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.

Whatever the founder cares about, whatever the founders think are the key goals, that's going to be what the whole company focusses on.

Move fast. Speed is one of your main advantages over large companies.

For most of the early hires you make in a startup, experience doesn't matter very much, and you should go for aptitude.

Execution gets divided into two key questions: 1) can you figure out what to do and 2) can you get it done.

As the company grows and about this 25 or so employee size, your main job shifts from building a great product to building a great company.

1 of the hardest parts about being a founder, is that there are a 100 important things competing for your attention each day.