Flexport's CEO advises founders who've raised a large round to immediately implement a 90-day hiring freeze. This prevents the team from defaulting to hiring as the solution to every problem, reinforcing a culture of internal problem-solving and preventing the new capital from creating bloat and slowing the company.
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Capital allocation isn't just about multi-million dollar acquisitions. Hiring a single employee is also a major investment; a $100k salary represents a discounted million-dollar commitment over time. Applying the same rigor to hiring decisions as you would to CapEx ensures you're investing your human capital wisely.
Resist hiring quickly after finding traction. Instead, 'hire painfully slowly' and assemble an initial 'MVP Crew' — a small, self-sufficient team with all skills needed to build, market, and sell the product end-to-end. This establishes a core DNA of speed and execution before scaling.
To scale from 100 to 1,000+ employees, you must stop interviewing everyone. Success depends entirely on the cultural foundation built with the first 100 people. By personally hiring and imbuing them with the company's core values, you create a group of leaders who can replicate that culture as the organization expands.
Despite having raised $1M, the Juicebox founders remained a two-person team. The reason wasn't just to stay lean; it was a belief that their early, "risky, unproven" company couldn't yet attract the A-player talent they aspired to hire. This self-awareness protected them from making suboptimal early hires.
The primary goal of hiring should be to reclaim the founder's time from low-value tasks. This frees up the business's most valuable asset—the founder—to focus on high-leverage activities that truly drive growth, rather than simply adding capacity.
