5 types of people you should avoid in a startup

Do you believe everyone is a good fit to work as part of a startup? If that is the case, you may want to rethink that idea. Only one bad person in the wrong position can spell disaster. If you have more than one of those types of people, you may want to say goodbye to your plans of building a business.

In this article, you will learn what kind of people you should completely avoid when hiring for your startup.

The Mercenary

When you are beginning your journey to create a startup, you should never do it only with money in mind. You must start it out of passion or the will to create something that is yours. Money must come second, at best.

The same thing is valid for the first few people your recruit for your company. If money is their first concern, kindly say no to them. You should really avoid hiring money-makers as an early startup. They will run out at the first sign of your account running low.

Instead, focus on getting people who adhere to your vocation or passion for the business you are in. This way you will be sure they are on your side and will work hard to build your company up. In turn, you should provide them with shares in the company, which will surely motivate them to grow it.

However, never make the mistake of giving shares to people when you hire them. If you do that, they can just leave in the first month, with your shares. Give them shares when a certain objective is reached or after a number of months or years they worked on building your company.

The lazy

Startups are famous for periods of extremely intense work. Those periods are the type of burnout experiences that require a certain type of determination and will. During those periods everyone must help get the tasks done.

If you have someone who does not really like working long hours or has a family that does not understand that this is part of the job, he or she will not be a good fit. You need someone who you can rely on to get the stuff done when needed. And to work long hours when a sudden opportunity arises.

The two-faced

While this is a popular sport for big corporations, being two-faced and sneaky is very unwise in a startup. You cannot waste time on petty mind games, schemes, and lies when building up your company. You need people to place your trust in. That won’t stab you in the back when it matters most, or leave you when you are in need.

Honesty is absolutely required for an early-stage start-up. You cannot lie your way to success. Everyone has to be transparent about everything that happens as part of the startup, be it good or bad news. That way you can address problems fast and seize opportunities faster.

Avoid liars and petty people like the plague. You do not need them, no matter how skilled they are. The corporations will welcome them for sure. Let them reach their destiny.

The “troubled superstar”

You may also find people that are extremely skilled in whatever their role is. But they also have problems interacting with people and working as part of a team. Do not fall into the trap of hiring them as it will be more fuss than it is worth it.

They will constantly seek to argue. They will put other people down because of how “skilled” they are and will drain everyone’s energy. A startup is a team in which everyone must work together to succeed. No matter the experience or skill he or she possesses.

The “my ego is much bigger than yours”

Ego and individualism are team killers in any type of group. That is even more true for startups, where resources and time are limited.

If a person cannot handle professional constructive criticism and feedback, he will not be able to improve and learn. Startups are all about learning. It is not a typical 9 to 5 job where you do more or less the same thing every day.

As part of a startup, you have to learn how to do new things. Be it on the business side, technological side, or anything else that needs doing. There is no fixed role, only the goal.

If someone cannot get rid of his ego, at least in the professional arena, he will never learn new things. Things that are needed for the startup to grow. And will also be needed when the startup becomes a bigger company, for decision-making.

Bonus: do not use recruiters

When creating your team the worst thing you can do is use recruiters — unless you know them really well. In 99% of cases, recruiters will bring in people that fit perfectly in one of the 5 types of people you should never hire in a startup. Recruiters are good when your company is already big and you need to scale your business. But while you are beginning your journey and in a few years after, you need to avoid them. Instead, use referrals from people you know or do active searching for people that you think will be a good fit. As a rule of thumb, get to know those people before you make them an offer of joining your journey.

Conclusion

Recruiting is an extremely tiresome endeavor for a startup, but is also crucial to success. If you do it badly, it will bite you in the ass with a 100% chance. Maybe not immediately but definitely. If you learn how to spot the people who will be a good addition, along with your well-thought startup idea, you will be on the road to success. Hopefully, this article will help you in making better hiring decisions and put you on the road to growing a successful business.