They won’t always say it outloud, but the best startups try to hire future founders. They want: Senior ICs who understand the why behind everything and challenge assumptions. Owners who can drive projects from end-to-end with no hand-holding. Intense workaholics that don’t even ask about work-life balance. Missionaries who intrinsically, deeply care about the vision of the company. They negotiate for as much long-term upside as they can. Upward trajectory that shows hunger. They’re taking on bigger projects and getting promotions at a rapid clip, and now they can take on even more at the startup. No peaks or plateaus. Elite credentials but not an entitled attitude. The shiny degree or company doesn’t matter as much as the humility to know there’s still a lot more to prove and learn. Side projects that show genuine passion. One founder said, “He’s clearly in it for the love of the game.” Hustle in the interview process itself. They proactively go above-and-beyond, beyond the scope of the assigned process. They move quickly because they want THIS job at THIS company, not just any role. They’re already doing the job. They want it so bad because they’d be doing this anyway even if they didn’t get the job. They’re actively contributing to open-source repos, offering product feedback or mock designs, and promoting it with their friends or writing tweet threads. Strong culture fit over perfect skills match. Founders will always prefer someone raw with good skills but tons of potential and drive over someone with elite skill but is high-ego, rigid, difficult, and annoying to work with. Doesn’t have the anti-signals. Job-hoppers without progression. Stagnated at a level. Self-promotional in a way that’s pumping themselves up. Too much consulting or contracting (guilty). These are things we see with the elite teams we work with. Typically, they won’t say it outright or need to discover it over time - but if you fit this mold, you might be built for startups.