Hiring

How we find, evaluate, and close great people. Hire slowly, fire kindly.

Open roles

Role	Why we’re hiring	Status
(none currently posted)	—	—

When we post: add row, link to the JD, list interview loop owner.

The hiring principles

1. Slow > fast. A bad hire is 10x more painful than no hire.
2. Optimize for trajectory. Someone improving fast beats someone already great.
3. Bias toward hiring people who write. Writing = thinking. Clear writers ship clearer products.
4. Probationary period is for both sides. First 90 days is structured. Either side can call it.
5. Reference checks happen before, not after, the offer. Talk to 3+ past colleagues every time.

The interview loop (when we hire)

Stage	Owner	Time	What’s evaluated
Recruiter screen	@aphaiboon	30 min	Trajectory, motivation, ICP match
Take-home (small, paid)	@aphaiboon	2–4 hours of candidate time	Quality of thinking + writing
Working session	@aphaiboon + 1 other	90 min	Real collaboration on a real problem
Reference checks	@aphaiboon	—	3+ past colleagues, structured questions
Offer	@aphaiboon	—	Comp + equity + benefits

What we evaluate

For engineering roles:

• Writes clearly (PRs, RFCs, comms)
• Owns the full stack of a problem (won’t bounce a ticket back saying “not my area”)
• Has trajectory (improving rapidly in the last 1–3 years)
• Ships (can point to specific things they shipped and what changed)

For all roles:

• Calm. No theatrics, no hype, no over-claiming.
• Ownership. Treats the company’s outcome as their own.
• Curiosity. Asks better questions than they answer.

Comp philosophy

• Top-of-market cash for our stage
• Meaningful equity (all employees, vesting per offer letter)
• No “Bay Area only” pay zones — geo-neutral
• Annual comp review tied to trajectory, not tenure

Related

• Org & Roles
• Benefits
• Onboarding — what comes after the offer