Here are some wild and crazy startup hiring strategies.

And by wild and crazy, I mean, not-that-crazy but easy to overlook when you get caught up in the whirlwind of hiring.

If you’ve recently raised money or brought in a slew of customers, you’re thinking about how to grow the team.

I’m a huge fan of using low/no-cost options as much as possible and really analyzing if you need a full-time hire or not.

Here are 4 more strategies I’ve seen work phenomenally well for startups!

1. Revenue-Based Hiring

Call me crazy but I love a hiring plan where new hires get “unlocked” when you reach certain revenue milestones.

Some investors want you to hire quickly so you can grow and scale.

Yes, of course! Put the influx of cash to good use. If you wanted to grow organically, don’t raise venture capital.

But also, having a measured approach can be educational and motivational for the team (“We get to hire more people when we hit revenue numbers”) and save a lot of heartache (“We scaled too quickly and now need to let people go”).

You can, of course, blend the two approaches also. Hire aggressively with revenue safe guards or contingencies on the plan.

2. Consider Ease of Hiring

I spoke to a founder who was considering hiring for a commission-only business development role.

Me: “It’s hard to find someone for a role like that.”

Founder: “I have someone great who is a friend of a friend.”

Me: “WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SO???? Hire them today!!!!”

Time, effort, and likelihood of finding The Person are always factors in startup hiring!

If you know someone great for a role, that is wildly different than when you have to create, post and promote a job, then do 100 interviews, and maybe find someone.

Of course, sometimes, you need a specific, senior hire, you know it will take a while, and that’s just the price you pay for someone who is mission critical to scaling.

(But maybe you can contract out parts of the work for now or look for someone junior with high potential…?)

Opportunistic hires also factor into decisions and planning. If someone amazing drops into your lap, it may be smart to reprioritize or hire ahead!

3. Don’t Get Boxed In By Traditional Roles

Speaking of opportunistic hiring…could two part-time roles be done by one person with a unique background?

Maybe a customer success hire also loves event planning so they could handle customers and conference planning?

The HR person who also edits blogs and owns recruiting.

The marketing manager who onboards customers.

The inside sales rep who does social media.

(All real examples btw!)

Not forever, of course, but getting creative and leveraging the strengths of your team is key in the early days.

Be open to that combo role and people who can wear multiple hats.

If your office manager wants to do some cold calling or respond to support tickets, sounds great to me!

4. Think About Flexibility, Not Only Cost

Do you want to be able to adjust your monthly burn quickly if needed? Are you running an experiment or have very seasonal needs for some functions?

It might be more cost-effective to hire in-house but some founders use contractors or consultants so they can adjust priorities or spend quickly.

It’s much easier to tweak spend on a project, adjust deliverables, or not renew a monthly contract than regularly hiring, firing, or cutting pay.

It’s WAY better for company morale and can cost less long term when you factor in severance pay, onboarding costs, and recruiter fees.

Have you leveraged any of these strategies? Do you have other hiring strategies you’d recommend? I’d love to hear what worked or didn’t work!