Abby Hart from Greylock’s Core Talent team explains how early-stage founders can recruit strong engineers without leaning on brand or compensation. The most common mistake, she argues, is starting with the product, covering what the company is building, the market and where it could go.
A stronger story starts earlier: why the founder chose this problem, what led them here and why they are the right person to build the company. Hart walks through the island framework she uses with founders, how one startup strengthened its pitch by tracing the idea back to the founder’s childhood, why candidates can tell when a story feels manufactured, and what founders can draw on when no obvious personal connection exists.
