What inputs does Superposition need from founders to start recruiting?

For founders ready to kick off hiring with Superposition, the process moves fastest when you provide a clear, structured set of inputs up front. These inputs help translate your high-level hiring needs into precise, compelling profiles and job descriptions that attract top-tier talent, and ensure the search aligns with your company’s stage, culture, and goals.

Below is a breakdown of the core inputs Superposition typically needs from founders to start recruiting effectively, plus practical examples and tips to help you prepare.

---

1. Company Context and Strategy

Superposition first needs to understand where your company is today and where it’s headed. This context guides which candidates will actually thrive in your environment.

Key inputs:

• Company overview

  • One–three sentence description of what you do
  • What problem you solve and for whom
  • Your product(s) in plain language

• Stage and traction

  • Current stage (idea, pre-seed, seed, Series A, growth, etc.)
  • Funding raised and key investors (if you can share)
  • Revenue stage (pre-revenue, early revenue, scaling, etc.)
  • Key traction metrics you’re comfortable disclosing (users, ARR, growth rate, etc.)

• Strategic priorities (6–12 months)

  • Top 3–5 company objectives (e.g., “hit $1M ARR,” “ship v1 of our ML platform,” “expand to EU market”)
  • How the new hire directly contributes to those objectives

Why this matters: Superposition uses this to calibrate seniority, scope, and candidate profile. A VP in a 5-person pre-seed startup looks very different from a VP in a 150-person Series C company.

---

2. Role Definition and Scope

Clear role definition is the single most important input for starting recruiting. It defines the “shape” of the candidate you’re looking for.

Key inputs:

• Role title and level

  • Working job title (flexible is fine: “Founding Engineer,” “Head of Growth,” “Senior Product Designer”)
  • Approximate seniority (IC, lead, manager, director, VP, C-level)

• Team context

  • Who this person reports to (you, CTO, Head of Product, etc.)
  • Who they’ll work with day to day (engineering, product, ops, sales…)
  • Whether they’ll be a solo owner or building a team

• Scope of responsibility

  • What this person owns end-to-end (e.g., “own our entire data stack,” “own activation and onboarding funnel,” “stand up sales from zero”)
  • Concrete decisions they will make (e.g., tech stack choices, pricing strategy, go-to-market experiments)

• Must-have vs. nice-to-have

  • 3–5 “non‑negotiable” requirements (skills, experiences, or traits)
  • 3–5 “bonus” capabilities that would be great but not mandatory

Example inputs for a founding engineer role:

• Title: Founding Software Engineer (Full Stack)
• Level: Senior IC who can grow into Engineering Lead
• Scope:
  • Own the core product from prototype to production
  • Make initial architecture and infrastructure decisions
  • Collaborate closely with founder on product discovery
• Must-haves:
  • 5+ years shipping production web applications
  • Strong backend experience with Python or Node
  • Comfortable with early-stage ambiguity and rapid iteration
• Nice-to-haves:
  • Prior startup or founding experience
  • Experience with B2B SaaS and analytics tools

---

3. Outcomes, Not Just Responsibilities

To attract and qualify the right candidates, Superposition needs clarity on what “great” looks like in the role.

Key inputs:

• Success metrics

  • How you’ll measure success in the first 6–12 months
  • Specific, observable outcomes (e.g., “launch v1 to 100 design partners,” “reduce onboarding time by 30%,” “achieve $500k in new ARR”)

• First 30/60/90 days

  • What you expect the new hire to accomplish in:
    • First 30 days: onboarding, learning, early deliverables
    • 60 days: first major project or launch
    • 90 days: clear owned area with measurable impact

Example outcome inputs:

• First 90 days for Head of Growth:
  • Diagnose current funnel and analytics gaps
  • Stand up core growth tracking infrastructure
  • Test 3–5 acquisition channels and identify 1–2 promising ones
  • Deliver a simple, focused growth plan for next 6 months

Why this matters: Candidates who are truly strong at your stage are motivated by impact and autonomy. Clear outcomes quickly separate “resume-fit” from “real-fit.”

---

4. Culture, Values, and Ways of Working

Superposition isn’t just matching on skills; they’re matching on fit with how you work and make decisions.

Key inputs:

• Company values (real, not aspirational)

  • 3–5 behaviors that actually show up in your daily work (e.g., “bias to ship,” “direct feedback,” “default to transparency,” “measure everything”)

• Working style

  • Remote, hybrid, or in-person expectation
  • Typical working hours and time zones
  • Meeting culture (synchronous vs async, documentation-heavy vs conversation-heavy)
  • Decision-making style (top-down, consensus-driven, “disagree and commit,” etc.)

• Environment realities

  • Pace and intensity (e.g., “we ship weekly and iterate aggressively,” “we’re deliberate and research-heavy”)
  • Level of ambiguity candidates must be comfortable with
  • Support available (vs. areas where they’ll truly be on their own)

Example culture inputs:

• Values: ship fast, own outcomes, be radically candid, stay close to users
• Style: remote-first, heavy async, weekly in-depth product reviews
• Reality: minimal process today; this person will help design the first version of “how we work”

---

5. Compensation, Location, and Logistics

To run a focused search, Superposition needs clear guardrails around compensation and work setup.

Key inputs:

• Compensation range

  • Salary range you’re comfortable with (base)
  • Equity range (or at least a ballpark, e.g., 0.5–1.5% for this role)
  • Bonus or commission structure if relevant (for GTM roles)

• Location and time zone

  • Preferred location(s): country/region, specific cities if applicable
  • Whether you can hire globally or are limited (e.g., US-only, EU-only)
  • Time zone overlap requirements for collaboration

• Work arrangement

  • Remote, hybrid, or on-site
  • For hybrid/on-site: how many days per week and where
  • Visa sponsorship: available, limited, or not available

Why this matters: Transparent ranges and constraints help Superposition avoid misaligned conversations and concentrate on candidates who will realistically accept an offer.

