About A Hires A

One of the most overlooked — but critical — turning points in a start-up’s life is when it begins hiring beyond its inner circle.

In the beginning, you hire people you already know — your cofounder, a classmate, a former colleague you once promised to build something with. These early hires matter more than most — and you tend to get them right, because you’re drawing from a network shaped by your own judgment. That’s what the phrase “A hires A” means: good people recognize other good people.

But eventually, that circle runs out.

That’s where the A Hires A: Maintaining Start-Up Talent initiative comes in. It’s a natural step in a start-up’s journey — but also a risky one.

Hiring beyond your network isn’t just harder — it requires a shift in thinking. The real danger isn’t hiring the wrong person. It’s weakening the culture that made your start-up strong to begin with.

Many founders assume they can keep hiring the same way — just with more resumes. They can't. Hiring strangers well is a different game. You need new tools: structured interviews, sharper filters for judgment, and above all, the awareness that quality won’t maintain itself. It has to be protected — on purpose.

That’s what A Hires A is for — to help founders face this moment before it catches them off guard. To help them scale their hiring without scaling mediocrity. To build systems that reflect the standards that got them here.

Because the people you hire today will hire the next generation. If you get this right, it’s not just A hires A — it’s A hires A, who hires A, who hires A. That’s how you build something that lasts.