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Most founders I meet are running an interview process they’ve inherited from somewhere else. A corporate job they held in their twenties. A template they found online. A process their last employer used that they’re now vaguely recreating.
The problem?
Corporate interview frameworks weren’t designed for early-stage companies. They were designed to protect large organisations from hiring mistakes through process and bureaucracy. Your goal is different. You need to find out if this person will actually work in your team – quickly, without wasting three weeks and a panel of five.
After 27 years in recruitment, I’ve seen brilliant founders run terrible interviews, and I’ve seen first-time hirers get it exactly right. The difference is almost always the same: the ones who get it right are interviewing for chemistry, not just credentials.
What a Startup Interview Process Needs to Do
Before you design a single stage, get clear on what you’re actually trying to find out.
You need to know three things about every candidate. Can they do the job? Will they thrive in your environment right now – not in six months, not at a different stage, now? And will they add to what you’re building, not just slot into it?
That’s it. Every stage of your process should be designed to answer those three questions. If a stage doesn’t help you answer one of them, cut it.
The Stages That Actually Work
Stage 1 – A short qualifying call (20-30 minutes)
This isn’t a deep interview.
It’s a sense-check.
You’re looking for enthusiasm for the stage you’re at, basic competency signals, and any obvious misalignments that would make further conversation a waste of both your time. Keep it short. Keep it conversational. This is where you can tell a lot from how someone asks questions, not just how they answer yours.
One thing I always notice: the best candidates arrive curious.
They’ve done their homework, they’ve thought about the role, and they have genuine questions. That curiosity matters far more than a polished set of rehearsed answers.
Stage 2 – A practical task or work sample
For most roles, this is the most useful thing you’ll do.
Not a four-hour project.
Not a full strategy presentation.
Something focused and bounded that gives you real evidence of how someone works.
A piece of copy for a marketing hire. A short analysis for an ops role. A brief technical task for a developer. Something where you can see their thinking, not just their results.
Two things to watch:
- how they ask questions before they start (the good ones will clarify the brief rather than guess), and;
- how they explain their decisions after.
The output matters less than the reasoning behind it.
Stage 3 – A proper conversation with you
This is where chemistry is assessed.
Not ‘do I like this person’ – chemistry isn’t about liking someone. It’s about whether they’ll work in your specific team, with your specific way of operating, at your specific stage.
- Ask about their worst day in their last role.
- Ask what they’d change about the companies they’ve worked for.
- Ask what they find genuinely difficult.
The answers to those questions will tell you far more than ‘what are your strengths and weaknesses.’
And here’s something that gets missed constantly: they’re interviewing you too.
A strong candidate is assessing whether your company is worth their time. If you’re vague about direction, defensive about challenges, or can’t articulate why someone would choose you – that’s your feedback.
Stage 4 – Meet the team (where relevant)
For roles where team fit is particularly important, a short, informal meeting with one or two existing team members is worth doing.
Not a formal interview – a genuine conversation. The goal is for both sides to get a realistic read on each other.
Brief your team member clearly beforehand. They need to understand what you’re looking for and what’s appropriate to discuss. And give them space to give you honest feedback afterwards. Sometimes the team sees something you’ve missed.
Common Interview Mistakes Founders Make
Too many stages
Four rounds of interviews plus a test plus a presentation is a corporate model.
For a founder at the stage where you’re reading this, it signals either indecision or poor process design. Two to three stages is usually enough. If you can’t make a decision after three rounds, the issue isn’t the process.
Interviewing for the person they were, not the person they need
You’re not hiring for the stage you’re leaving.
You’re hiring for the stage you’re entering. A candidate with three years at a FTSE 100 might be incredibly capable and completely wrong for where you are right now. That’s not a criticism of them – it’s just a mismatch.
Not listening to the team
The hiring decision sits with you. However, if three people in your team came away from a candidate interaction with the same concern, take it seriously before you override it.
A Note on the Interview Experience
The way you run your interview process is your employer brand in action. Slow communication, disorganised logistics, unclear timelines – candidates notice all of it. Strong candidates especially, because they have options.
Prompt responses, clear next steps, honest feedback – these things cost nothing and make an enormous difference to the quality of people who choose to join you.
If you’d like a structured tool for building your interview process, the HFBAC Interview Toolkit is a good starting point. It’s free to access and built specifically for early-stage founders running their own hiring.
Access the HFBAC Interview Toolkit
AUTHOR BIO
Helen Wingrove-Sanders has 27 years of recruitment experience and is the founder of HFBAC. She works with bootstrapped and founder-led UK businesses using her Chemistry First methodology – the belief that the right hire isn’t the best CV in the pile, it’s the right person for this team, at this stage. Find her at hfbac.com.