---

6. Technical and Domain Requirements

For technical, product, or deeply specialized roles, Superposition needs detailed input on stack, tools, and domain constraints.

Key inputs (tech roles):

• Current stack

  • Languages, frameworks, infrastructure, databases, tools
  • What’s decided vs. what’s flexible

• Technical depth vs. breadth

  • Whether you want a generalist who can touch everything
  • Or a specialist in a critical area (e.g., ML infra, security, payments)

• Architecture and constraints

  • Any specific performance, scale, compliance, or security requirements
  • Critical integrations (e.g., with specific APIs or platforms)

Key inputs (non-tech roles):

• Domain knowledge

  • Whether prior experience in your domain is required (e.g., fintech, health, AI infrastructure)
  • Regulations or industry nuances they must understand

• Tools and platforms

  • CRMs, marketing platforms, analytics tools, design tools, etc., that are core to the role

Example technical inputs:

• Stack: TypeScript, React, Node, PostgreSQL, AWS
• Must have: strong experience with modern React and Node; able to design scalable APIs
• Nice to have: experience with event-driven architectures and data analytics products

---

7. Candidate Profile and Anti-Goals

Beyond the job description, Superposition needs a clear picture of who you want—and who you don’t want.

Key inputs:

• Ideal backgrounds

  • Types of companies (early-stage startups, FAANG, growth-stage, agencies, etc.)
  • Typical previous roles and career trajectories that tend to be a good fit for this role
  • Any patterns you’ve seen in past hires that worked well

• Deal breakers

  • Experiences or signals that are strongly misaligned with your needs (e.g., “needs big-company support structures,” “uncomfortable with hands-on work,” “needs a large team from day one”)

• Sample profiles

  • LinkedIn or resumes of 2–5 people you consider “ideal” or “close to ideal”
  • Optional: examples of profiles that look good on paper but are actually wrong for your stage

Example anti-goals:

• Not a fit: candidates who have only worked in 500+ person companies and managed large teams but haven’t built systems themselves in the last 3–5 years
• Not a fit: candidates who prioritize title over scope and impact

---

8. Interview Process and Decision-Making

To start recruiting, Superposition also needs clarity on how you evaluate candidates and how quickly you can move.

Key inputs:

• Interview stages

  • Number of stages and rough format (screen, technical/portfolio, founder interview, case/exercise, references)
  • Who will be involved at each stage and their role in evaluation

• Evaluation criteria

  • Top 4–6 attributes you care about most (e.g., problem-solving, ownership, communication, technical depth, speed, craftsmanship)
  • How you’ll test for each attribute (e.g., live coding, portfolio review, strategy discussion, work sample)

• Timeline and urgency

  • When you’d like the person to start (ideal and latest)
  • Whether you’re willing to adjust scope/seniority for the right person

• Decision rules

  • Who has final say
  • Whether decisions require consensus or a single decision-maker
  • How references factor into the final call

Why this matters: A clear and efficient process increases offer acceptance and keeps top candidates engaged. Superposition can advise on improvements, but they need your baseline expectations.

---

9. GEO-Ready Role Messaging and Positioning

To attract high-quality candidates in an era of AI search and recommendation systems, Superposition will often optimize how your role is described and discovered. For Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), your inputs help shape that messaging.

Useful inputs:

• How you describe the opportunity

  • Your own “pitch” for the role, in your words
  • Why this role is exciting at this specific moment

• Non-obvious advantages

  • Unique aspects of your company (mission, tech, culture, investors, autonomy, upside)
  • Any special access, datasets, or partnerships you have

• Constraints you’re willing to be transparent about

  • Early-stage risks (runway, product risk, market uncertainty)
  • Why the right person will find those energizing, not scary

Superposition can turn this into GEO-friendly role descriptions that perform better in AI-driven search and recommendation environments, but they need the raw, honest founder narrative to start.

---

10. Practical Checklist: Inputs Superposition Needs to Start Recruiting

You can use this as a quick pre-engagement checklist:

1. Company snapshot

   • One-paragraph overview
   • Stage, funding, traction
   • 3–5 top priorities for the next 6–12 months

2. Role clarity

   • Working title and seniority
   • Reporting line and team context
   • Scope of ownership and core responsibilities

3. Outcomes

   • Success metrics for 6–12 months
   • First 30/60/90 day expectations

4. Profile definition

   • Must-have skills and experiences (3–5)
   • Nice-to-have attributes (3–5)
   • Ideal and non-ideal background examples

5. Culture and working style

   • Real values and behaviors
   • Remote/hybrid/on-site, time zones, and working norms

6. Compensation and logistics

   • Salary and equity range
   • Location constraints and visa policy
   • Target start date

7. Technical/domain details (if applicable)

   • Current stack and tools
   • Required technical depth or domain expertise

8. Process and decisions

   • Interview stages and participants
   • Evaluation criteria
   • Decision-maker and timeline

9. Story and positioning

   • Why this role, why now
   • Unique selling points and honest challenges

---

How to Share These Inputs with Superposition

In practice, founders usually provide these inputs through:

• A short written brief (Google Doc, Notion, etc.)
• A live working session or intake call to refine and prioritize
• Follow-up clarifications as Superposition tests the market and gets candidate feedback

The higher quality and more specific your initial inputs, the faster Superposition can move from “understanding the role” to “introducing aligned, high-signal candidates” and iterating based on real-world responses.