In fast-growth and early stage environments, the people you hire can make you or break you. When the pace is relentless and the playbook is being written in real time, the difference between success and failure really does come down to the people in the room. I’ve built and rebuilt multiple teams from scratch - at YPlan, Resy, TodayTix, SeatGeek, Ticketscript - and I’ve seen this truth play out again and again.

That’s me in the late nineties

A very long time ago, I used to race yachts for a living. The kind of big 80ft ocean racers which could have 13tons of load on a 16mm line; where one bad decision could seriously injure you or far worse. Seriously.

We used to trial a lot of crew candidates - very experienced yachts-people and dinghy racers. Interestingly, dinghy sailors nearly always got the job: they knew the limits of their knowledge and were highly respectful of the forces in play. Candidates from a "normal" (~40ft) yachting background - although more experienced - often showed some very bad habits (eg wrapping lines around their wrists) which could have got them seriously injured.

At TodayTix, one of my favourite company values was "Let Experience Inform You, Not Confine You!" This is such a powerful reminder that, no matter how experienced you are, there is always space to learn and grow - nobody knows it all. Someone very wise (I think it was Sam Shank) once said that founders should avoid hiring executives from the industry they were planning to disrupt - because self-limiting beliefs and behaviours would curtail true innovation and progressive thinking.

It's behaviours born of experience that can lead to disaster if applied in a new and different environment. And there is no more challenging environment (other than a racing yacht, maybe!) than a startup. And someone with the right attitude - hungry to learn, willing to experiment, unafraid to fail fast and recover - will both grow with, and help grow, the company.

Because here’s the thing: experience can be earned. Systems can be taught. Industry knowledge can be learned. But attitude is innate.

In a startup, where you’re effectively asking people to scale a rocket ship (and bolt the wings on) without a manual, you need people who thrive amid ambiguity and stress, adapt under pressure, and keep moving forward when others freeze. High-growth businesses will ALWAYS outpace the structures designed to support them. Processes are temporary. Roles are fluid. Yesterday’s solution is tomorrow’s bottleneck.

That’s why hiring purely for expertise is short-sighted. A candidate with ten years’ domain experience but little appetite for change WILL struggle.

I've previously written about the differing founder traits you might encounter, but what about the early team?

The BEST hires:

Weren’t always the most experienced
Were always resilient, curious, and scrappy
Spotted and owned problems and found solutions without waiting for permission

The WORST?

Thought they knew it all - which was self-limiting
Were not receptive to challenged opinions, with poor EQ
Delegated quickly without thinking problems through

So hire for attitude not experience. Train for excellence. Do that consistently, and you don’t just build a team: you build a culture that scales.

If you’re building something and want a partner who’s been through the trenches, I’d love to help. If you’ve enjoyed this, then hit connect to make sure you don’t miss the next one!

DO Give Me That Attitude!

JFDI