Hiring Leadership While You’re Still Building the Plane: A Founder’s Guide to Growth-Stage Hiring

Most founders don’t wake up one morning thinking, “Today feels like the right day to hire an executive.” They hire because the company is moving faster than their systems, expectations are rising, and the margin for error is shrinking.

Revenue is growing. Headcount is climbing. Investors are watching more closely. And the company is still very much in the phase that Mike and Kass Lazerow describe so candidly in Shoveling Sht*—the unglamorous, high-pressure reality of building while everything is still messy.

This is when leadership hiring becomes unavoidable.

For founders of venture-backed startups and PE-backed portfolio companies, the first real executive hires—COOs, CFOs, CROs, or even a CEO successor—often happen before the business feels stable, clean, or ready. That isn’t poor planning. It’s how growth actually works.

The risk isn’t hiring during this phase. The risk is hiring without understanding what this phase demands.

Why Executive Hiring Feels Harder in Growth-Stage Companies

Hiring leadership in a VC- or PE-backed company is fundamentally different from hiring in a mature organization.

At this stage:

Roles are still evolving
Processes are incomplete or being rebuilt in real time
Leaders are expected to build and execute simultaneously
Investors expect momentum, not polish
Culture is deeply founder-driven and still fragile

Executives who thrived in large, established environments—where systems, teams, and decision rights already exist—often struggle when dropped into growth-stage chaos. The skill set is different. The mindset is different. The tolerance for ambiguity is non-negotiable.

One of the central ideas in Shoveling Sht* is that the hardest part of building a company isn’t vision or ambition—it’s enduring the grind without making short-term decisions that quietly undermine long-term success. Leadership hiring is one of those decisions.

The Most Common Founder Hiring Mistakes (And Why Smart People Make Them)

From our work with venture-backed startups, growth equity platforms, and PE-backed portfolio companies, we see the same patterns over and over. These aren’t rookie mistakes. They’re pressure responses.

1. Hiring “too big” too early

Founders often assume that the next phase requires someone who has “seen it all.” In reality, growth-stage companies need leaders who are comfortable figuring things out as they go.

Big-company executives can add tremendous value—but only when the organization is ready for structure. Too early, and they often slow execution, over-process decisions, or struggle without infrastructure.

2. Over-indexing on pedigree instead of adaptability

Logos and titles don’t predict success in founder-led, sponsor-backed environments. What matters far more:

Comfort operating without a playbook
Willingness to do the work, not just manage it
Judgment under pressure
Ability to influence without hierarchy

These qualities rarely show up clearly on a résumé.

3. Waiting too long to make the first non-founder hire

Many founders carry operational responsibility far longer than they should. Over time, they become bottlenecks—slowing decisions, delaying execution, and burning out. When they finally hire, it’s often reactive.

4. Hiring under investor pressure without true alignment

Investor expectations are real. But leadership hires made simply to “check a box” often backfire. Speed matters—but fit and timing matter more.

When Founders Should Consider External Leadership Support

Founders typically reach out for executive search support at predictable inflection points:

Making the first executive hire beyond the founding team
Scaling post–Series A or Series B
Integrating leadership after a PE acquisition
Replacing or upgrading leadership ahead of a growth push or exit
Clarifying how the founder’s role should evolve

These moments don’t signal failure. They signal transition.

Founder-Led Does Not Mean Founder-Only

One of the most common fears founders have about executive hiring is losing control or “corporatizing too early.”

The reality is simpler: Great leadership hires don’t replace founders. They extend founders’ impact.

The right COO, CFO, CRO, or CEO partner allows founders to:

Stay focused on vision and strategy
Remove operational bottlenecks
Increase execution velocity
Build confidence with investors
Prepare the company for scale or exit

In Shoveling Sht*, Mike and Kass Lazerow talk openly about founder evolution—not as a loss of identity, but as a necessary adaptation. Leadership hiring is often where that evolution becomes tangible.

How Executive Hiring Differs Across VC- and PE-Backed Companies

Ownership structure shapes hiring priorities.

In venture-backed startups, leadership hiring often centers on:

Supporting founder vision
Scaling go-to-market execution
Building infrastructure just ahead of demand
Preserving speed while adding rigor

In private equity–backed portfolio companies, it often focuses on:

Professionalizing operations post-acquisition
Aligning leadership with a defined value-creation plan
Upgrading talent to support exit readiness
Managing change within compressed timelines

In both cases, the wrong hire doesn’t just slow progress—it introduces friction that’s difficult to undo.

What Founders Actually Need From a Search Partner

Traditional recruiters focus on filling roles. Founders need something different.

At Merraine, our work with VC- and PE-backed companies centers on:

Assessing stage fit, not just experience
Identifying leaders who can build while executing
Helping founders pressure-test when to hire—not just who
Aligning leadership decisions with both investor expectations and on-the-ground reality

Because we work closely with operating partners, deal teams, and founders, we understand both sides of the table—and help translate growth pressure into leadership decisions that actually work.

Who This Guide Is For

This resource is written for:

Founders of venture-backed startups (Series A–C)
Leaders of PE-backed portfolio companies
Founders making first or second executive hires
Operators preparing for scale, integration, or exit

If you’re building while scaling—still shoveling sh*t while making high-stakes decisions—you’re not behind. You’re exactly where most successful companies pass through.

Final Thought

Executive hiring doesn’t get easier as the stakes rise—it gets clearer. Founders who understand what this stage requires are far better positioned to build leadership teams that last beyond the chaos.

If you’re thinking seriously about your next leadership hire, you’re already asking the right question.