At pre-seed, every hire shapes the company. Here’s what I tell founders building their first prod...At pre-seed, every hire shapes the company. Here’s what I tell founders building their first prod...
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
Back to feedPost
Grady's avatar
Grady Andersen
• Oct 16
At pre-seed, every hire shapes the company. Here’s what I tell founders building their first product team:
1. Don’t hire fast. Hire right. One wrong hire costs you momentum, money, and sleep. Slow down enough to get it right.
2. Test before you talk numbers. Never negotiate before testing skills. A simple challenge reveals more than three interviews.
3. Look for motivation, not polish. You want people who care about the mission, not just the paycheck. Hunger beats pedigree every time.
4. Think globally, hire smart. You don’t need a San Francisco payroll to build great software. Africa and Latin America have dependable talent ready to ship.
5. Build a hiring system early. Even if simple; tests, feedback loops, onboarding. Chaos now will scale into a nightmare later.
Building lean isn’t cutting corners. It’s knowing what matters.
RecruitingHR ConsultingTechnical Recruitment
Post image
Isabel's avatar
Contra logo
Isabel Feuerstein
pro
• Oct 16
@Grady Andersen this is exactly why we've stayed lean at Contra 👏
Back to feed
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started