1. Functional area expertise. Do they understand the major issues and common failure points for their functions? Do people in their organizations respect their opinions and feel they can learn from them? Are they right for the current scale and trajectory of your company? You can over-hire for a position, as well as under-hire, given the phase your company is in. For example, do you really need to hire Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s CFO, to manage the finances of your pre-revenue 10-person team?
