The beginning is always difficult, especially when building a team for an early stage startup. Founders often lack the resources to attract and retain top talent, but having a strong team is critical to product success.

From the candidate's point of view, joining a early stage startup it might look like this: an unknown company; it can be a great success, but it can also fail. The tasks are certainly interesting, but the level of uncertainty is high, the compensation is modest and there are no guarantees.

From the founder's perspective, the situation is no better: no big budget, no established HR brand, no market positions, and it's challenging to compete with the big industry players.

How can these two realities come together? Here are some tips that I have developed and tested through personal experience. So let's dive deeper into it.

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1. HR isn't just about compensation – it starts with your culture

Building a strong culture is essential and should be a priority from day one. You've probably heard the iconic phrase “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Before creation and implementing a business strategy, it is essential to know who you are, where you currently stand, where you aspire to go and the grand vision behind your company. Understand your core values ​​and what values ​​you intend to share with the world.

Founders should answer all of these questions before they start recruiting and hiring. This forms the mission, vision and strategy of the startup. From this knowledge, you can develop an EVP.

2. Identify competencies and behavioral indicators

Next, consider the type of people you want on your team or who will thrive with you. This includes understanding competencies and behavioral indicators.

For example, in a startup, employees must develop flexibility and adaptability as we work in a rapidly changing environment. We also highly value openness to new ideas, healthy ambition, willingness to take risks for innovation and the ability to remain calm and decisive under uncertainty and pressure.

If one lacks these traits, it will be challenging for all involved, resulting in poor task performance. This employee probably won't stay with the company very long.

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3. Formulate your EVP and communicate it clearly

Startup-ready people are usually passionate enthusiasts and risk takers. They value freedom, room for creativity, a sense of belonging to something important, and opportunities for career growth. Be sure to provide these. If compensation is below market, consider offering additional benefits such as stock options.

On the other hand, understand that startups are not for everyone. A candidate may be an outstanding specialist, but they won't be happy if their mindset doesn't fit the startup culture. No matter how many benefits you offer, such as corporate psychologists, fitness trainers, family insurance or interest clubs, if the person values ​​stability and status, he will not join a startup.

For a startup founder, it's essential to talk about the product's growth and future potential, communicate a culture of excitement and development, and emphasize the benefits and value it contributes to the world. These incentives are effective in attracting like-minded individuals. This should be part of your EVP – The employee value proposition. Choosing a job is not always about the salary. You need to know exactly who you are looking for and understand the needs and expectations of potential candidates to attract the right talent.

4. Start building HR processes

Creating HR processes for an early-stage startup requires balancing structure and flexibility. Core tasks like hiring and defining roles are set right away, while other processes develop over time as the startup expands.

The main areas of human resources include:

• Recruitment
• Training and development
• Performance management
• Compensation and rewards
• Corporate culture and internal communications
• Performance appraisal
• Offboarding, etc.

Yes, you will have to face all these and it will be a challenging journey.

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5. Consider HR outsourcing

For early-stage startups, the main difficulty lies in determining where, how and when to look for the right talent. The workload is extensive and experience is often limited, especially with only 24 hours in a day. Furthermore, the founder must maintain his strategic focus on the product. If you try to tackle everything alone, the chances of getting close to a successful and scalable business model drop dramatically.

Consider outsourcing HR Back Office processes. A team of specialists can manage all aspects, including recruiting, hiring, culture building, HR branding, and creating retention and development programs.

By outsourcing HR tasks, you can speed up hiring and reduce the costs associated with attracting and retaining talent. Most importantly, it frees you to dive deep into product development and achieve your goals faster.

Building a team is a hurdle for early-stage startups. This is mainly due to limited resources, high uncertainty and difficulties in attracting and retaining talent. An early-stage startup is not a classic business, so HR processes for such projects have their own unique complexity.

Today's leading companies were once founded and developed by enthusiasts who believed in the big idea and took risks. Your job is to find such dreamers, innovators and visionaries for your project – those who are willing to share risks with you and strive together towards a great goal. The key to assembling your dream team is to be clear about your mission, goals and values. With this clarity, finding people who share your mindset, worldview and culture will be much easier.