When I think back to building my first startup team, I don’t remember résumés or LinkedIn profiles. I remember conversations about values.

Skills can be taught. Values can’t. As a Black founder, I couldn’t afford hires who didn’t get it. “It” meant the mission, the stakes, and the fact that representation itself was part of what we were building.

I looked for people who chose faith over fear, because fear sees obstacles where faith sees possibilities. I also diversified from day one, not just in race and gender, but in thought, background, and lived experience. When people who’ve navigated different worlds are in the room, it shows in the product and positions it better for the real world, which is diverse.

In hindsight, the intentionality in those first ten hires shaped everything: our product, our culture, our ability to scale. The legacy you want tomorrow is written by the people you choose today.

Balancing Urgency and Alignment

The conflict between urgency and alignment in startup hiring goes beyond a hiring problem; it is survival. You can recover from a slow sprint, but not from a cultural blunder that erodes trust or dilutes vision.

Urgency shouldn’t be blind speed; it should be clarity and decisiveness. I define non-negotiables upfront: values, mission alignment, and the kind of thinking I want in the room. With that groundwork, I can move quickly without second-guessing.

I’ve learned to resist ‘warm body hiring.’ An unfilled role is a short-term gap. A wrong hire is long-term cultural debt, and in startups, that debt compounds faster than technical debt.

You need a process that fuses alignment with momentum:

• Set alignment markers before the search, not during it.
• Hire for trajectory, not to just patch today’s hole.
• Use projects or trials to see values in action.

Speed and alignment are not opposites. When the groundwork is done, making an urgent decision becomes simpler.

What a Values-Aligned Hire Looks Like

A truly ‘values-aligned’ hire is someone whose instincts, decision-making patterns, and personal motivations naturally reflect what the company stands for.

In the early days, you need people who push through discomfort because they believe in the mission. That’s why I look for invisible threads in interviews: how they describe past challenges, their non-negotiables, and how they balance ambition with collective goals.

Then I test it. I give a small task, looking beyond the output to how they stay on-brand, handle obstacles, and follow through. At this stage, technical skills matter less than whether they can live out the mission, wear multiple hats, embrace constraints, and figure things out without a 50-slide playbook.

How My First 10 Shaped Everything

Your first 10 hires set the tone for everything. These include co-founders because they are usually your first 3. I once brought on a co-founder who looked perfect on paper. However, he loved the idea of the startup more than the work of building it. It fit his public brand, but he wasn’t ready for the trenches of building with the rest of us. There was no ownership.

That misalignment cost us. Internally, it slowed decision-making because key responsibilities kept getting pushed back. It was a painful lesson, but it shaped how I build teams now. Skill and network are useless without a shared work ethic and a genuine commitment to the mission.

Being in Canada now, I see how easy it is to fall into the same trap, assuming that an impressive profile and credentials equal the right fit. Do not engage people based on perception or friendship, but on culture fit. People will always be who they are.

Building with Missionaries, Not Mercenaries

Jesus built with missionaries. His first 12 weren’t chasing shiny things; they were willing to leave comfort zones and lay everything down for the vision. That’s the kind of alignment you need in your first team. Looking back, the hires who influenced our growth were the ones who saw what we were building before it existed, and were willing to lay bricks when there was nothing but air.

So when hiring, don’t just look at credentials. Ask yourself: will they leave an established order for your vision, build without guarantees, and stay when belief is all that’s left? If they can’t, no matter how good their profile looks, they’re not your people.

Building Equity from Day One

From the start, I knew I didn’t want a team where everyone looked, thought, or worked the same. I wanted people to bring their whole selves, stories, quirks, strengths, and differences into the work.

Inclusive leadership takes more than good intentions. It requires immersion: knowing what drives your people, what challenges they face, and what support helps them thrive. My dad modeled this well. He always said, “It’s not always about the contract; it’s about the relationship.” 

Over time, I’ve seen that when people feel seen and valued, they rise. They take ownership, share their best ideas, and lift others. When you set that tone with your very first hires, it replicates. Care becomes culture. That relational foundation has been our strength as we scaled. 

Lessons for Emerging Founders

In underrepresented communities, every early decision carries weight. Your first 10 hires set the tone for how you build and serve. Always choose missionaries over mercenaries. Mercenaries chase salary, status, and safety. They avoid risk, dodge accountability, and gravitate toward visibility projects. Missionaries bring grit, humility, and conviction even when it’s messy. In the early days, that energy is your best force multiplier.

Beware of thinkers who don’t ship and doers who don’t think. You need people who can think deeply, stay brand-aligned, and execute. They may debate the path at 9 am, but will still push a useful version by 5 pm.

Finally, underrepresented founders are often pressured to “borrow credibility.” Resist perception and friendship hiring. Define your non-negotiables so you have a standard instead of hiring on vibes.