When you start with zero, you have to hack your way to hiring the best people you know. So it wasn’t just a question of firing up my phone and scrolling through contacts at my convenience. The best have a high opportunity cost, particularly when measured in the now-vs-later manner.
If you’re a founder without an extensive list of investors ready to write you checks, you have only a few options, a very important one of which is to not hire people at all. This is likely true even if you have a list of investors ready to write a check, and perhaps most true if you’re paying for everything from your own savings.
Why not hire? Because you can only hire mercenaries, but you can find missionaries who will work with you day and night, will fight alongside you for years on end, who will ignore everyone else telling them they’re stupid of limited, these are the True Force behind your success. These people are there for you because you are there for them, they’re there because they have the same shared vision that you do, they’re there because they want to be there with you on that journey to make that dream a reality.
So who should you hire when you can? You don’t hire, but you reward these missionaries with as much as you can given what you have, to keep their needs satisfied, so everyone can stay focused on the goal, as much as possible. And be sure to share the final upside with these remarkable people, those people who roll up their sleeves and are there.
You also want to attract the most experienced people who have have been there. Everyone knows where I mean. Bring on those 10x to 100x more productive people, these unicorns exist, and you can actually breed your own over time.
So network, network, network like crazy. Talk to everyone. You never know who that person will turn into or who they’ll turn you on to. Equity is your most valuable asset, so be generous with it towards people who help you succeed.
In the same vein, unhire the best lawyer you can. This is worth it, trust me. Most of all, never let not having anything stop you from hiring the best.
Like I said, just don’t hire anyone.
