Don't hire preemptively. Katelin Holloway's "hire when it hurts" principle advises founders to perform a job themselves until they are overwhelmed. This ensures they develop a deep understanding of the role's requirements and sincere empathy for the person they eventually hire, leading to better hiring decisions.

Before hiring for a critical function, founders should do the job themselves, even if they aren't experts. The goal isn't mastery, but to deeply understand the role's challenges. This experience is crucial for setting a high hiring bar and being able to accurately assess if a candidate will truly up-level the team.

To properly vet a potential influencer partner, go beyond their subscriber count. Watch their last 10 videos to understand their style. Read the comments to gauge audience sentiment—are they supportive or hostile? Finally, examine their past sponsored content for natural integration, not jarring interruptions.

Exceptional individuals often publish their thoughts online. By reading their content, you can assess their thinking, expertise, and confluence of ideas, making a traditional interview redundant. This allows you to move decisively when you find a match, as when the speaker hired his Opendoor cofounder on the spot.

Marketing leaders often fail when hiring for functions they don't deeply understand. Success comes when you've done the job yourself first, like Capsule's marketing lead who ran events before hiring a specialist. This first-hand experience allows you to know precisely what "good" looks like and evaluate candidates effectively.

The company's head of marketing convinced the CEO to hire young marketers with unconventional resumes that didn't fit the typical 'perfect GPA' mold. This talent created the brand's wildly successful, 'unhinged' TikTok account, which became a major user acquisition channel, proving the value of diverse hiring perspectives.

When hiring for social media roles, prioritize candidates who have successfully built their own public platform. This hands-on experience is a non-negotiable prerequisite for understanding platform nuances, virality, and authentic creator collaboration. A traditional corporate background is insufficient for this specific role, as it lacks proof of practical expertise.

TikTok creators are visual learners who consume video content, not long documents. Instead of providing a detailed written brief, brands see better results by sending 3 examples of high-performing videos. This gives creators inspiration and direction without stifling their unique style.

To succeed on a platform like TikTok, resist the urge to immediately post. True mastery comes from first immersing yourself as a consumer for hundreds of hours. This deep listening phase is crucial for understanding the native language, trends, and culture, enabling you to create content that resonates.