Hiring Guides for Startup Founders

Practical frameworks, templates, and step-by-step guides for founders who want to make great hires, without a recruiter or HR team.

All Guides Interview Questions Job Descriptions Startup Hiring Scorecards

Hiring Framework

15 Phone Screen Interview Questions That Save You Hours

Most founders skip the phone screen and go straight to a 60-minute interview. A 20-minute call with these 15 questions filters out mismatches before you waste a full interview slot.

8 min read · Jul 2026

Interviewing

40 Behavioral Interview Questions to Ask Candidates, by Competency

A guide for the interviewer, not the candidate. 40 questions across six competencies, what a strong answer sounds like, and a 1-5 rubric so you can score candidates consistently instead of trusting a gut feeling.

12 min read · May 2026

Sales Hiring

How to Hire Your First Salesperson: A Founder's Playbook

The interview process, the four competencies that predict performance, and the mistakes that make this hire fail. Includes a sales simulation framework you can use next week.

8 min read · Apr 2026

Hiring Framework

12 Reference Check Questions That Actually Reveal the Truth

Most reference calls confirm what you already know. These 12 questions, organised by competency, turn a 20-minute call into your most useful source of evidence before making an offer.

6 min read · Apr 2026

Interview Questions

Structured Interview Questions: 30 Examples by Role (With Sample Answers)

What structured interview questions actually look like in practice, role by role, with strong and weak answer examples so you know what you're evaluating.

9 min read · Mar 2026

Scorecards

5 Interview Scorecard Examples (Free Templates by Role)

Real, ready-to-use interview scorecards for software engineers, marketing managers, SDRs, product managers, and ops hires, with competencies, questions, and scoring criteria.

8 min read · Mar 2026

Interview Questions

40 Interview Questions for Software Engineers (by Level)

Behavioral, technical process, and culture questions for junior, mid, and senior engineers. Organized by competency with scoring notes.

5 min read · Feb 2026

Job Description Template

Marketing Manager Job Description Template (Free, Editable)

A complete, ready-to-post marketing manager JD with mission, responsibilities, requirements, and 30/60/90-day success metrics.

4 min read · Feb 2026

Hiring Framework

How to Evaluate Job Candidates Objectively (Without the Bias)

The evidence-based framework for comparing candidates fairly, from setting criteria before interviews to running structured debriefs.

6 min read · Feb 2026

Checklist

Startup Hiring Checklist: 25 Steps Before You Make an Offer

The complete checklist for every hire, from defining the role to making the offer, avoiding the most common startup hiring mistakes.

7 min read · Feb 2026

Guide

How to Write a Job Description That Actually Attracts the Right People

Why most job descriptions repel good candidates. A section-by-section guide to writing one that works.

5 min read · Feb 2026

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