On Not Hiring

On Not Hiring:

As the owner of a job board, it might seem a little wonky linking to an article that argues against hiring. On the contrary, Gabriel Weinberg's article doesn't advocate a no-hire strategy, but instead suggests hiring for the right reasons and at the right time:

One approach I like that some of my portfolio companies are taking is to tie hiring decision points to traction milestones, e.g. once we hit $xK/month in revenue we'll do our next hire.

The nice things about this approach are that it allows you to a) manage the burn rate issue and b) take a long time to plan your hire. The latter allows you to make sure you're getting the right person in the right position and that they will have a positive impact on the startup.

Early on it is not entirely clear what that right position will turn out to be. You have a lot of short term needs, but that doesn't mean they should turn into full time positions.