Going from qualified, engaged candidate to their first day on the job is more challenging than it may seem. Every edge you can get in this delicate process helps. 

Late stage interviews: Once a candidate that you’re really excited about is in process, and they’re leaning in, start to check off boxes so that you’re positioned to make an offer when appropriate. Move quickly through the steps of the process, but stay thoughtful and don’t rush the decision making. 

As you approach the last step of the interview process, make sure that they’re feeling your excitement about working with them. Go out of your way - invite them to dinner with your respective spouses, give them exposure to your board, get them outfitted in your latest swag, tell them outright that you can’t wait to work together, etc. 

Reference diligently. More on that here. 

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Offer: At some point in/around your last round interview, start to socialize an offer. Gather their comp expectations, discuss timing and expected title. Once you’ve reviewed market compensation and discussed with your board and search team, find an opening offer you’re comfortable with. 

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A few common themes to address: 

● Cash vs. Equity: Give them cash for the job they have day 1, equity for the job they’ll grow into. If you’re hiring an inexperienced but high potential candidate, lower your risk of them not rising to the occasion by keeping cash low, but ensure that they’re well compensated if they succeed by being generous with equity. Consider where they are in their career and life, and what your stage and liquidity timeline means for them. 

● Payouts: In the event that your candidate has an upcoming bonus or equity cliff, you have a few options (listed in loose order of commonality): 

○ Buy out some or all of their impending payout. Usually done via a sign-on bonus, this can make sense if the role is urgent and the bonus isn’t overly substantial. 

○ Wait. If they trust their employer they may be able to put in their 2-week notice before the bonus is paid and jump into the new role the day after they get it. You can make them an “advisor” in the interim, and start getting them ramped up to hit the ground running day 1. 

○ Leave it out of the equation and give them your offer as-is. 

● Timeline: Once you give them a verbal offer and negotiate terms, you should follow up with a paper offer asap. Once they have the paper offer in hand, give them 3-5 days to talk to their family and lawyer, but include an expiration date. Giving them too much time to “make a decision” can let other companies accelerate their process and catch up to yours. 

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Offer acceptance: A signed offer letter does not mean the search is complete. Until they’ve resigned successfully and come in on their first day, don’t consider your work over. 

Great hires often have to contend with counter-offers from their current company. Particularly if they’re coming from a large company notorious for counters, like Salesforce or Google, this can mean an excited candidate reluctantly accepting a sum too compelling to leave behind. If you think it’s a possibility, discuss it with the candidate beforehand and come armed with info on why accepting a counter-offer is almost always a bad move. More here. 

Though rare, candidates at all levels are at risk of “ghosting”, and not showing up on their first day. There’s not much to do in that situation except let them go (and maybe warn some of your network and investors). 

Try to get the start date as soon as possible, but however long the delay is, check in with your candidate regularly before they start. Take their temperature and make sure they keep feeling the love. It also gives you an opportunity to get them more familiar with your business and their role so they can shorten their ramp-up time. 

Finally, close the loop with your other candidates. Respectfully explain that you’ve hired someone but that you appreciate their time and enjoyed getting to know them. Those candidates may be useful resources (or potential candidates) in the future if you close them out gracefully, and they may badmouth you or your company in the market if you don’t. Candidate experience is part of your brand!