Recruiting the first employees of a start-up: who wants to play russian roulette?

The recruitment of the first employees of a Start-Up is probably one of the most explosive challenges of the entrepreneurial adventure.

Ideally, the first 5 employees profile would gather multiple architect-mason-student abilities. A casting mistake, and the whole structure is in danger.

To avoid the risk, here are some specific start-up elements (arguments recruitment, selection criteria) to interact with candidates and identify the most suitable for the company.

Initially, what are the best arguments to attract candidates?

• Some freedom in the contours of the job,
• Acquiring years of experience in a few months,
• The opportunity to first write the definition of a new profession,
• Internal career evolution,
• Privileged access to capital ...

Then, what are the attitudes to look for in candidates profiles, technical skills being equal, to participate in an exploratory cycle (not operating)?

1. People who can quickly build up 80% to 95% of the desired function by the founder, in contrast profiles of experts chasing 5% to 10% more performance) in a competitive environment.
2. With excellent adaptability and listening capacities (customer seduction, seduction supplier), in contrast to those who need of a frame, or an organization to produce results. Typically: when an item is missing, the employee creates it and moves further. The characteristic of start-up market adjustment is that it explores, and the first employees will be those that will fuel much of the knowledge base on which the organization evolves.
3. With a very high degree of autonomy, meaning not calling for founder help unless all solutions are exhausted. In the spirit of the candidate, a non-strategic problem with a potential solution that would work at 80%, must become a solved problem.
4. Having a creative mind, an ability to rebound, and real skill to learn because every step is new in these unbeaten paths.
5. With a high patience and tolerance to strategy shifts. These events are common in the early years, and is not much the change of destination specified by the founder, but the numbers of necessary turns he will take, without always having the time to explain them properly. These changes should not confuse the candidate.
6. Participating in the credibility of the structure, that is already being credible by themselves, and then justifying the credibility of the structure by joining.