For early employees you want people that have somewhat of a risk-taking attitude.
The company just needs to see you as like this maniacal execution machine.
In YC's case, the number one cause of early death for startups is cofounder blowups.
It's easy to move fast or be obsessed with quality, but the trick is you have to do both at a startup.
So it's worth some real up front time to think through the long term value and the defensibility of the business.
The cost of getting an early hire wrong is really high.