

Ask HN: Hiring employees - joelmaat

In mapping out my startup, I seem to be having a mental block when it comes to hiring employees. For some reason, I am blowing the cost/difficulty (I think) of this step way out of proportion. This has led me to wonder both how many entrepreneurs here run their business solo, and how many have hiring down pat? If you have employees, then what was the process like getting them on board, staying legal, and keeping them happy?<p>Are you generally good with the employees (I'm always being called an asshole), or did you have to hire someone to handle that?
======
kls
_I'm always being called an asshole_

If you are fair, then most people don't care if you are an asshole. Most
people can tolerate a straightforward person so long and they are ethical and
fair. If you embody other negative traits like deception or hypocrisy being an
asshole will amplify them. History is full of examples of men that where not
the most pleasant but are still respected for there adherence to ethics. In
fact in some situations being an asshole is required to adhere to an ethical
standard. For me personal I would take a deep internal look at why people have
that perception, if it is due to negative attributes I would strive to correct
them, if not I would not be overly concerned about them.

As for a first hire, it is always the most difficult, it's kind of like a hump
once you get over it the next hire becomes easy. The easiest way to do it is
to just commit to it in your mind as if it already happened, this will help
you get past the sacrifice mentally. Then, look for people that have
delivered, delivery is the most important factor for a small company and a
employee that can deliver means more products / features to market or more
servicing capacity. In which case the hire will pay for themselves.

