Before writing a job description, write down what should be different six months after the person joins. A startup does not need an impressive collection of previous employers. It needs someone who can do a specific job in the environment the company actually has.
This scorecard makes that job easier to discuss and assess.
Define the business outcome
Use this opening statement: “We are hiring this person because we need to achieve [outcome], and the current team cannot reliably do that because [constraint].”
If the constraint is unclear positioning, a salesperson may inherit a problem they cannot solve alone. If the constraint is delivery capacity, another marketer may generate demand the business cannot support.
Resolve the role’s purpose before adding requirements.
Fill in the scorecard
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| Primary outcome | One observable business change the role owns |
| First 90 days | Three deliverables that make progress visible |
| Available resources | Team, budget, product maturity, and tools |
| Required evidence | Comparable work the candidate can explain |
| Working conditions | Ambiguity, collaboration needs, and decision authority |
| Assessment | The interview or exercise that evaluates each requirement |
| Failure risks | Gaps the company would need to support |
Keep requirements connected to the work. “Excellent communicator” is too broad. “Can explain a pipeline shortfall and propose a specific corrective action” gives an interviewer something to assess.
Ask for evidence, then examine context
Have the candidate describe the starting point, their own decisions, the resources available, and the result. Separate personal contribution from the success of the wider company.
A person who performed well inside a mature system may be excellent, but that does not establish that they can build the system. The reverse is also true: building from zero and managing a larger operation are different jobs.
Use a short, clearly scoped exercise when it adds evidence. State the time expectation and avoid requesting free work that the business intends to deploy.
Make the decision consistently
Give interviewers the same criteria before interviews start. Record evidence separately from the overall recommendation, and have people submit their views before the group discussion.
A score is an aid to judgment, not a mathematical hiring verdict. Discuss important disagreements rather than averaging them away.
Once the candidate joins, turn the scorecard into a startup onboarding plan. The commitments made during hiring should still be recognizable in the actual job. If they are not, the problem may be the company’s role design rather than the person’s performance.
Co-founder and CEO of Stackmatix, startup advisor, and former Head of Sales at MightyHive. Connect with Matt on LinkedIn ↗ · More about Matt →