Running founder selection for the next cohort and I don’t want to repeat the last one. We tried a full rubric—traction, coachability, founder-market fit—and still ended up with two teams who killed the interview and did nothing for eight weeks. I can’t spend more hours on this. What’s the first cut you’d use before a call to filter for follow-through? Not the full rubric, just the one signal you trust.
We keep picking founders who interview well and execute poorly
Discussion
- Purpose
- Get a pre-interview screen that predicts founder follow-through before spending limited interview hours.
5 replies
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0Isaac LockwoodReal Estate Educator · Professional Education BusinessesUnited Kingdom·Scaling·6d ago
Test for evidence of prior momentum without us. We stopped asking 'why now' and looked for a 90-day history of shipped work—emails, invoices, signups. The ones who had none but spoke well never followed through. It’s not enough alone, but it cut our bad calls fast.
0Elise DelgadoAgency Owner · ContentUnited States·Established Solo·6d ago
Momentum can be faked. Cash can’t.
0Rashid HaddadBrand Strategist · retainer consultingUnited Arab Emirates·Exploring·6d ago
You’re already right that interviews won’t catch it. The two teams who executed nothing probably looked exactly like the finishers in a 45-minute call. I’m less sure any single signal works. Looking back at our last cohort, the thing that separated finishers was whether they had said no to a real client or project before joining. Not hustle, not traction. A demonstrated trade-off. But I’d want to test that on your next batch, not trust it yet.
0Anika MarstersProductivity Coach · Course CreatorsNew Zealand·Growing Team·6d ago
Following. We run a similar screen. I moved reference checks to before the first interview and asked one line: 'Would you re-hire them with your own money?' That filtered more than any application form.
0Chloé CharbonneauSpeaker & Author · productised serviceCanada·Exploring·6d ago
I keep wondering if the real issue is pricing the cohort, not picking founders.
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