Explore / Team and operations / Hiring

Hiring · checked 11 November 2026

Write down the one job and its pay, look in your own network first, and make it legal before day one with a written offer and appointment letter.

Put every candidate through the same scorecard, questions and a short paid work sample, and put the salary band in the post. Before day one, register under your state's Shops and Establishments Act, deduct TDS and register for professional tax where your state levies it; PF becomes compulsory at 20 employees and ESI at 10. When someone has to go, give written feedback first, pay everything owed within two working days of the exit, and give a relieving letter.

The steps 30 answers

  1. How do I hire my first employee? Starting Up
  2. How do I write a job description that actually gets good people to apply to an unknown startup? Starting Up
  3. How do I interview and evaluate candidates when I've never hired before? Starting Up
  4. How do I let an employee go legally and fairly in India? Starting Up
  5. How do I hire interns for my startup in India? Starting Up
  6. How do I hire good engineers in India when everyone's competing for the same talent? Starting Up
  7. When should I make my first hire? Starting Up
  8. How do I hire my first engineer when nobody's heard of my startup? Starting Up
  9. What kind of people should my first ten hires be? Starting Up
  10. Should I hire full-time employees, contractors, or an agency first? Starting Up
  11. How do I compensate early employees with salary and equity in India? Starting Up
  12. Where do I actually source candidates for my first hires without a recruiter budget? Starting Up
  13. How do I make a compelling offer and close a candidate who has a competing offer from a big company? Starting Up
  14. How do I structure and pass a candidate's probation period so I don't get stuck with a bad hire? Starting Up
  15. How do I make my very first hire feel productive in their first two weeks instead of lost? Starting Up
  16. Should my first hires be generalists or specialists, and how do I tell the difference in an interview? Starting Up
  17. How do I hire when I can't match market salaries and my runway is tight? Starting Up
  18. When and how do I make my first non-engineering hire (ops, marketing, or a founder's associate)? Starting Up
  19. What paperwork and compliance do I need in place before my first employee's start date in India? Starting Up
  20. How do I fire my first bad hire fast and cleanly without blowing up a five-person team? Starting Up
  21. When should I hire my first operations or 'chief of staff' person, and what should they own? Starting Up
  22. How do I let someone go the right way when a hire is not working out in a small team? Starting Up
  23. What are the first 5-10 hires a D2C founder should make, and in what order? D2C
  24. Should my first marketing hire be a generalist or a specialist - performance marketer vs brand marketer? D2C
  25. When do I need to hire an operations or supply chain person instead of doing it myself? D2C
  26. How do I hire well on a tight budget before I've raised real money? D2C
  27. Where do I actually find good D2C talent in India, and what should I pay? D2C
  28. When should I hire a CEO or president to run the company so I can step back or focus on product? D2C
  29. How do founders use AI to write JDs, screen resumes, and prep interviews? How Founders Use AI
  30. What are the ethics/pitfalls of AI in hiring that founders should know? How Founders Use AI

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