Free readiness check
Are you ready to hire this role?
Most stalled startup searches are not a market problem. They stall because the role was never written down, the salary was never signed off, or nobody agreed who decides. Work through nine areas and get a straight answer on what to fix before going to market.
Nine preparation areas
Role clarity, must-haves, pay, alignment, interviews, speed, proposition, location and timing.
Gaps, not a grade
It counts what you say is settled and lists what is not, with a practical fix for each one.
Honest about its limits
No AI, no market data, no score dressed up as science. It knows only what you select.
Stays in your browser
No account, nothing stored and nothing sent to us unless you choose to get in touch.
Nine preparation areas
0 of 9 answered
Answer honestly rather than optimistically — the useful output is the list of things worth fixing. A result appears once you have answered three. Nothing is saved or sent.
Your result
Answer three areas to see where you stand
You will get a plain summary, the specific things worth fixing before going to market, and a suggested next step. There is no score and no model — it counts what you told us is settled.
This is a structured checklist, not a measurement. It counts the areas you told us are settled and lists the ones that are not — there is no score, no weighting and no model behind it. It cannot tell you how candidates in your market will respond, what your salary range should be, or how long a search will take, because it has no information about any of those things. Treat it as a prompt for internal discussion, not as advice.
Related reading
Guides from the resource hub that cover the thinking behind this page. Each one is written by us and reviewed before publication.
- Technical & deep-tech hiring
Must-have versus learnable skills in early-stage technical hiring
How to split a requirements list into what must be true on day one and what can be learned after joining — and why that decision sets the size of your pool.7 min read · Reviewed 15 August 2026 - Interviews & scorecards
Interview scorecards small teams can actually run
A lightweight structured interview framework for startups: four criteria, defined evidence, independent scoring and a decision rule agreed up front.6 min read · Reviewed 15 August 2026 - Hiring strategy
When not to hire
The cases where a permanent hire is the wrong answer, the alternatives worth testing first, and the signals that a role is genuinely ready.5 min read · Reviewed 15 August 2026
Once the groundwork is done
- Hiring brief builderTurn the role into a brief a panel and a recruiter can both work from.
- Which approach fits?Five questions on scope, timing and cash flow, pointing at one tool.
- Rate calculatorModel the cost of one hire, or sequence a whole plan.
- Technical hiring playbookA framework for structuring a technically complex role.
- Hiring resourcesGuides on costs, briefs, interviews and team planning.
- Arrange a conversationTalk the role through with a person instead.