Hiring ownership
Battle testedWho owns each step of a hire at each stage, how to run the interview loop and the debrief, and how much time each person should spend.
Who owns each step
Set by the dial on the instrument. It follows your headcount until you turn it.
- Runs it
- Founders: sourcing, interviews and offers. Advisers help with references.
- You keep
- Every interview and every offer.
- Hand off
- Payroll set-up, and contract templates to a lawyer.
My stance
The founder is the hiring manager: who they need, and the final call. Write the scorecard before the first call.
- Runs it
- Hiring manager, often a founder. Ops generalist or Chief of Staff for logistics. Contract recruiter on demand.
- You keep
- The final yes on every hire, the culture and the bar.
- Hand off
- Scheduling, applicant tracking admin, offer packs and reference logistics.
My stance
No full-time recruiter yet. Founder, team and investor networks, plus specialist recruiters for the hard roles.
- Runs it
- Hiring manager owns each requisition. First recruiter, in-house or contract.
- You keep
- Exec hires, the last interview for the first 20 hires, and pay policy.
- Hand off
- Sourcing, screening, scheduling and candidate communication.
My stance
The Chief of Staff or talent lead owns the process: pipeline, rubric, follow-ups, and pulling the feedback together.
- Runs it
- A recruiting team of 2 to 5 with a head of talent. Hiring managers decide.
- You keep
- Exec hires, and the final signature on offers above a set level.
- Hand off
- Everything else, including sourcing strategy and closing.
My stance
Hire a recruiter when you are recruiting all the time and the return on candidates pays for the salary.
- Runs it
- A talent acquisition function with sourcers, coordinators and operations.
- You keep
- Hires at VP level and above, and searches the board sees.
- Hand off
- Almost everything else.
My stance
Match the test to the role: a structured interview, a case study on a real problem, or a half-day trial onsite.
Who runs the search?
Up to six questions. The rust line is your path. Each faint branch is where the other answer leads. Turn the dial to your stage; slide or type your headcount.
Are the interviews already done, and you are at the debrief?
- Yes: More questions
- No: More questions
What are you hiring?
- Executive or head of a function: More questions
- Anyone below that: More questions
Can your board, investors and network supply three or more vetted candidates within about four weeks?
- Yes: Founder hires and decides
- No: More questions
Is there budget for an agency (commonly 20% to 25% of first-year pay in Germany)?
- Yes: Use search, keep the decision
- No: Founder and advisers source
How many roles will you open in the next 12 months?
- 1 to 5: Hiring manager owns the loop
- 6 to 15: More questions
- 16 or more: Hire an in-house recruiter
Does the founder spend more than about a day a week on scheduling and screening, or is the pipeline mostly outbound?
- Yes: Add a contract recruiter
- No: Process before headcount
After independent written scores, does any interviewer give a strong no on a must-have competency?
- Yes: Answer the objection in writing
- No: The hiring manager decides
Founder hires and decides
Use a written scorecard and 3 to 4 interviewers, including a peer-level exec. The founder takes two references. Leadership hiring mistakes are among the likeliest reasons for failure.
Use search, keep the decision
The founder owns the scorecard, the first call with each shortlisted candidate and the final decision. The agency owns sourcing, screening and candidate care. German fees run from 5% to 27%.
Founder and advisers source
One adviser runs the reference checks. No external fee, so the cost is founder time.
Hiring manager owns the loop
The founder joins every loop for the first 10 hires. An ops generalist or Chief of Staff handles logistics and the offer pack. Low volume does not pay for a recruiter.
Hire an in-house recruiter
Add a coordinator once 8 or more roles are open at once. In-house recruiters are most cost-effective with 4 to 10 open requisitions, consistently.
Add a contract recruiter
A recruiter or coordinator takes sourcing and scheduling. a16z argues for a recruiter among the first 10 hires, with 50 to 100 contacts for one engineering hire.
Process before headcount
Hiring managers lead with an applicant tracking system and a scorecard template. Ops owns scheduling and candidate communication.
Answer the objection in writing
No hire unless the objection is answered in writing in the debrief. Otherwise add one targeted interview, or pass. Independent scores before discussion reduce noise. The rule itself is practice.
The hiring manager decides
Decide within 24 hours of the debrief. The founder vetoes only while the company is under about 15 people.
Answer the last question to see your outcome.
Stage
How a hire runs
Numbered steps, each with an owner, a time cost and a document.
Intake meeting
Why now, what the role must achieve in 12 months, must-have against nice-to-have.
Scorecard
4 to 6 competencies, with what good and great look like and one question for each.
Pay range and level
Set both before the advert goes out.
Works council step
Where one applies, inform and obtain consent before the hire. The one-week clock starts at shortlist.
