Book · Book, around 200 pages

Who: The A Method for Hiring

Geoff Smart and Randy Street Paid Beginner

A simple, repeatable four-step method for making hiring decisions instead of going on gut feel, which is where costly mis-hires come from. For a founder without a recruiting background it gives you a scorecard and interview structure you can use immediately. The framework travels well across roles and markets, including India.

  • Write a scorecard defining the outcomes the role must deliver before you interview
  • Structure interviews around what someone has actually done, in sequence
  • A clear method beats gut feel and reduces expensive mis-hires

It answers 3 questions

  1. How do I hire good engineers in India when everyone's competing for the same talent?
  2. How do I evaluate a developer's skill if I can't code?
  3. 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. A venture firm's field guide to engineering hiring for founders, covering the full arc from defining the role to sourcing,... CRV Article · Long read How to Hire Engineers: A Guide for Founders CRV
  3. A high-signal, battle-tested framework for evaluating engineering talent from a leader who's done it hundreds of times.... First Round Review Article · ~20 min read My Lessons from Interviewing 400+ Engineers Over Three Startups Marco Rogers
  4. 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
  5. A Startup School talk with a YC partner and Triplebyte's co-founder on finding and hiring key engineers from scratch.... Y Combinator Startup Library Video · Around 45 minutes Building an engineering team Harj Taggar and Ammon Bartram
  6. 200+ candid conversations with Indian founders and investors on how they actually found their idea, spotted a trend, and... Apple Podcasts Podcast · podcast series (45-90 min episodes) The Neon Show (formerly 100x Entrepreneur) Siddhartha Ahluwalia
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →