Startup CXO

Chapter 26Building Your Team

As a startup you'll need to be scrappy and hire people who also can wear multiple hats. Your first hire should be someone whose skills complement yours, and they also need to understand that startups don't have processes and procedures in place that can be followed or modified. There is more uncertainty and things change rapidly, even with the best planning. And your first hire needs to understand that the People role is every bit as entrepreneurial as any other role. While you'll create a strategic People plan that aligns with the company's strategic plan and covers recruiting, organizational design and development, and operations, your first hire must be comfortable shifting between roles, embracing change and uncertainty, and have values alignment with the company. Ideally, you can provide a pathway for growth and opportunities to expand their skills, allowing this individual to grow with the organization and be your right‐hand person as the company moves from startup to scaleup.

As the organization grows, you'll need to continually evaluate whether you are sufficiently staffed for the next stage of growth, and able to achieve your strategic plan. I recommend that your team's growth plan be tied to the growth in the number of people in your company and not revenues. In an established company with a repeatable revenue stream, it's easier to plan for people growth, but in a startup the need for people usually outstrips revenues. If you wait to ...