Should You Hire This Executive?

intermediate

Evaluation framework for executive hiring decisions to avoid expensive mistakes.

When to use this:

  • •Hiring C-level executive
  • •Bringing in "adult supervision"
  • •Replacing founder in key role
~15 min•8 questions

Framework Details

Category

Hiring & People

Difficulty

intermediate

Estimated Time

~15 minutes

When to Use This

  • •Hiring C-level executive
  • •Bringing in "adult supervision"
  • •Replacing founder in key role
  • •Expensive hire with equity
  • •Team is split on candidate

Warning Signs

  • •Asks about vacation policy before asking about product
  • •Dismissive of current team's work
  • •Only worked at one company for entire career
  • •Can't name specific accomplishments, only titles
  • •References say "great guy" but can't cite specific achievements
  • •Overly focused on hierarchy and org charts

Real Example

This framework is based on patterns from:

The $8M CEO Hire Mistake

Hired big-company executive to run startup. Culture clash destroyed momentum, team morale, and growth trajectory.

Read the full story →