Hiring Philosophy

• Hiring cannot be a net cost, otherwise it's not sustainable.
• Hire as a last resort. Before that: partner, microtask and outsource, or educate.
• When hiring, understand cost and benefit. Quantitatively, and in detail. General ratio should be 2:1.
• When hiring, start with an understanding that hiring is not a net cost. If it is, then your revenue generation must be revisited.
• When running a business, more moneyu has to come in than leave out the door. No shit - but this is what most startups get wrong.
• Clear and new revenue streams must be opened up by hiring. If the hire gets in the way of opening new streams, the hire must be reevaluated.
• Any hire should open up time, not reduce it. Revisit infrastructuring if a new hire takes up time instead of liberating it.
• Reverse the enterprise to education that is competitive with existing options so you can capture the value of education. Training apprentices and guuaranteeing them work is a way to bootstrap new hires.
• Set up people as partners, not employees. Avail resources to the partners, so the relationship is a risk-share.
• Aim for 2x revenue per hire, and aim for 10x for a long-term hire.
• Be clear that any new hire is a revenue stream, not a sink. If this is not clear, revisit.
• Set up hiring based on sales, not prior to sales.
• When hiring apprentices, they must cover their costs.

Links

• Operating Costs