Hiring6 min read
The 0 to 1 Hiring Guide: Who to Hire First?
Do not hire a specialist. Hire a "Swiss Army Knife". The first 5 employees define 90% of your culture.
The Mentasm Team
December 16, 2025
Who to Hire First?
The Generalist vs The Specialist
At Google, you hire a "Senior Backend Engineer for Distributed Cache Invalidation". At a Startup, you hire "Someone who can figure it out."
Employee #1 must be a Generalist.
- Can they code? Yes.
- Can they talk to users? Yes.
- Can they take out the trash? Yes.
The "Slope" Rule
Don't hire for intercept (where they are now). Hire for slope (how fast they learn). A hungry Junior who learns 10x faster beats a Senior who is "stuck in their ways".
The "No Jerks" Rule
One toxic person in a 50,000 person company is a statistic. One toxic person in a 5 person company is a cancer. Hire for EQ as much as IQ. If you wouldn't want to act stuck in an airport with them for 6 hours, do not hire them.