@hardnold

You Made a Bad Engineering Hire - Now What?

3d ago · 9 min read · You made a bad engineering hire. Now what? You're staring at thin PRs, vague standup updates, and a growing pile of slack picked up by the rest of the team. The gut-punch moment is unmistakable - some

Evaluating Contractors and Fractional CTOs Before You Hire Full-Time

Apr 14 · 9 min read · Every startup I've worked with has started the same way: too much to build, not enough people, and no budget for a $350K full-time CTO. So the founder hires a contractor or a fractional CTO and hopes

How to Evaluate Developers When You're Not Technical

Apr 7 · 9 min read · If you are wondering how to evaluate developers as a non-technical founder, you are not alone - and you are not at a disadvantage. You built the company. You closed customers. You probably made the pr

How to Screen Engineering Candidates When Half the Resumes Are AI-Generated

Mar 31 · 9 min read · The resumes look great. That's the problem. Polished summaries, quantified achievements, perfect keyword density. You're reading thirty applications for a senior backend role and they all sound like t

How to Hire a Founding Engineer: What to Test That's Different From a Normal Senior Hire

Mar 24 · 9 min read · If you're figuring out how to hire a founding engineer for your startup, the worst thing you can do is run your standard senior engineering interview. I've made this mistake. I evaluated a founding hi