Questions founders should ask candidates to assess if they are startup ready

These are 30 questions across 8 important startup skills that a founder or a senior team member should ask candidates to truly gauge whether a candidate can thrive in a startup or not.

Not all candidates are accommodating of the startup life. Startup life is different from an enterprise life, and when a founder hires somebody in a startup, they usually have a long-lasting impact on the team. It is very important to truly hire somebody who really wants to join a startup versus somebody who doesn’t.

30 questions to ask a candidate to check if they will thrive in your startup

Motivation and intent

1. Why do you want to join a startup at this point in your career?
2. Why this company, and why this role?
3. What about the problem we’re solving interests you?
4. Apart from compensation, what would make this move worthwhile for you?
5. What would you want to accomplish or learn in the next 12–18 months?
6. What are the three things you expect from your next role to make it successful?
7. What would need to be true about this company for you to stay two or more years?
8. What kind of relationship do you expect to have with the founders or leadership team?
9. When you say you want more (or less) structure, what kind of structure do you mean?
10. What do you think about the equity in this offer compared to salary?

Ownership

1. Tell me about something you took ownership of without being asked.
2. What’s something you did that was clearly outside your job description? Why did you do it?
3. Tell me about a problem you noticed that nobody else was fixing. What did you do?
4. Describe a project you owned from start to finish. What was the outcome? If you had to solve the same problem again with the knowledge you have now, what would you do differently?

Ambiguity and change

1. Tell me about a time you had to deliver something with no clear instructions and no one to ask. What did you do first?
2. Describe a project where the goal or priority changed midway. How did you react?
3. What happened to the work you had already done when that priority changed?
4. Tell me about a time your manager, team, or tools changed suddenly. How did you adjust?

Decision-making and bias for action

1. Tell me about a decision that turned out wrong. How did you find out, and what did you do?
2. Describe a time you shipped something imperfect. Why was that the right call?
3. When have you chosen to act quickly instead of waiting for more data? What happened?

Resourcefulness

1. Tell me about a time you worked with very limited budget, tools, or people. What did you cut, and how did you decide?
2. When have you had to build something from scratch rather than improve an existing process? What was the hardest part?

Skills and project depth

1. Walk me through a real problem you solved. What trade-offs did you weigh? On that project, what did you build first, and why? What broke, and how did you fix it? What did you deliberately choose not to build? Which part of that project was specifically yours?
2. Users need X. You have two weeks and you’re working alone. What do you ship?

Learning and feedback

1. What have you learned on your own in the last six months, and why?
2. Give me an example of feedback that was hard to hear. What did you change afterward?

Curiosity beyond the role

1. What questions do you have about our business model or goals?
2. Have you built any independent or side projects? Tell me about one.
3. Tell me about a time you learned about another team’s work to do your own job better.

If you want to truly find candidates that are startup-ready, who understand the chaos of the startup and are ready for that dynamic environment, then you’re in the right place. Read through our website, talk to us, and we’ll help you figure out how we can bridge the right talent that is also a good fit for your team with us.