For tech founders, hiring isn’t just another responsibility. It’s the responsibility. The ability to find, attract and close exceptional talent is one of the strongest predictors of whether a company can actually deliver on its vision. And the reverse is just as true: Weak hires or a slow, inconsistent process can stall a startup for months or derail momentum entirely.

As Head of Tech Talent at Bain Capital Ventures, I work closely with founders and CEOs to help them build and scale high-performing teams. The work is never simple. Even in a market where companies are getting more selective, bringing on people who elevate both your culture and your velocity remains one of the most difficult parts of building.

Across industries and stages, I’ve seen that the strongest results happen when founders avoid the subtle hiring mistakes that quietly undermine promising companies, and instead build a disciplined, durable recruitment engine that becomes a true competitive advantage. Here are the five recruitment traps I’ve seen that can set back founders, along with the actions they should take instead.

1. Mistaking urgency for a strategy

When you’re growing fast, it’s easy to feel the pressure to fill urgent roles immediately. After a surge in inbound customer interest or when a deadline looms for a new product, the instinct is to fill empty seats as quickly as possible. But when urgency takes over, it often leads to a short-term mindset. You end up focusing on speed rather than long-term fit, and the recruiting process can start to feel transactional, which may entirely turn off candidates from your brand. Many of the best people simply won’t move at your pace. They may be intrigued by what you’re building but not ready to walk away from their existing role on short notice. Rushing the process now can cost you strong hires down the road.

The smarter strategy is to plant seeds long before a role formally opens. Building a passive recruiting pipeline means consistently investing in relationships, even when you’re not hiring. We often see the most successful founders identify promising talent and then check in every three to six months, whether over coffee, lunch or at casual company gatherings.

These relationships don’t have to be limited to people you have a realistic shot at hiring. They also include candidates you wish you could hire someday, as well as connectors who can introduce you to others. Alex Reichenbach, CEO of Structify, keeps a running wish list of standout people he’s met over the years, one of whom he recently brought to a company offsite to keep the relationship active.

Founders who invest early in long-term relationships not only make better hires with far less friction, they also earn a reputation as thoughtful leaders who great talent wants to work with.

2. Take-home assignments that kill the human connection

When you’re in the thick of a hiring process, it’s not just candidates who are being evaluated. You are, too. Candidates are assessing your team, your culture and how you run your process. Nothing turns people off faster than being asked to do burdensome take-home assignments or work trials, especially early on.

This is particularly true for candidates you’ve proactively sourced. By giving them a homework-style exercise, you not only lose control of your timeline but miss the chance to facilitate meaningful interactions with your team. Worse, it can feel like you’re asking them to do free labor before you’ve even built a relationship.

Assignments can be valuable, but only when used intentionally and when they happen later in the process. Before assigning any kind of project, you should have at least one substantive, face-to-face conversation. And the assignment shouldn’t be emailed with vague instructions. Instead, walk the candidate through it live. Setting context reduces anxiety, clarifies expectations and shows respect for their time. Any review or debrief of their assignment should also happen face-to-face, woven into the interview sequence so the candidate knows their work actually matters.

Fira Health founders Alex Wendland and Ryan Tolsma built a dedicated step in their hiring process. They walk candidates through the take-home assignment on a short video call, and spend 10 to 20 minutes sharing the company’s vision. Once candidates have time to digest the prompt, the founders join a second call to share additional industry context and answer questions about the assignment. If the candidate advances, their take-home is presented during an onsite — a great way to let the candidate know their work is valued.

3. Embellishing your story

Building great companies is not only about hiring the right people. It’s also about keeping them. Data shows that median employee tenure at startups is just 2.2 years, with half of employees leaving within three years.

A big part of retention is culture: valuing long-term commitment, fostering true collaboration and grounding the team in a clear mission. But one of the biggest drivers of retention actually starts before someone joins, and it’s as simple as staying honest during the hiring process.

Painting an overly rosy picture — a customer pipeline not as strong as advertised, a market opportunity broader than what the product can actually serve, work hours that don’t reflect the real intensity of the role — almost always backfires. The same goes for omitting hard truths about runway, product delays or internal challenges. When the reality doesn’t match what someone was sold, employees leave. And each departure sets you back. You lose momentum and knowledge, and are forced to hire again while explaining the reason for the churn.

In the long run, honesty is a growth strategy. Founders should approach candidates with the same level of transparency they bring to investor conversations. Setting clear expectations upfront is one of the most powerful ways to keep great people once they’re in.

4. Expecting talent to chase you

Founders have to be ruthless with their time. So when a candidate seems lukewarm or slow to respond, it’s natural to want to cut losses and move on. But in many cases, founders walk away too quickly, especially those who haven’t had to actively court talent and are used to having people come to them. They underestimate the amount of engagement it takes to spark interest, particularly with sourced candidates who weren’t necessarily looking for a new job in the first place.

No matter how in-demand your company is, humility goes a long way. A candidate who doesn’t immediately return your call may ultimately be very open to what you’re building once they have a real conversation with you. But they might be locked in and focused on their current work, which is exactly the commitment you’d hope to see if they were on your team. Take the time to understand why they eventually took your call and what they’re looking for. If you can meet their goals, lean into that and sell it.

And don’t underestimate persistence. Especially at the offer stages, winning over top talent often takes more touches than you may expect: multiple emails, a thoughtful LinkedIn message, a warm intro from someone they trust. High-quality candidates have options. Sometimes the difference between landing or losing them is simply whether you stayed in the conversation long enough for their interest to catch. Mintlify, for example, invited a candidate to its matcha night. Although she couldn’t attend, Mintlify kept engaging with her. Moments after extending her offer, the company tapped into her love of running by sending a custom package with gels, trail mix, socks, sunscreen and a handwritten note. The candidate accepted the offer and called that gesture a standout moment.

5. Hiring fast, firing fast

As companies race to scale in the era of AI, some have embraced strict 90-day performance goals for new hires and let go of those who don’t meet expectations. While the intent is understandable, this approach can unintentionally foster an unproductive culture of fear, leave roles unfilled and create reputational risks that make future hiring more difficult.

That said, “hire fast, fire fast” can work when done thoughtfully, rather than ruthlessly. Rigorous performance standards are most effective when paired with transparency, clear goals and well-defined milestones at 30, 60 and 90 days. To ensure new employees are set up for success, managers should hold weekly one-on-one check-ins, providing prompt feedback and course corrections before small issues become bigger problems.

Learn how to build a fast, effective and sharp hiring engine. Contact Matt Stephenson at matt.stephenson@baincapital.com to connect.