Mastering startup hiring is one of the most critical skills for early stage founders because every hire can make or break your company. If you're an early stage startup founder trying to hire people for your team, you're probably in a very difficult position when it comes to startup hiring decisions. Effective startup hiring means you don't have a lot of money to hire people indiscriminately, yet you need to make sure that every person you hire actually fits into the company well and fits the role perfectly. Understanding how to approach startup hiring with unconventional interview techniques separates founders who build strong teams from those who constantly struggle with cultural fit and commitment issues. The challenge in startup hiring isn't just finding people with the right technical skills, but identifying those who truly have the startup mindset and resilience to survive the intense, uncertain environment of building a company from scratch.
The Real Challenge in Startup Hiring
Number one, you need the right skill set, but that's actually the easier thing to assess.
The other soft skills, making sure candidates have a startup mindset and would fit your company culture, are often very difficult to tell during an interview. People behave very differently during interviews. Once they start working in your team, you may find out they're not a good fit or didn't really understand what working in a startup means.
We've been able to build amazing teams again and again. So I'm going to share two secrets that will particularly reveal during an interview whether somebody is a good fit for your company and has the right startup mindset.
Secret #1: The Discouragement Test
After all other rounds of discussions are over, either my co-founder or I have a final discussion with the candidate, actively discouraging them from joining us.
This is a brutally honest conversation where we lay out all the different ways we could be wrong about what we're pursuing, where we could fail, the most likely outcome being that we are going to fail, the possibility we may not be able to raise our next round.
There is nothing false about this discussion. This is the reality in terms of statistics. Over 90% of startups do fail. We're simply presenting that truth in a very obvious and fully laid out fashion, telling candidates they should seriously consider whether this is still a risk they want to take.
People who get past that discussion and still feel strongly about joining us? Yeah, they're the real deal.
Secret #2: The Mental Endurance Test
One or more of us will have a long discussion with the candidate, often 45 minutes to an hour, going over particular areas of problems, usually related to things we're building. To the extent we can share publicly, we have them participate in brainstorming and regular discussion.
This is to assess how quickly they get mentally exhausted talking about these problems.
Why This Matters
To endure the working style of me and my co-founder, people need a very high tolerance for lengthy discussions, what may feel like endless discussions on certain topics. We're trying to dig very deep into problems we're solving and emerge on the other side with solutions.
People with shorter attention spans or those who get tired easily in longer discussions are unlikely to be a good fit for this.
Important Note About Fit
The second test isn't necessarily indicative of an overall fit for any startup. It's specific to our working style. Candidates may actually be a fit for some other startup where the founders do things differently.
But generally, if you're solving complex problems, you've got to have the ability to think deep.
Finding the Right Candidates
Before you can apply these interview techniques, you need to attract the right candidates. Building a strong founder presence through personal branding on LinkedIn and demonstrating thought leadership helps attract people who are genuinely interested in your mission rather than just looking for any job.
When it comes to actually finding and reaching potential team members, understanding effective LinkedIn recruiting strategies can help you identify candidates who already demonstrate the qualities you're looking for through their professional presence and content.
The Importance of Honest Communication
These two unconventional interview techniques help reveal who truly has the startup mindset and resilience needed for early stage companies. By being brutally honest about risks and testing mental endurance, you can identify candidates who will thrive in your startup's environment.
The discouragement test isn't about being negative. It's about ensuring alignment. If someone joins your startup without understanding the risks, they'll leave at the first sign of difficulty, creating instability and damaging team morale.
Similarly, the mental endurance test isn't arbitrary. Startups require sustained focus on complex problems without clear solutions. If someone can't handle a 45-minute brainstorming session in an interview, they won't survive the daily reality of startup problem-solving.
What This Approach Filters Out
These techniques specifically filter out candidates who romanticize startup life based on success stories they've read but haven't internalized the reality that most startups fail. They filter out people who want the startup title without the startup struggle. They filter out those who think they can handle uncertainty but actually need structure and clear paths forward.
What you're left with are people who've thought deeply about the decision, understand the risks, and are committing anyway. These are the team members who will stick with you through the inevitable challenges.
Building Your Team at FinalLayer
At FinalLayer, we've used these exact techniques to build our team. Many of our early employees came from our previous company, having already passed these tests and proven their commitment through difficult times. They chose to join us again because they understood both the risks and rewards of building something meaningful.
If you're navigating startup hiring challenges and want to discuss team building with other founders, join our founder's Slack community where we share experiences about finding committed team members, interview techniques, and building strong startup cultures in the Founder Resources tab.
