There are 3 things I look for when I hire people. Are they smart? Do they get things done? Do I want to spend a lot of time around them?
If you compromise in the first five, ten hires it might kill the company.
You really want to know your cofounders for a while, ideally years.
At YC we have this public phrase, and it's relentlessly resourceful.
1 of the hardest parts about being a founder, is that there are a 100 important things competing for your attention each day.
As you grow, the productivity I think, goes down with the square of the number of employees if you don't make an effort.