The Point A Series: Recruiting Edition
Why most hiring problems aren’t talent problems. They’re honesty problems
Let me say something that most recruiters won’t:
A lot of hiring problems have nothing to do with candidates.
They start with the company not being honest about where they are—Point A.
What companies say vs. what’s actually true
What they say:
“We need a Senior Software Engineer.”
Reality:
The codebase is messy
No clear product roadmap
Leadership changes direction weekly
The last two engineers quit
That’s not a “Senior Engineer” problem.
That’s a stability and leadership problem.
What they say:
“We need a VP of Sales to scale revenue.”
Reality:
No consistent pipeline
Weak product-market fit
Founder still closing all the deals
No repeatable sales motion
You don’t need a VP of Sales.
You need someone to build the engine from scratch—or fix the one that’s broken.
What they say:
“We need a Head of Marketing.”
Reality:
No clear ICP
Messaging is all over the place
No attribution
Expectation is “make us go viral”
That’s not a marketing hire.
That’s a strategy reset.
Why this matters (and costs real money)
When Point A isn’t clear:
Job descriptions become generic
Interviews become inconsistent
Candidates get confused
The wrong person gets hired
And now you’ve:
Burned $30K–$100K+ in recruiting fees
Lost 3–6 months
Damaged team morale
All because no one slowed down to define reality.
What great hiring managers do differently
The best ones I’ve worked with are brutally clear about Point A.
They say things like:
“Our team is underperforming and I don’t know why yet.”
“We’ve outgrown our current leader.”
“We need someone who can come in and challenge everything.”
That level of honesty changes everything:
Better candidate targeting
Cleaner interview process
Faster decisions
Stronger hires
A simple framework you can use tomorrow
Before you open a role, answer this:
What is broken right now?
What has already been tried?
What would success look like in 6–12 months?
Is this a builder, fixer, or scaler role?
If you can’t answer those clearly…
You’re not ready to hire.
Final thought
Most companies don’t fail at hiring because of a lack of talent.
They fail because they skip Point A.
And in recruiting, skipping Point A is expensive.