Prioritizing a candidate's skills ('capacity') over their fit with the team ('chemistry') is a mistake. To scale culture successfully, focus on hiring people who will get along with their colleagues. The ability to collaborate and integrate is more critical for long-term success than a perfect resume.

The most effective hires are individuals with the entrepreneurial drive to build their own business but who recognize greater potential in leveraging your company's platform and distribution. This strategy attracts talent that thinks like owners, not employees, and can run their departments autonomously.

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.

Prioritize hiring generalist "athletes"—people who are intelligent, driven, and coachable—over candidates with deep domain expertise. Core traits like Persistence, Heart, and Desire (a "PhD") cannot be taught, but a smart athlete can always learn the product.

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.

Delaying key hires to find the "perfect" candidate is a mistake. The best outcomes come from building a strong team around the founder early on, even if it requires calibration later. Waiting for ideal additions doesn't create better companies; early execution talent does.

A product team's effectiveness is not just about skills (competencies). It's equally dependent on the right behaviors (mindsets) and the supportive environment, culture, and leadership backing (resources). A full assessment must cover all three areas.

Instead of seeking a specific PM archetype (e.g., innovator, maximizer), focus on hiring individuals who bring unique perspectives, skills, or backgrounds. This approach builds a more resilient and versatile product organization, even if the new hire's style differs from the manager's.

Dropbox's founders built their team using a first-principles approach, prioritizing exceptional talent even when candidates lacked traditional pedigrees or direct experience for a role. This strategy of betting on the person's potential over their polished resume proved highly effective for scaling.