Ask HN: How do small to medium startup hires?

11 points by riksucks 4 years ago | 9 comments

To give you a background, I am a second year CS student. I was recently contacted by a company which just had it's series A funding. The HR recruited me (probably solely because of keywords in resume). Now, I wonder how startups hire, since they have to allocate money judiciously, especially the seed stage startups. What I believe is that not only do you have to choose people who are good at technical aspect, but also someone who gets along with the team. Also eager to know if startups consider other aspects too.

Do founders regret their decisions during their early hirings?

so 1) what is the paradigm that is being followed nowadays by seed and series A startups to hire the right candidate? 2) are the HRs inept? 3) what aspects these early startups are looking for, from a candidate?

these questions might be very straight forward, but bear with me since I am a student. eager to see constructive discussions!

janglezz 4 years ago |

The process at my company (< 20 people) is like this:

1. Phone screen with tech lead / manager. 2. Take home 2-3 hour code challenge where you have to build something. No leet code questions - it’s a challenge relevant to what we do. 3. Interview with 2 or 3 engineers / product managers to go over your code and meet the team.

Our offer is usually one where we provide 3 or 4 options (less stock, bigger salary or more stock and smaller salary).

We’re looking for good communicators, quick learners, and passionate engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset. Simply put, we’re looking for people we want to work with everyday (especially when it’s crunch time).

I’ve only worked at startups. I love it and I have no desire to work for big tech. My job security comes what I do and what I can build, not from the company I work for.

greatpostman 4 years ago |

The question their asking themselves, which sucker can I get to work hard on my company whilst giving him as little equity as possible

karmab 4 years ago |

Hi there, first up, don't be shy about asking these questions as it helps the community.

To add my 2c, I think it varies from startup to startup. We have followed quite a rigorous screening for our startup and have never been disappointed with the choices we've made.

We were doing a rigorous HR screening, followed by 1-2 phone calls with Senior engineers, finally bringing the candidate in for 3-4 hours of discussions with various members, including Senior leadership.

This has all moved online though but our process has been unchanged and it has gotten better as the interviewers have adapted to dealing with a wide variety of candidates.

Sometimes, we split the interviews over 2 days to give the candidate breathing room and also allow flexibility in scheduling.

The interviews with, and feedback from, senior leadership has especially been helpful to decide and settle on the competent candidates so we never had to regret our decisions.

Hope that helps!

enigmatic02 4 years ago |

1. Mostly through referrals / people they know / sometimes investor intros 2. Lol some are good, most probably don't make a difference 3. Easy to coach, strong work ethic, can start contributing from day 1

More importantly for you, picking the right startup is most of the battle. Make sure you research and interview them; if they don't blow you away, you're better off in a bigger tech company that pays more

If you are interested in startups, this list lets you track the portfolios of Tier 1 investors: https://topstartups.io/

riksucks 4 years ago | |

that's a very helpful link and also a very concise reply, thank you, btw I know some of my seniors who went into startups that were blowing up and got paid with equity, and are kinda very well off rn. Is this path worth looking into? Or is big tech a safer bet. TLDR: is the risk worth it? and is it too risky?

enigmatic02 4 years ago | | |

When it's worth it, it's very very worth it. Whether it's the right thing for you depends on your risk appetite and financial situation.

Some people say: go to big tech first, make $, get the brand, then take the startup risk

Reality is: longer you wait to take risks, harder it becomes. Recommend doing it sometime in your 20s if the adventure appeals to you, knowing that the big equity payout may not happen. You can improve your odds though by getting good at picking

MaknMoreGtnLess 4 years ago | | |

big tech will always be a safer bet all risks considered

The question you need to answer is, for YOU right now:

1. Are the things you want to learn best served by a big tech co?

2. Or an unproven startup?