Army battalions as we will know have this typical roles played by people
GENERAL >>> MAJOR >>>> CAPTAIN >>> SOLDIERS
A general who have possibly a major/captain reporting into him and a few soldiers who are at the bottom of the command chain.
The wars are never fought by the generals of the world because they need to work on creating the best strategy to beat the enemy and capture the territory. So, it is left for the people below him or in most cases onto the soldiers take the front line and fight for all.
Now Imagine all these soldiers start acting like generals and not perform their respective roles. They want to start their own battalions and fight their own wars. This will affect the initial war plan and may result in a loss.
Now, think of these army units as startups who have 1 or 2 generals i.e. founders and a few soldiers i.e. developers, designers, sales guys etc.
Imagine yourself as the general managing all those developers etc. are aspirational founders who want to start their own startups, you have trouble coming your way.
From my own experience and from the founders I know, hiring rockstars as developers is good but not those who plan to start their startups pretty soon.
As a startup you need only soldiers, who just accept and follow your commands. You are the ideator and the true believer in your idea. If you need to get that product/idea delivered on time by any means possible, you need to do what it takes it to get things done. You cannot by any means lose focus because someone in your office is secretly planning his/her own startup.
I have seen many people leaving projects mid-way or just absconding for days as they have their own beliefs/ideas,usually not similar the organisation they work for.
Hiring generals can many times backfire because generals don’t take orders from generals.
A few pointers which I have gathered through my experience
• Don’t hire the first developer or designer you get hands on in a networking event
• Judge the aspirations and inspirations if possible while the interview.
• Meet them more than a couple of times to get a better understanding of their plans.. I know this can be tough for many as time is money for startups but a bad hiring can hurt you more than that.
Last but not the least, if you already found someone not working as per your guidelines, have a discussion and sort things out. You just cant shy away from discussions and confrontations as it is your startup.
But having said that I would not suggest you to shy away from the so called startup recruiting drives/meetups as you get to meet some interesting people who might just help you in finding the exact fit or someone you can hire in the future.
Are you a general??? What is the status with your Battalion??
Originally posted here