Esther was, by all HR design, the perfect candidate. She fielded questions perfectly through the multiple rounds of interviews—including extensive case interviews. She performed admirably in an on-site immersion test to assess for further fit. Excited to have her on, we neglected to conduct a reference check. In hindsight, that could have saved us a lot of pain.

It’s every startup founder’s nightmare: you find the perfect candidate but once they join, they just are not fitting in. At this point, it may feel like you are the first startup founder who needs to let someone go.

Every hire is an important hire and that’s why hiring your first senior hire, whether an executive or a technical expert, can be a little daunting.

As hard as it is to hear, being a startup founder does not automatically qualify you to run a business. While it is likely that they would be CEO by default, founders should examine their strengths and capabilities and be honest about in their business or technical acumen. Admitting there are gaps is not a sign of founder incapability; it is the opposite.