October 21, 2026
We talk to hundreds of people who want to join early-stage companies. These are the questions they ask before saying yes.
Candidates who actively want startup roles are a different audience from people looking for any job. They’ve usually thought hard about risk, and they arrive with specific questions.
The questions they ask
- How much runway do you have? They don’t need the cap table, but they want to know they won’t be job-hunting in six months.
- Who will I learn from? Early hires care about the founders and the first few teammates more than any perk.
- What will I own? Vague answers are a red flag. Name the area, the metric and the decisions they’ll make.
- How do you make decisions? They want to know whether their input will matter.
Equity still matters, explained well
Share the number of options, the strike price, the vesting schedule and the latest valuation. Explaining it clearly earns more trust than a bigger grant explained badly.
Speed is a signal
A fast, organised process tells candidates how the company runs. A slow, disorganised one tells them too.
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