A company found its top engineers were "difficult." Before changing hiring criteria to favor this trait, they checked their worst-performing engineers and found they were also difficult. The trait was common to all engineers, not a signal of success, revealing a classic survivorship bias.

Go beyond analyzing the founding team by treating the entire employee base as a key asset. By measuring metrics like employee retention rates, hiring velocity, and geographical or role-based growth, investors can build a quantitative picture of a company's health and culture, providing a powerful comparative tool.

Instead of focusing solely on a candidate's current skills, Figma's CEO looks for their 'slope,' or their trajectory of rapid learning and improvement. This is assessed by analyzing their history of decision-making and growth mindset, betting on their future potential rather than just their present abilities.

Rather than creating assessments that prohibit AI use, hiring managers should embrace it. A candidate's ability to leverage tools like ChatGPT to complete a project is a more accurate predictor of their future impact than their ability to perform tasks without them.

To make a hire "weird if they didn't work," don't hire for potential or vibe. Instead, find candidates who have already succeeded in a nearly identical role—selling a similar product to a similar audience at a similar company stage. This drastically reduces performance variables.

A person's past rate of growth is the best predictor of their future potential. When hiring, look for evidence of a steep learning curve and rapid progression—their 'slope.' This is more valuable than their current title or accomplishments, as people tend to maintain this trajectory.

To clarify difficult talent decisions, ask yourself: "Would I enthusiastically rehire this person for this same role today?" This binary question, used at Stripe, bypasses emotional ambiguity and provides a clear signal. A "no" doesn't mean immediate termination, but it mandates that some corrective action must be taken.

Rather than using personality assessments to accept or reject candidates, the firm uses the results to craft more insightful interview questions. This helps them probe for specific traits and understand role fit without making the test a pass/fail gate, acknowledging there is no single 'good' personality.

Traditional hiring assessments that ban modern tools are obsolete. A better approach is to give candidates access to AI tools and ask them to complete a complex task in an hour. This tests their ability to leverage technology for productivity, not their ability to memorize information.