🪆Hiring

Hiring well is probably the single most important thing you can do as a company. At Chariot here is how we hire:

Focus on strengths over weaknesses. We focus on what someone is exceptionally good at, “their superpowers”, rather than nitpicking small gaps. The person needs to be able to significantly level up a function or workstream. We use a 1-4 scale and if they don’t get at least one person giving them a 4 (fighting for them), we pass.
Diversity makes us stronger. Different perspectives, whether from varied backgrounds, experiences, or ways of thinking, help us build a better product.
Mission-driven individuals. We look for people who care deeply about making nonprofits’ lives better.
Ownership. We look for people who will thrive in a high-ownership environment. We have a bias for former founders and a focus on builders.

Mission Outcomes & Competencies Framework. Taken from a16z, every job description focuses on what success looks like rather than just listing responsibilities.
Rigorous and consistent process. We use case studies, in-person onsites, and work-for-hires when possible. We are also constantly improving our approach based on feedback from recent hires.
Not for everyone. We tell candidates the expectation is that they’re working 50-60 hours per week, and that they're in office at least 4 days per week (we have optional WFH Fridays). It’s not a 9-5 and that turns off 95% of people…and that’s fine. You want to find that 5% and shouldn’t settle.

Proactively and opportunistically. If an exceptional person comes along, we try to make room.
We prioritize outsourcing and automation. Before hiring for core team roles, we explore whether certain tasks can be handled through external resources like Athena, automation, or AI agents.
We hire slowly. Lean teams of excellent people move faster and achieve more than a large, bloated team. Too many hires lead to bureaucracy, excessive meetings, lots of context that needs to be shared, and unnecessary management layers (see Flat Chariot)

We focus on what works for Chariot’s culture, not on how other companies operate. As a result, there are a few things we don’t do:

We don’t hire people because they have no weaknesses. We hire them because they have outstanding strengths. We’re not trying to build a team of well-rounded generalists. We hire people for their superpowers.
We don’t oversell candidates. Instead of painting an unrealistically rosy picture, we focus on giving an honest view, both the good and the challenging parts of working at Chariot.
We don’t have quotas or goals or objectives to be diverse, we have a goal to be the most talented company in the industry and we end up being diverse as a result of that goal (see above on Who We Hire).
We don’t use checkbox training. Programs like unconscious bias training sound good but the effectiveness of such training is debatable. Instead, we build systems and processes that let great people thrive on merit.
We don’t outsource culture to HR or to some specific role. Culture is everyone’s responsibility - from new hires to the founders. We all create the environment and team we want to build with, and every member of the executive team should be deeply involved in this.

For more on hiring see Lean teams