Article · 15 min read

How to Hire a Chief of Staff

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) · a16z Free Intermediate

The canonical piece for avoiding exactly the vanity-title trap you warn against. It caps the role at about 20% admin work (so it is not a glorified PA), levels the scope by company size (executive support at 20+, leadership-team support at 75+, stealth-COO at 150+), and hands you a real hiring scorecard via its Mission-Outcomes-Competencies framework so you interview against defined competencies (super organizer, reliable closer, trusted operator) instead of vibes.

  • Cap admin work at roughly 20%; the role owns systems, operating cadence, and cross-team execution, not the founder's calendar alone
  • Scope the role by headcount: direct thought partner at ~20 people, leadership-team leverage at ~75, org design at ~150
  • Interview against a written scorecard (Mission, Outcomes, Competencies) and treat it as a 2 to 3 year post with a planned exit into functional leadership
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The question it answers

  1. When should I hire my first operations or 'chief of staff' person, and what should they own?

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