The second part of how to hire: try not to.

You want to think about what is the path for my first 10 or 15 employees going to be as the company grows.

If you don't need it yourself, and you're building something that someone else needs, realize you're at a big disadvantage.

The thirteenth search engine- and without all the features of a web portal, most people thought that was pointless.

For most software startups, this translates to keep growing. For hardware startups, it translates to don't let your ship date slip.

We've seen a lot of data at YC now, and the most successful companies and the ones where the investors do the best... end up giving a lot of stock out to employees- year after year after year.

The most important thing is that there is clear reporting structure and everyone knows what it is.