Hire every position at least one month early

HelloSign had a big spike in support needs awhile back. The growth was great, but at the time, we didn’t have enough support people to meet that growth. Since we’re committed to closing out every ticket each day, the support team worked long hours to meet demand.  [1]

People often advise only hiring when you absolutely need to hire. There’s some wisdom here - it helps prevent a bloated team and keeps process efficient. But, I think this this is fundamentally incorrect. We’ve created a new framework for hiring:

Plan to hire every position 1 month earlier than needed

Here’s why I like this approach better:
1. The team will be more effective
When people are at capacity, they can’t think of efficiencies and improvements. They can only solve issues on a case by case basis, instead of having the space and time to think holistically. Holistic thinking, not working until exhaustion, is what produces efficiency.

2. People stay at the company longer
Many of the resumes we see have people staying at companies a transient 1-2 years. Many of them were overwhelmed at their previous positions (see Your company should never be frantic). Finding the right people to join your company is a huge effort. Having a consistent group of people solving an important problem over a long period of time is what produces great companies, not a revolving door of burnt out people.

3. Team morale will be better
If a startup is doing well, it will hit capacity often. Startups are built for growth (see Startups = Growth). Growth creates issues, which is why people join startups - it’s fun and challenging. That doesn’t mean you accept all growth issues. It means it’s important to solve as many growth issues in advance that are under your control. That way, the team can more easily handle capacity moments when they come.

4. Customers will be happier
Imagine: you build a product, spend money on growth and when new customers email you -  their first interaction with a person at your company is a negative one. The team doesn’t have time to properly think through a customer question or replies several days later. Phenomenal, expedient support is a startup’s major advantage - an advantage that should never be ceded to competitors. We have an incredible team, but even the most dedicated people can only do so much over long periods of time.

Lastly, it takes a lot longer to find great candidates than you imagine. Even if you want to wait until the very last possible moment to hire someone, it’ll take at least 1 month from the beginning of your search to their start date. Then, it’s important to account for the ramp up period as well.

There’s an image of startups being in a constant state of hitting capacity; since that’s what startups are supposed to be like, it’s not worth problem solving in advance. I think that’s wrong. It’s because startups will often grow fast that you absolutely need to remove as many of the full capacity moments before they happen that are under your control. We still have a lot to learn, but, as one solution, we’re going to start hiring people one month early.

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[1] The support team kicks ass, btw. We’ve since made additional hires and we’re still hiring. If you’re interested in joining, feel free to apply: