Companies that I've been very involved with, that have had a very bad first hire in the first 3 or so employees never recover from it.

Before 20 or 25 employees, most companies are structured with everyone reporting to the founder. It's totally flat.

Most founders have not managed people before, and they certainly haven't managed managers.

I myself used to believe ideas didn't matter that much, but I'm very sure that's wrong now.

One thing I tell startups all the time is that the best way to grow is to make their product better.

Cofounder relationships are among the most important in the entire company.

The cost of getting an early hire wrong is really high.