Q14 / TEAM
Problem 12
Who should I hire?
Who should do what - and who to hire first.
Every job in one of four boxes. What's left over is your first job description.
- Time: 10 MIN
- Who: SOLO OR WITH TEAM
- Stage: STAGES 1-2
- Access: FREE
Build my matrix
The short answer
How do I decide what to hire for first? List the jobs that need doing and place each one: DO (can and will), LEARN (can't but will), ACCEPT (can but won't) or HIRE (can't and won't). The HIRE box is your first job description. "Can" means ability and time. At Stages 1-2, if every founder puts sales in HIRE, you need a co-founder who sells - not a sales hire.
How it works
- Pick activities from the lists (general, sales, marketing, product, support) or add your own.
- Everyone places each activity in a quadrant.
- See each person's grid, the team view and a suggested owner for every job.
Worked example
Two founders. Both put bookkeeping in ACCEPT and support tickets in HIRE. One puts demos in DO, the other in LEARN. Result: the first founder owns demos, the second learns alongside them, and support becomes hire number one.
FAQ
Does this work for a solo founder?
Yes. Your HIRE and ACCEPT boxes become your delegation list.
What's the difference between Accept and Learn?
Accept: you can, but you don't want to - suck it up for now. Learn: you want to, but can't yet.
How often should I redo it?
Every few months. In time, everything but DO moves to HIRE.
From the book
Problem 12 - Who should I hire?
Use this next
Build my matrix