11 hiring mistakes I made in the first year of my startup

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As a startup founder, hiring top talent was one of the biggest challenges that I faced. In the early rush of establishing myself, I made multiple hiring decisions which I would now advise my younger self against.

At the cost of sounding like a veteran (which I am not, by the way), allow me to share some of my learnings in the hopes of benefiting anyone who reads them.

1. Hiring to meet arbitrary deadlines

In the initial high of being an entrepreneur, I allocated myself deadlines to meet in every department, including hiring. But not all of them were necessary, and I let internal and perceived time pressures push me into making hasty decisions.

I would recommend startups not to rush. Don’t hire someone just because you desperately need to fill the position. Take a deep breath and wait until you find the right person, even if it means slowing everything down.

2. Hiring those who fit my budget, not requirements

While I agree that you need to be pragmatic about budgets, especially if you’re bootstrapping, you need to find motivated people who value passion, creativity, experience, and learning for what it really is beyond money. Never settle on hiring. There’s no purpose in winning a battle but losing the war.

3. Hiring for skills, past accomplishments, or pedigree, instead of attitude

Nothing beats great attitude. Period.

This especially impacts the work environment. In startups, you have to sometimes work 16 hours a day, seven days a week. If you don’t have the right attitude, you can’t survive. At Alore CRM, we have a chilled-out culture but are still obsessive about quality and deadlines. It’s OK to turn up to the office in shorts as long as you’re a fun person to work with and deliver what you promise.

4. Not hiring a diverse team

I cannot tell you enough how valuable it is to have a diverse team, especially in terms of skills. Hire people with passion for their profession and for life: the sales guy who loves photography, the marketing whiz who loves reading, and the finance lady who loves adventures.

Never ever hire people who have the exact same or very similar skill sets. Different people bring different things to the table, which you need!

5. Hiring based on first impressions

First impressions aren’t always true. I should know; I’ve gotten burned before. With that in mind, I turned a great piece of advice into a method that’s worked exceedingly well: when interviewing candidates, try to invalidate your first impression of them.

So, if I liked them at the start, I gradually try to find their faults, and if disliked them earlier, I try to find reasons why they’re smart. It’s a great way to spot the marathon runners amongst the sprinters!

6. Hiring someone who isn’t cut out for the startup life

Films like The Internship and The Social Network may have glamorized the adrenaline high of having a startup and working in a chilled-out environment, but there’s a whole lot more to it than the zing one expects. The work hours can be long, you don’t always get weekends off, and the salary—at least in the early years—may be comparatively shitty.

But yes, the promise of success and belief in the vision binds the team. Having a person who isn’t here for that or came in expecting something else would be like how Tom Cruise would feel if he was cast in a Chinese film – there, but not quite there.

7. Not defining responsibilities for a role

8. Not knowing an employee’s motivations

9. Not defining my company culture

10. Hiring friends

11. Not listening to my heart