初创公司是疾速演化的有机体。事物都是不断变化的，而如果一切顺利，成长之快令人感觉一年如十载。对于不少创业者，这些肾上腺素激增的日子也许是不断尝试和犯错的坎坷旅程。这也无妨！实践中学习是个好法子。

即便如此，借鉴前人的创业经验也是有用的，特别是在雇人方面。确定你想安排哪些职位，相应地你想招怎样的人，这就确定了企业能够并且将会有怎样的发展。

在本文里，一家营销机构的联合创始人兼CEO透露了他如何将团队从无到有地发展到100多名员工。

姓名：瑞安·舒尔克

企业：位于纽约的营销公司Fluent

成立时间：2010年

员工人数：130人

瑞安·舒尔克与马特·康林于八年前在纽约创立了营销公司Fluent。“当时我们请不起猎头公司。”舒尔克说。

于是，他们完全依赖于个人的关系网，打电话给有潜力的前同事和前同事的同事，试图把人招进来。“刚起步时自然是靠关系，然后把我们认识的并且在我们所需领域有一技之长的人吸收进来。”

该策略对于前20名成员很有效。这家初创机构得以招募深受器重的人才，而不必向猎头公司付钱。

但企业迅速成长至50人，接着又增长到100人，关系网的效力眼看要枯竭了。作为联合创始人兼CEO，舒尔克深刻体会到一些策略：“能将你渡到今天，却未必能将你渡到明日。由创始人主导的企业对此往往看不到这一点。”

公司开始发布求职信息。最近公司刚刚招到了一位COO。舒尔克不再依赖枯竭的关系网，而是雇了一家猎头公司来挖掘合适人选。效果很明显：在面试了几十位原本靠一己之力绝不可能网罗到的合格候选人之后，公司最终确定了一位经验丰富的高管人士，此前他在一家金融服务公司担任CEO。“有时你必须意识到自己的局限，先退一步，再找出不同的方法解决问题。”舒尔克说。

其他窍门：

企业在创建初期不要划定员工职能，这样比较有益——他们有权去担任一些你还未发觉其必要性的职能。Fluent的行政与文化资深经理在最初被招进来的时候是担任前台接待员。但她在组织公司活动方面展现出过人的热情和天赋，激励了士气，因此这最终全职调任到人力资源岗位上。

与高等院校发展关系。应届生是企业早期雇人的极佳选择，特别是对初期的初创公司更是如此。员工“刚出学校不久，对事情应有的实施方式没有既定概念，”因此也更敏捷、更能适应，舒尔克说。（财富中文网）

译者：沈昕宇 

A startup is a rapidly evolving organism. Things change, and, if everything is going well, grow so quickly a year feels like a decade. For many entrepreneurs, these early adrenaline-fueled days can be a messy period of trial and error. Which is ok! Learning by doing isn’t a bad strategy.

That said, it’s helpful to learn from other founders who have gone through the same process, particularly when it comes to hiring. Identifying the roles you need to create and the people you need to fill them determines what your business can—and will—become.

In the third of a three part series, a marketing agency co-founder and CEO shares how he grew from 0 to more than 100 employees.

Name: Ryan Schulke

Business: Fluent, a marketing agency in New York

Founded in: 2010

Number of employees: 130

When Ryan Schulke and Matt Conlin started Fluent, a marketing agency in New York, eight years ago, “we couldn’t afford to use a recruiter,” Schulke says.

Instead, they relied exclusively on their personal networks, filling positions by making calls to talented former colleagues and colleagues of ex-colleagues. “At the onset certainly networking and pulling in people that we knew had good skill sets in areas that we needed perform.”

For the first 20 employees, this strategy worked great. The nascent agency was able to bring on trusted, talented people without the overhead of a recruitment firm.

But as the company skyrocketed to 50, then more than 100 people, the network effect was running dry. As a founder who is also the chief executive, Schulke is acutely aware that the strategies which “got you to today aren’t necessarily going to get you to tomorrow. Founder-led businesses often lose sight of that.”

And so the company began posting openings on job boards. Recently, it brought on a COO. Instead of relying on his depleted network, he hired a recruitment firm to find candidates. It was the right call: after interview dozens of qualified potential hires the company would never have been able to find on its own, Fluent settled on an executive with extensive experience, most recently as the CEO of a financial services company. “Sometimes you have to realize your own limitations take a step back and figure out a different way to solve a problem, Schulke says.

Other tips:

In the early days, it can pay to keep employees roles fluid enough they are empowered to fill roles that you don’t know you need yet. Fluent’s senior manager of office and culture was originally hired as a desk receptionist. But she displayed a passion and talent for organizing company events that boosted morale—a task that eventually became her full-time job.

Develop relationships with universities. Recent graduates can make great early hires, particularly for early-stage startups. Employees “right out of school have no preconceived notions of the way things need to work,” Schulke says, which often makes them adaptable and quick.