
Ask HN: When to hire a non technical friend to your startup? - bo_Olean
You hired a non technical friend of yours in your startup, does that has anything to do with startup progress? The question is straightforward to most of you.. when should a startup "could" hire non technical person when in their struggling phase ?
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michaelpinto
You know what the problem is with your statement? It's not he fact that you
refer to this potential employee as "non technical" but as a "friend". Yes you
should enjoy to work with whomever you hire, but you shouldn't be lazy about
their skill set. If the person is a designer, try to get the BEST designer —
not a friend. If the person does business, try to attract the best
businessperson — not a friend.

The curse of twentysomethings is to hire their best friends. They feel
insecure and are afraid of failure. Hire someone great that you aren't afraid
to fire. By the way this doesn't just apply to tech startups — it can apply to
a band or staffing a restaurant.

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bdrocco
As I once heard serial entrepreneur Tim Bucher say... "Always hire people who
are smarter than yourself." It's an extremely difficult task since every
entrepreneur wants to do something bigger and better than anyone else.

I'd like to think my friends are the smartest guys on the block. ;-) We
founded a startup in 2008 that had a successful M&V, but our engineering team
was already tried and tested prior to the company.

However, don't assume this is a curse of "twentysomethings," this is a problem
that I've seen span generations.

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ddagradi
It all depends on your situation.

Do you have ~1 year of salary for a new employee in the bank? You're probably
doing alright then, and can definitely afford the risk. "1 year of salary" is,
of course, just a suggestion, but you don't want to hire someone without
looking really deeply at how it will affect your finances if you are in a
"struggling" phase.

Do you spend an inordinate amount of time doing non-technical tasks that take
away from your product? If so, a designer/salesperson/client-wrangler can be
an extremely valuable asset in even a small company.

Essentially, if they fit a need you think you have in your business, there's
nothing wrong with a hire. Don't just hire a friend because your friend needs
a job though - that's a sure-fire recipe for disaster.

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rushabh
The friend has to be a real hustler, great in communication, specially
written, should have a knack for closing deals and is willing to help in
documentation and testing.

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helen842000
If they have nothing to bring to the start-up then why hire them at all?

However if they have skills that other team members don't have they could be a
valuable addition. The right time to hire them is when you realise the level
of value they would bring is at least 2x upwards of their salary.

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joman21
Don't ever get a non technical idiot.

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gyardley
Don't ever get an idiot, period. There's no need to qualify it.

To answer the original poster, hire a person (non-technical or otherwise) when
their benefit exceeds their cost by a substantial amount. I wouldn't recommend
hiring a friend, though, without doing a search to see if there are better
people for the role at the amount you can afford. You need the best person you
can recruit - which _might_ be your friend, but probably isn't.

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bo_Olean
But: search to see if there are better people for the role _at the amount you
can afford_

Quoted to remind myself. Thanks for the input.

