Really dig into projects people have worked on and call references; that is another thing that first time founders like to skip.

In the beginning of a company, there is no management and this actually works really well.

A single mediocre hire in the first five will often in fact kill a startup.

You have to be intense. This only comes from the CEO, this only comes from the founders.

Here's a good rule of thumb: don't worry about a competitor at all, until they're actually beating you with a real shipped product.

No matter what you choose, build stuff and be around smart people.

So always keep momentum, it's this prime directive for managing a startup.