Article

Startup Hiring: Finding Your First Hires & Key Employees

Hotjar · hotjar.com Free Beginner

A practical, operator-written guide to sourcing and evaluating early hires on limited resources - useful for the tactical 'how do I actually find people' question that strategy pieces skip.

  • Prioritise adaptable, growth-oriented candidates over a perfect resume match early on.
  • Culture fit ranks as a top hiring criterion for very early-stage teams.
  • Cheap, practical sourcing tactics for founders without a recruiting budget.
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It answers 2 questions

  1. Should my first marketing hire be a generalist or a specialist - performance marketer vs brand marketer?
  2. How do I hire well on a tight budget before I've raised real money?

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  2. Directly addresses the budget constraint most D2C founders face at this stage - how to compete for talent when you can't... fi.co Article How to Find the First Hires for Your Startup on a Budget First Round / Fi.co
  3. A recruitment agency built specifically around DTC marketing roles (media buyers, retention leads, creative) - a real option... constanthire.com Tool Marketing Recruitment for DTC Brands: Media Buyers, Retention, Creative Constant Hire
  4. The bluntest, most quoted piece of contrarian hiring advice for early founders - 'don't hire, the most successful YC companies... playbook.samaltman.com Article Startup Playbook Sam Altman
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