When to Stop Hiring People Like You
When you start a company, your first instinct is to surround yourself with people you trust.
Often these are people who share your background, mindset, or way of working.
In the early days it does make sense, speed matters and working with like-minded people feels efficient.
The issue, is that what gets you from zero to ten… won’t necessarily get you from ten to one hundred.
Cloning yourself, hiring only people who think and act like you, eventually creates blind spots that can hinder your teams ability to succeed. The traits that brought your company initial success, can become its biggest problem.
So when is it time to stop hiring people like you? How do you know who to bring in next?
Why Founders Hire Copies of Themselves in the Early Days
In the beginning, hiring people like yourself feels natural and even necessary. There are a few reasons for this:
•Speed and trust - You don’t have time to explain your thinking or second-guess decisions. Sharing the same opinions makes things easy and efficient
•Shared risk appetite - Early hires need to lean into the chaos and uncertainty. People who think like you often share your ability to deal with startup life.
•Cultural Shortcuts - When everyone shares the same ways of working, communication comes easily.
Hiring ‘clones’ isn’t inherently wrong. In fact, many successful start-ups begin with a team like this… but it’s a stopgap, not a strategy.
The Problem With Cloning Yourself
Over time, hiring in your own image creates issues that can limit growth:
1.Blind Spots Multiply
If everyone sees problems the same way, innovation stalls. Start-ups thrive on unconventional thinking, but too much similarity leads to just narrow thinking.
2.Operational Gaps Emerge
Founders often excel in certain areas but lack skills in others. Cloning yourself doesn’t close those issues… it makes them bigger.
3.Culture Becomes Fragile
A culture based on “everyone being the same” is fragile. It can struggle to adapt as the company scales or when new perspectives inevitably join.
4.Scaling Breaks Down
The skills that worked in a team of five don’t always scale to fifty. If you only hire generalists, you’ll lack specialists when you need them most.
Recognising the Moment to Change
How do you know when it’s time to stop hiring people like yourself? Look for these signals:
•Your calendar is full of tasks you hate or avoid
•You hear the same ideas repeated multiple times
•Your growth has plateaued
•You’re constantly firefighting
If two or more of these sound familiar, it’s time to start hiring for complementary skills, not copies.
Building Cognitive Diversity Into Hiring
Cognitive diversity isn’t just about ticking demographic boxes. It’s about bringing in people who think differently, solve problems in new ways, and challenge your assumptions. Here’s how to do it:
1. Map Your Strengths and Weaknesses
Start with brutal honesty. Write down what you and your leadership team are great at and then what you avoid, ignore, or struggle with. The gaps on that list are your hiring priorities.
2. Redefine “Culture Fit”
Instead of looking for people who “fit in,” look for people who add to your culture. Ask: What perspectives are missing here? A healthy culture evolves as it scales.
3. Hire for Skill Sets You Don’t Have
If you’re a visionary person, you may need an operator. If you’re technical, you may need a salesperson. Hire for balance, not duplication.
4. Test for Challenge, Not Comfort
In interviews, pay attention to candidates who respectfully push back, ask tough questions, or offer new ways of thinking. Being agreed with feels good, being challenged leads to progress.
5. Mix Generalists and Specialists
Early hires tend to be generalists, but as you scale, you’ll need specialists in areas like finance, HR, or product management. Strike the right balance for your stage.
You need to let go.
For many founders, bringing in people who think differently feels uncomfortable. It means surrendering some control. But letting go isn’t a weakness, it’s the only way to scale sustainably.
•Trust the experts: You hired them for a reason. Step back and let them lead for themselves.
•Set clear outcomes, not instructions: Focus on what needs to be achieved, not how.
•View disagreement as progress: Conflict, when managed well, sharpens ideas and prevents blind spots.
The Payoff Means Stronger and Smarter Teams
When you stop hiring clones and start building cognitive diversity, your start-up benefits in tangible ways:
•Better problem-solving - Different perspectives surface smarter solutions.
•Faster scaling - Specialists can build systems and processes that generalists can’t.
•Resilient culture - Diversity of thought makes your team adaptable, not brittle.
•Sustainable growth - Instead of a team that burns out doing everything the same way, you build one that balances strengths and weaknesses.
In the early days, hiring people like yourself can feel like the fastest route to success. But if you never move past that stage, you risk building a company with blind spots, operational gaps, and a fragile culture.
The real test of leadership isn’t how many people you can clone, it’s whether you can build a team that’s smarter, and more diverse than you are. If you hire people who complement, not copy, your strengths, you give your start-up the resilience and balance it needs to scale.
So ask yourself: Are you still hiring clones, or are you building a team that challenges and grows with you?
