Founders Lounge

Congrats on the raise. I would advise you to consider creating  a strong roadmap foundation that include several of the bullets you mentioned. You need to make sure your "house is in order" Sam Wong (Fundable Startups) provides exactly what steps to take before you think about hiring for a position. Best of luck.

Congrats on closing your funding round!

We didn't hire until  we had  revenue and profit. We started all our technical hires as contractors to make sure there was a good fit before hiring as employees. Not all contractors made it to employees and that can be a positive thing for the company and the contractor. Sometimes contract work is best for everyone. But always follow the law when it comes to contract/employee classifications. 

Hiring technical employees can be difficult, I would estimate our success rate on hires at about 50%. It is very difficult to determine a good hire so bringing a CTO onboard with equity from the start is dangerous. You definitely need a vesting schedule to make sure you don't over dilute your shares. If the new CTO walks after a month and takes 30% of the company it will be difficult to attract the next CTO or even investors because there will be less shares to provide.

The better condition of the company the easier it will be to hire people. People like to work in successful companies. If you can show revenue growth month after month that is exciting. That will help attract employees at a much lower capital cost. A company with little revenue growth will require high salaries to attract good employees. High salaries is something most startups can't afford for long.

This was our general path, built the MVP app with cofounders, sold the MVP app to customers, generated revenue, showed revenue growth month over month and year over year (still just cofounders), hired marketing intern (MBA student), then designer (helped with website/app), then programmers and customer service help. 

Appreciate you share your experience @Paul Bodnar. Great advice on vesting schedules and hiring contractors. 

Did you find it difficult to attract talent hiring as contractors? Did you find that the hourly pay had to be higher to attract them to your company and did the lack of benefits make up for it? How did you figure out what pay was fair? 

Congrats on closing your funding round!

We didn't hire until  we had  revenue and profit. We started all our technical hires as contractors to make sure there was a good fit before hiring as employees. Not all contractors made it to employees and that can be a positive thing for the company and the contractor. Sometimes contract work is best for everyone. But always follow the law when it comes to contract/employee classifications. 

Hiring technical employees can be difficult, I would estimate our success rate on hires at about 50%. It is very difficult to determine a good hire so bringing a CTO onboard with equity from the start is dangerous. You definitely need a vesting schedule to make sure you don't over dilute your shares. If the new CTO walks after a month and takes 30% of the company it will be difficult to attract the next CTO or even investors because there will be less shares to provide.

The better condition of the company the easier it will be to hire people. People like to work in successful companies. If you can show revenue growth month after month that is exciting. That will help attract employees at a much lower capital cost. A company with little revenue growth will require high salaries to attract good employees. High salaries is something most startups can't afford for long.

This was our general path, built the MVP app with cofounders, sold the MVP app to customers, generated revenue, showed revenue growth month over month and year over year (still just cofounders), hired marketing intern (MBA student), then designer (helped with website/app), then programmers and customer service help.