Template · template

Founding Engineer Job Description Template

Yardstick Free Beginner

A ready starting point for the job post you will need the day you commit to hiring, so you are not staring at a blank page. It captures what a founding engineer role actually asks for, ownership, breadth, and comfort with ambiguity, which is different from what you briefed your agency on. Edit it down to your real context rather than shipping it as is.

  • A founding engineer owns architecture and product decisions, not just tickets
  • The role needs breadth and comfort with ambiguity above narrow specialization
  • A clear, honest post filters for people who want early stage ownership
Open on yardstick.team ↗

The question it answers

  1. When should I stop using an agency and hire my first in-house developer?

Read with it

  1. Battle-tested YC advice on landing your critical first engineering hire, from founders who've done it at scale. It reframes... YC Startup Library Article · Essay How to hire your first engineer (YC Startup Library) Y Combinator (Greg Brockman, Harj Taggar)
  2. Graham wrote this after watching hundreds of early companies fail, so the failure patterns are observed, not theorized. Two of... YC Startup Library Essay · ~20 min read The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups Paul Graham
  3. This gives you the sharpest rule for the build versus buy call: if it is a core business function, build it yourself, and if it... Joel on Software Essay · 10 min read In Defense of Not-Invented-Here Syndrome Joel Spolsky
  4. Once no-code has carried you to traction, this is a grounded guide to building the early team you eventually need, including... Lenny's Newsletter Article Hiring your early team Lenny Rachitsky
  5. A deep, practitioner heavy set of guides from operators who built strong technical teams from scratch, useful once you commit... First Round Review Article · long read Hiring engineers First Round Review
  6. Finding a great engineer is only half the battle when everyone is competing for them, and this piece is about the other half:... Y Combinator Startup Library Article · Medium read Convincing engineers to join your team Y Combinator
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →