Early hires are a product decision, not an HR decision.

I’m still bad at this. Working on it.

A few things I believe:

1. Hire people you know or have worked with before.

   You already have some idea of how they work.

2. Hire when there is a real need.

   Extra people can create extra work. Sometimes you end up building things you didn’t actually need just to give them something to do.

3. If you find someone really good, hire them even if you don’t have an open role.

   You may not find the same person when you actually have a vacancy.

4. The existing team should make new people feel welcome.

   A new person shouldn’t have to prove themselves before they feel like part of the team.

5. Be careful about pay differences within the team.

   If an existing employee feels underpaid compared to someone who just joined, it can hurt the culture quickly.

Hiring can still go 50/50 even if you do everything right.