Early Hiring Advisor

Early Hiring Advisor - First 10 Hires Playbook

Overview

Help indie founders make critical first hires using Hexa's methodology. Guide users through role prioritization, compensation frameworks, and equity allocation.

Hexa Principle: "Launching a project is not about building a product within the team, but about gathering a team to build it themselves."

When This Activates

• "Who should I hire first"
• Making first hires
• Equity for employees
• Compensation/salaries
• "Should I hire or outsource"
• Building team
• Contractor vs. full-time

Hiring Readiness Check

If 2+ "No": Wait or outsource.

Role Prioritization

Score roles: Revenue Impact + Time Saved + Urgency - Difficulty Hire highest score first.

Hire vs. Outsource

Always Hire: Core engineering, sales, customer success Outsource First: Legal, accounting, PR, recruiting

Compensation Ranges (Seed)

Equity Guidelines

First Engineer: 1-3% pre-seed, 0.5-1.5% seed Vesting: 4 years, 1-year cliff

Sourcing Channels

1. Personal network (best for first 3-5) 2. Investor intros 3. Communities 4. Job boards (last resort)

Don't Hire If

• Don't know week 1 work
• Haven't done job yourself
• Can't afford 18+ months
• No time to manage
• Hiring to "figure it out"

Integration

• cofounder-evaluator - Founding team first
• financial-operations-expert - Plan runway

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For complete interview framework, offer scripts, negotiation handling, onboarding plans, and output templates, see: references/full-guide.md

Early Hiring Advisor - Full Guide

The Framework: Early Team Building Stack

+----------------------------------------+
|         CULTURE & VALUES                |
|    (What you hire for)                  |
+----------------------------------------+
|         COMPENSATION                    |
|    (What you offer)                     |
+----------------------------------------+
|         TIMING                          |
|    (When to hire)                       |
+----------------------------------------+
|         ROLE PRIORITIZATION             |
|    (What to hire for first)             |
+----------------------------------------+

Work from bottom up. Prioritize roles first, then timing, then comp, then culture fit.

Detailed Execution Workflow

Step 1: Hiring Readiness Assessment

If 2+ "No": Consider waiting or outsourcing instead.

Step 2: Role Impact Matrix

Scoring: H=3, M=2, L=1. Add first 3 columns, subtract difficulty. Hire the highest score first.

Common First Hires by Company Type:

Step 3: Hire vs. Outsource Framework

Common Outsource-First Roles:

• Legal (use a startup lawyer)
• Accounting (use a startup bookkeeper)
• PR (project-based)
• Recruiting (contingent recruiters)
• Design (can be, early on)
• Content writing (can be, early on)

Always Hire (Don't Outsource):

• Core engineering (your product)
• Sales (if sales-driven)
• Customer success (customer relationships)

Step 4: Compensation Ranges by Stage

The Compensation Conversation:

"We're offering a package of $[X] base salary plus [Y]% equity.

The cash is below market because we're early stage, but the
equity represents real upside. At a $[Z]M exit, your stake
would be worth $[calculated value].

We also offer [benefits: flexibility, learning, impact, etc.]"

Step 5: Equity Allocation Guidelines

First Engineer Equity:

• First engineer (pre-seed): 1-3%
• First engineer (seed): 0.5-1.5%

Vesting Standard:

• 4 years total
• 1 year cliff (25% vests at 12 months)
• Monthly vesting thereafter

Step 6: Channel Effectiveness

Where Early-Stage Talent Hangs Out:

• Twitter/X (tech, startup folks)
• LinkedIn (professionals)
• Slack communities (industry-specific)
• Discord servers (technical roles)
• Indie Hackers (startup-minded)
• YC Work at a Startup
• AngelList/Wellfound
• Local startup events

Step 7: Interview Framework

Early-Stage Fit Questions:

Red Flags for Early Hires:

• Needs detailed job descriptions
• Can't handle ambiguity
• Optimizing for title/salary over impact
• No startup experience (and risk-averse)
• Won't do tasks "below" them
• Needs lots of structure/process

Step 8: Offer Framework

Offer Call Script:

"[Name], we'd like to offer you the [Role] position.

We're excited about what you'd bring, especially [specific strength].

The offer is:
- Base salary of $[X]
- [Y]% equity, vesting over 4 years with a 1-year cliff
- [Benefits]
- Start date of [date]

Do you have any questions? What are your thoughts?"

Handling Negotiation:

Step 9: 30-Day Onboarding Plan

Onboarding Checklist:

• [ ] Equipment and accounts set up
• [ ] Added to all communication channels
• [ ] Met every team member
• [ ] Understands product and customers
• [ ] Knows company goals and priorities
• [ ] Has clear 30-day objectives
• [ ] Has a go-to person for questions
• [ ] Had 1-on-1 with founder(s)

Output Format Template

# Early Hiring Plan: [Company Name]

## Executive Summary

**Hiring Readiness:** [Ready / Wait / Conditional]
**First Hire Priority:** [Role]
**Budget:** $[X]/month total comp
**Timeline:** [When to start]

## Readiness Assessment

| Criterion | Status | Notes |
|-----------|--------|-------|
| PMF signal | [Y/N] | [Evidence] |
| 18+ months runway | [Y/N] | [Months remaining] |
| Clear scope | [Y/N] | [Details] |
| Tried it yourself | [Y/N] | [What you learned] |
| Time to manage | [Y/N] | [Hours available] |

## Role Prioritization

| Role | Revenue Impact | Time Saved | Urgency | Difficulty | Score |
|------|----------------|------------|---------|------------|-------|
| [Role 1] | [H/M/L] | [H/M/L] | [H/M/L] | [H/M/L] | [X] |

## First Hire: [Role Name]

### Compensation Package

| Component | Value | Notes |
|-----------|-------|-------|
| Base Salary | $[X]/year | [Market position] |
| Equity | [X]% | [Vesting: 4yr/1yr cliff] |
| Benefits | [List] | |

### Sourcing Plan

| Channel | Priority | Tactic |
|---------|----------|--------|
| Personal network | High | [Who to ask] |
| Investor intros | High | [Which investors] |

### Interview Process

| Round | Interviewer | Focus | Duration |
|-------|-------------|-------|----------|
| Screen | [Name] | Basic fit | 30 min |
| Skills | [Name] | [Assessment type] | 60 min |

The "Too Early to Hire" Warning Signs

Don't hire if:

• You don't know exactly what they'll do in week 1
• You haven't done the job yourself first
• You can't afford them for 18+ months
• You don't have time to manage them
• You're hiring to "figure it out"
• You haven't tried contractors/outsourcing first

The "First 10 Rule"

Your first 10 hires:

• Shape your culture — they ARE the culture
• Set quality bar — you get what you hire
• Define work ethic — their habits become norms
• Build or break speed — great hires accelerate everything

Hire slowly. Fire quickly (if not working). The cost of a bad early hire is immense.