Experience matters for some roles, but for early hires in a startup, aptitude and belief in the mission are often more important than experience.

It's becoming more important to assess candidates based on their skills and projects rather than their educational background.

Startups prioritize problem-solving skills and contributions to open source over formal qualifications when hiring.

For junior candidates, emphasize the mentorship opportunities available at your startup, especially if you have experienced engineers on your team.

The quality of coding boot camps varies, and some hiring managers view them as a negative signal if the candidate lacks prior experience.

College students often do not receive equity and are typically seen as interns who do the bulk of the technical work without recognition.

Avoiding bias from credentials during interviews can help identify skilled programmers who may lack traditional qualifications, which is advantageous for startups.

Make School students differentiate themselves from traditional computer science graduates by building portfolios that showcase their practical skills and projects from the start of their education.

Engineering interviewing is a field where many common beliefs are misleading; for instance, evaluating past work does not predict job performance as effectively as practical programming assignments.