The Perfect Employee

Most founders have a pretty well-defined idea of their perfect employee. They talk about “company culture”, about how they are aiming for the top percentile of employees, and for people enthusiastic about the company and products. They know, in their hearts, that without all their employees being excellent, their money is wasted and the whole team is suffering.

A Simple Requirement

The perfect employee is self-motivated, self-organized, competent, and hardworking.

I’ve heared the description provided above countless times, usually with a “Is that too much to ask?!” attached. Founders who come from a product development background often have high standards themselves, and they think any employee not giving their 100% and reflecting all the “positive” traits they see themselves have is wasting their money and holding back the product and the team.

What’s more, employees that don’t check off all those boxes are often seen as inferior, and are, directly or indirectly, criticized for their shortcomings. Never mind that some of them even point those out during the hiring process, and are simply brushed off with a “Well, we’ll help you work on those.”

A Simple Truth

An employee wants security, lower stress levels and guidance, ideally packed between 9am and 5pm.

What founders expect, often quite loudly, aren’t the traits of people who look to be employed, but traits exhibited by the founder personality type.

If a founder wants to get founder types on board, they’ll have to give up equity or give out rewards that they themselves enjoy, like management-level pay. Only then will their demands sound reasonable rather than ridiculous.

Endnote: I’m trying to keep my articles short, simple and to the point. It’s stuff that should feel like it’s “obvious”, and simply serve as a reminder of things you’ve probably heard and read elsewhere. If you feel I should expand on something, feel free to comment, and I’ll try to answer in short or with another article.