Check the advert
Read it for neutrality on age, gender and similar grounds.
Application review
Check each application against the must-haves.
Two screens
A recruiter screen of 30 minutes, then a hiring manager screen of 30 to 45 minutes.
Skills assessment
A work sample or structured case, time-boxed to 2 to 3 hours of candidate time.
The loop
Up to four interviewers, 30 to 45 minutes each, each owning one competency. Google found four interviews enough to predict a hire with 86% confidence.
Independent scores
Each interviewer writes a score before any discussion, the same day.
Hold the debrief
Within 24 hours of the loop.
Read scores in random order
Not seniority order. Discuss the disagreements first.
Decide
Hire, no hire, or one named follow-up. The founder can veto under about 15 people.
Tell the candidate
Within one working day. Heavybit moves decisions through or declines them by the end of each Friday.
References
Two per finalist, structured.
Offer pack
Pay band, equity, start date, the candidate’s notice period and signing steps.
Offer call
The hiring manager calls. The founder joins for senior or first-ten hires.
Contract and works council
Contract to the works council where required, and written terms ready for day one.
Rejections
Send each with a documented, job-related reason.
Efficiency savers
What each step saves. Where nobody publishes the number, it says estimate.
Structured interviews with scorecards
This buys accuracy, not time. Revised validity is .42 for structured interviews against about .19 for unstructured.
Sackett et al., via HumRRO: secondary source (opens in a new tab)Cap the loop at four interviewers
Google found four interviews predicted the hire with 86% confidence, and panels of four matched larger panels 95% of the time. That saves an interview or more per candidate.
Google interview findings, via CNBC: secondary source (opens in a new tab)Auto-scheduling
A median of 3.7 hours to confirm an interview, against 5 hours by hand.
Ashby 2026, via HeroHunt: secondary source (opens in a new tab)Same-day written scores and a next-day debrief
Removes 1 to 2 weeks of decision lag per hire.
Estimate, no published data: estimateStandard offer pack and pay band sheet
Saves 1 to 2 hours per offer.
Estimate, no published data: estimateContract recruiter for outbound roles
a16z reports 50 to 100 contacts for one engineering hire. The saving is founder hours.
a16z: primary source (opens in a new tab)
How hiring goes wrong
Failure modes
- No named owner per requisition
One hiring manager per role in the tracker.
- Everyone interviews everything
Each interviewer owns one competency.
- Debrief by seniority
The most senior person speaks first and sets the room. Collect independent written scores first, and read them in random order.
- Slow feedback loses candidates
Decide within 24 hours and send the answer by Friday.
The biases behind them
- Similarity bias
Interviewers prefer people like themselves. Rivera found evaluators at elite firms valued cultural similarity, often over productivity. Score job-related evidence only.
- Halo effect
One strength, such as a prestige employer, colours everything. Score competency by competency and give each to a different interviewer.
- Anchoring
The first interviewer’s rating sets the group’s. Collect scores before the debrief.
- Groupthink in the debrief
Group discussion adds noise, for example from who speaks first. Independent assessments come first.
Rules by country
Works council
BetrVG §99: primary source (opens in a new tab)In companies with usually more than 20 eligible employees, inform the works council and obtain consent before any hire. It must object in writing within one week, or consent is deemed given.
Compensation claims must be made in writing within two months of receiving the rejection. For a non-hire the cap is three monthly salaries, if the person would not have been hired anyway. Document a job-related reason for every rejection.
Probation and notice
BGB §622: primary source (opens in a new tab)Probation can run up to six months, with two weeks’ notice. Plan the start date around the candidate’s own notice period.
Placement fees are reported at 5% to 27% of annual pay, with 20% to 25% common.
Check before employment starts to keep the statutory excuse.
Written statement
gov.uk: primary source (opens in a new tab)The written statement of particulars is due on day one.
The employee completes Section 1 by day one. The employer completes Section 2 within three business days of the first day of paid work.
General information, last checked 29 Oct 2026. Not legal or tax advice.
Where the evidence disagrees
Recruiter early or late
Early
A recruiter among the first 10 hires. a16z cites Airbnb and Coinbase adding recruiters at 4 to 18 employees.
a16z: primary source (opens in a new tab)Late
Founders should personally interview every early hire. Process comes before headcount.
CRV, via search excerpt: secondary source (opens in a new tab)It is a volume question. Count the roles you will open before you decide.
Who decides: hiring manager or committee
Committee
At Google, managers can say no but cannot hire alone.
Google hiring committee, via Randstad: secondary source (opens in a new tab)Manager
Many startups give the hiring manager full authority. Use a committee for senior roles and the manager for the rest.
Practice: practiceBoth work. The risk is a decider with nobody to check the bar.
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