Help users make better hiring decisions. Use when someone is evaluating job candidates, making hiring decisions, conducting reference checks, reviewing work samples or take-homes, calibrating their hiring bar, or deciding between finalists.
Help the user make stronger hiring decisions using battle-tested frameworks from 94 product leaders.
When the user asks for help evaluating candidates:
Shishir Mehrotra: "I generally value the reference check over interview signals. Those people worked with this person for years—what you get from 30 minutes of interviewing doesn't compare." Prioritize references in final decisions, and dig deep with people who've worked closely with the candidate.
Adam Fishman: "The goal is not to find someone who's 11/10 on everything—that person doesn't exist. Create a well-rounded team by hiring to fill gaps in your portfolio." Before opening a role, map your team's current strengths and weaknesses.
Elena Verna: "We do 2-3 day paid work trials to see candidates in action—how they handle chaos and lack of clarity. This company is not for everybody." Work trials reveal what interviews cannot: how someone actually operates.
Albert Cheng: "High agency and 'clock speed' are better predictors than deep experience. Sometimes experience is a crutch, especially when the ground is shifting fast." Look for candidates who took initiative outside formal channels.
Annie Duke: "If you use intuition after a structured evaluation—not before—you drastically improve your hit rate." Complete your rubric before letting gut feel influence the decision.
Ben Horowitz: "We're investing in strength, not lack of weakness. Does this person have a world-class strength that can beat anybody? Surround them with people who cover their gaps."
Adam Grenier: "Comfort with chaos and willingness to do things they haven't done in 15 years are huge signals. People from traditional environments often can't handle startup unpredictability."
Adam Grenier: "Every senior hire has a T-shaped career. Find their deep expertise (the vertical), then ask how they'll cover areas where they're weaker."
Albert Cheng: "High agency shows up outside formal interviews—the questions they ask, whether they've actually tried your product, the energy in their scheduling emails."
Austin Hay: "School prestige or resume gaps are bad shortcuts. Investigate gaps—they may represent intense self-directed learning."
Bill Carr (Amazon): "Have someone outside the hiring manager's chain run the debrief meeting with veto power. This counteracts urgency bias and keeps the bar high."
Brian Tolkin: "Match the candidate's specific background to the product's needs. A technical product needs a technical PM. Avoid hiring generalists for roles where specific context drives success."
Bangaly Kaba: "Ask candidates to stack-rank five skills from strongest to weakest. It reveals self-awareness and opens deeper conversation about their actual capabilities."
Benjamin Mann (Anthropic): "People stay when they're mission-oriented. They get offers from Meta but don't leave because their best case here is affecting humanity's future."
Use these to diagnose where they need help:
For all 151 insights from 94 guests, see references/guest-insights.md