Building the earliest team: first hires, startup jobs, compensation without cash, and the culture decisions made before there is a culture.
9 articles
When to make your first startup hire, who to hire first, how to attract talent without a big salary, and the offer and onboarding that set an early team up to win.
How startup stock options work for early employees: option pools, strike price, vesting, exercising, and what an offer of equity is actually worth before you accept.
How to find a CTO for your startup: co-founder versus hire versus fractional, where technical leaders actually look, how to vet them, and what equity to offer.
The best platforms and apps to find a co-founder in 2026, what each one is good at, and how to actually get a reply once you are on them — a founder's field guide.
A practical, founder-tested playbook for finding a technical co-founder in 2026: where to look, how to pitch, how to run a trial project and when to commit.
How to find startup jobs, evaluate early-stage roles and equity, and stand out to founders — a practical guide to joining a startup at the right stage.
How to pay early team members when cash is scarce: the salary-versus-equity trade-off, typical ranges, vesting, and a framework for fair startup offers.
The roles a founding team actually needs, how to find and align them, and the team-building habits that keep early startups from imploding under pressure.
The qualities that matter, the questions to ask, and how to vet a potential co-founder's compatibility before you split equity and sign anything.