Along with engineering, design is one of the most important early hires for technical companies. Once you're decided when the right time is for you to hire your first designer, you'll be entering a highly competitive hiring market. So what backgrounds should you look for? How do you evaluate good design? How do you attract great designers? And what should the right title be?

In the second installment of Technical Recruiting Playbooks, I interviewed Joshua Goldenberg, Phil Sheffield and Kathryn Gonzalez about hiring for design roles at early stage startups. 

Joshua Goldenberg

Joshua Goldenberg is an experienced design leader with tenures at Palantir, Slack, and Loom. In this episode, he discusses:

  • His insights on hiring and working with designers at early-stage companies
  • How early-stage founders should focus on conveying their commitment to design excellence and the potential impact on customers to hire the best candidates
  • Seeking designers from various backgrounds and focusing on their ability to recognize and appreciate good design, even if they lack a formal design education
  • How bringing on a full-time product designer early on can reduce costs and context loss compared to outsourcing design work

Phil Sheffield

Phil Sheffield is a seasoned designer and leader with experience at companies like Box and SingleStore. In this episode he discusses:

  • His experiences and insights on building design teams at different stages of startup growth
  • The significance of close collaboration between design and engineering teams, as well as the value of design hackathons for fostering creativity and innovation
  • The importance of having a well-rounded design team with different skill sets and diverse backgrounds
  • The role of user researchers in early-stage startups and the impact they can have on product development

Kathryn Gonzalez

Kathryn Gonzalez was the first product designer and front-end engineer at DoorDash. In this episode she highlights:

  • DoorDash’s growth from a small team to a large company, and her role in shaping the design infrastructure
  • How important it is for founding designers to feel comfortable tackling greenfield projects and making an impact on the business
  • A successful first designer should be motivated to solve core problems, possess a generalist skill set, and work comfortably in the chaotic environment of an early-stage startup
  • Insights into finding and hiring designers with both design and engineering skills, noting that motivation and skill alignment are crucial