates start dropping into your lap just as you
need them.  Unfortunately, most startups are not so lucky.  Sometimes you get
the wrong people for the right role (the one you’re recruiting for). 
Other times, you get the absolute “right” people, but just have no current
openings.  Sometimes, it’s ok to hire these “superstars” even though they may
not fit the job description you are hiring for.

4.  It’s Ok To Recruit For The Job You Hate:  You might be
good at a lot of things (developing code, designing things, selling, accounting,
etc.).  But chances are, you may dislike some of these activities even though
you could be good at them.  The good news is that there are smart
people out there who love the very stuff you hate.  There’s nothing
wrong with recruiting people for stuff you’re either bad at or just plain don’t
like to do.

If you’re interested in more tips on startup hiring, I kind of like some of
my points in “5
Quick Pointers On Startup Hiring“.

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