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Ask HN: As a first-time solopreneur how would you go about hiring the first team

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Re: Ask HN: As a first-time solopreneur how would you go about hiring the first team

#81

Post by j45 »

bjornsing wrote: post #73
RamblingCTO wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree with that. This will play into your mental health as well. The more weight other people can carry, the less you have to do. Don't underestimate having to feed the brains of 10 people constantly when they can't/won't think for themselves.

True. But it’s not only about thinking. In my experience it’s also a lot about the need for validation/ general independence. Many people (or even most?) need attention and regular pats on the back. Providing 10 people with this validation and attention can be a full time job.

This is about learning management and reminding them that the problems they might come to you with are the ones you hired them to solve, but you can drop what you're doing to help them if they need.

Re: Ask HN: As a first-time solopreneur how would you go about hiring the first team

#82

Post by vsareto »

RamblingCTO wrote: post #77
vsareto wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This just sounds like someone who can't write good specs

Have you ever managed 10 people, wrote and checked specs and managed a business on top of that? Clearly not.

[flagged]

Re: Ask HN: As a first-time solopreneur how would you go about hiring the first team

#83

Post by j45 »

atomicnumber3 wrote: post #72
louison11 wrote: post #51

Something obvious I didn't understand at first: the earlier stage you are, the smarter the people you need. They need to be autonomous, flexible, but above all brilliant at what they do. If you get "average" employees who just wants to follow the specs and receive their salary, they will most likely cost you more to manage than they will create value. In early stages, you're probably still trying to answer complex qu…

Do you reward these people with more than a fraction of a percent of equity? As someone who likes WLB enough, isn't enough of a gambler to take a 0.001% chance of being a millionaire over a 25-50% chance of getting a nice 6 figure payout from a more established startup, and has too many kids to boot, I never bothered looking at a company that didn't have a health insurance plan and a 401k match. But when I learned it…

I would focus first on profit or rev share or commission.

Alignment on profitability and efficiency leads to wanting to be together more permanently anyways.

If they can stick around there may be room for a larger conversation for actual retention.

Handing out equity for a self-funded startup doesn't mean as much especially if the hires don't execute.

Re: Ask HN: As a first-time solopreneur how would you go about hiring the first team

#84

Post by RamblingCTO »

olegp wrote: post #61
RamblingCTO wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So now we get linkedin spam on hackernews, nice!

What is it about my comment that made you classify it as such? The link to the blog post I wrote or something else? I'm genuinely curious.

First 50% of your comment is a plug for a service you coincidentally provide, while the other half is a plug for your service/blog (as you serve me a 503 I can't check, but this is most probably a marketing blog). But maybe I'm just so used to seeing this stuff in my linkedin inbox (80% of requests I get).

Re: Ask HN: As a first-time solopreneur how would you go about hiring the first team

#85

Post by RamblingCTO »

vsareto wrote: post #82
RamblingCTO wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever managed 10 people, wrote and checked specs and managed a business on top of that? Clearly not.

[flagged]

Yeah, right. Independent of your mission (money, fame, doing something good), people need a lot of guidance and assistance and you will scramble to make them happy or productive. Maybe don't project your "every boss uses me to get rich" stick on to me.

Re: Ask HN: As a first-time solopreneur how would you go about hiring the first team

#86

Post by PH95VuimJjqBqy »

twicetwice wrote: post #64
ativzzz wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think in this case "smart" is equivalent to independent, self-directed, hard working

Yes, but I think that's a poor choice of words; those are not the same thing. There are lots of smart people who are not independent, self-directed, or hard working! My manager was just saying to me yesterday, "we need smart people who know how to get shit done—just hiring smart people isn't enough."

They went into detail about what they were talking about, making it clear what they meant. What more do you want, new made-up words so no one can argue that this specific word has multiple definitions (as ALL words do)?

Re: Ask HN: As a first-time solopreneur how would you go about hiring the first team

#87

Post by olegp »

RamblingCTO wrote: post #84
olegp wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is it about my comment that made you classify it as such? The link to the blog post I wrote or something else? I'm genuinely curious.

First 50% of your comment is a plug for a service you coincidentally provide, while the other half is a plug for your service/blog (as you serve me a 503 I can't check, but this is most probably a marketing blog). But maybe I'm just so used to seeing this stuff in my linkedin inbox (80% of requests I get).

Thanks for taking the time to explain!

I suppose I wasn't clear, but we don't typically help with the first tech hires, since I haven't figured out how to do it in a scalable manner. I also believe that very few external recruiters can help here, since most don't have the tech skills required.

Fair point about the blog. I probably wouldn't have written the comment if I didn't think that we have relevant useful content there that I could link to.

Re: Ask HN: As a first-time solopreneur how would you go about hiring the first team

#88

Post by mpeg »

onetimeuse92304 wrote: post #50
mpeg wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW I've always got great advice from people in this site, having reached out to a couple over the years for advice / mentorship. I've also occasionally received random emails from founders, students, former coworkers... and have always found the time for them as a way to try to pay back all the help I got myself from strangers on the internet.

You know what they say... he is not your lawyer until you pay him. I think an advisor would be an excellent choice in this situation. I have done these things in the past (providing advice) and I think it can be best bang for the buck. Sometimes you just need a third party to take a look at your business and point obvious stuff out. Somebody that already has answers to questions which will cost you a lot if you have…

I agree with you, I sometimes do this kind of thing professionally too (although usually not for early stage startups)

My point was that it’s surprisingly easy to get good connections and advice simply by putting yourself out there and while it’s not the same depth you’d get from a dedicated, paid engagement it can be extremely helpful

Re: Ask HN: As a first-time solopreneur how would you go about hiring the first team

#89

Post by robertlagrant »

vsareto wrote: post #79
robertlagrant wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it doesn't. How do you write good specs for someone who is meant to own marketing for your business. You don't know marketing. You need someone who does.

Well if you can't, then I guess we shouldn't be complaining about feeding brains and average employees who just want to follow specs

We're not.

Re: Ask HN: As a first-time solopreneur how would you go about hiring the first team

#90

Post by RamblingCTO »

olegp wrote: post #87
RamblingCTO wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First 50% of your comment is a plug for a service you coincidentally provide, while the other half is a plug for your service/blog (as you serve me a 503 I can't check, but this is most probably a marketing blog). But maybe I'm just so used to seeing this stuff in my linkedin inbox (80% of requests I get).

Thanks for taking the time to explain! I suppose I wasn't clear, but we don't typically help with the first tech hires, since I haven't figured out how to do it in a scalable manner. I also believe that very few external recruiters can help here, since most don't have the tech skills required. Fair point about the blog. I probably wouldn't have written the comment if I didn't think that we have relevant useful conten…

Well, thank you for staying polite and good luck with your endeavours ;)

A point I would also like to make is interest: a tech recruiter/"virtual team" provider might have misaligned goals to yours.

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