An effective remote hiring funnel weeds out unserious candidates efficiently. After an initial skills test, request a one-minute video introduction—most won't bother. For the final candidates, replace interviews with a paid, task-based trial to assess real-world skills and work ethic before speaking to them.

For its innovative "GTM Engineer" role, Clay's co-founder values creativity above all else. This is tested through a take-home assignment where candidates must design creative outbound campaigns, signaling a shift from traditional sales metrics to strategic, experimental thinking in go-to-market roles.

Cursor requires engineering and design candidates to spend two days in the office working on a real project. This unorthodox process tests for agency and culture fit and has been maintained despite scaling to over 200 people, proving its value in assessing true on-the-job performance and mutual fit.

Vercel's hiring process for design leaders includes a take-home assignment, a practice typically for junior roles. This lets candidates demonstrate real-world problem-solving and buy-in strategies, which are difficult to assess from a portfolio of team-led projects, while also helping the candidate evaluate the company.

Teopo Capital prioritizes rigorous post-hire evaluation. They believe the true assessment of a candidate's fit and capability occurs on the job. The greatest risk is not making the wrong hire, but failing to act swiftly when they underperform, making quick termination crucial for risk management.

A common hiring mistake is prioritizing a conversational 'vibe check' over assessing actual skills. A much better approach is to give candidates a project that simulates the job's core responsibilities, providing a direct and clean signal of their capabilities.

To avoid wasting significant capital on an underperforming developer, vet candidates by hiring them for a small, isolated test project first. Use platforms like Upwork for this initial trial to confirm their skills and work ethic before committing to a larger, more expensive build.

Traditional onboarding takes months to reveal a new hire's effectiveness. By requiring recruits to teach back core concepts from day one, managers can assess their competence, coachability, and work ethic in as little as three weeks, dramatically reducing the time and cost of a bad hire.

To filter for a bias for action, DoorDash gave candidates a work project: acquire 1,000 customers with $20. The impossible goal wasn't the point; the test was designed to see what candidates would *do*. Their creative and scrappy attempts revealed far more about their mindset than a traditional interview could.