

Ask HN: How do I know in an interview if someone can handle startup-life? - e1ven

So I'll freely admit I work stupidly long hours- I live on Redbull, and get off on making things that I can look back at, and say "Yeah, I'm proud of that."<p>My primary job is in IT, but I'll jump in on and spend two hours creating user stories or writing marketing copy.
 There's been times that I added code which is still in production years later.<p>Things are hectic, but challenging, rewarding, and if you put in the effort, you can make a real difference.<p>One of the things I've found is that when you work with people for a while, you get a feeling for who'd you want to steal for your next company. The sort of people you know are perfect for this sort of environment, and really thrive in it.<p>Basically, as Joel says- People who are Smart, and Get Things Done.<p>Here's the tough part- How do I find those people BEFORE the Hire/NoHire decision is made?<p>Are there any tricks to finding people in the interview or phone interview, and get a sense of how well they'll work in such a weird world?
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bartonfink
I don't know what the secret is, because "smartness" is vague enough that it's
not objectively measurable. We aren't talking about lifting weights or running
the mile where you can know your own abilities and compare them to another
person's - intelligence just doesn't work that way. Interviews and
conversations are the best way I know of to tell how "smart" someone is, but
there are problems there as well.

The problem I have in mind (there are others) is that it's not very easy to
tell if someone is smarter than you are. I find that it's easy to tell if
someone is less intelligent than I am because they don't recognize their
assumptions, draw incorrect inferences or are otherwise sloppy. However, in a
sense I'm just testing for the absence of stupidity and not the presence of
intelligence. I find it very difficult to tell if someone's actually smarter
than I am or just more knowledgeable.

What I would suggest is that you have several people interview this person
separately (ideally on separate topics) and use their opinions to formulate a
judgement. If, after conversations on different topics, 5 engineers say "this
girl seems to know her stuff" then it's a much safer bet that this is person
is a bar-raiser than if it's just you. Yes, you'll likely be turning lots of
people away, but that's what happens if you keep raising the bar.

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rick888
"So I'll freely admit I work stupidly long hours- I live on Redbull, and get
off on making things that I can look back at, and say "Yeah, I'm proud of
that." My primary job is in IT, but I'll jump in on and spend two hours
creating user stories or writing marketing copy. There's been times that I
added code which is still in production years later."

Are you expecting your employee to go through those same sacrifices while at
the same time only getting a paycheck?

~~~
e1ven
I'm not a founder here; I just get enjoy this. See also: The people at Reddit.

I'm not expecting people to climb over Everest, but there's a difference
between people who show up, and people who try to make a difference.

I've worked big companies Twice before.. In both cases, I knew it was wrong
for me within two weeks of starting. I didn't stay at either longer than a
month.

There IS something very different about the entire startup environment. I just
don't know how to select for it.

~~~
rick888
If I'm going to get a percentage of the business, I would definitely work my
ass off after-hours with red bull to get the app/business going. However, if I
am just an employee, I will do my best, but not put in anything beyond what I
am paid to do.

