In this podcast, Font Awesome founders, Dave Gandy and Travis Chase, discuss how hiring the right people to the team is the first and best approach to building a strong company culture.

The 37 Signals blog, and their books gave Dave and Travis inspiration on how to do business and software differently. Dave and Travis had both built software together and had proof that they knew how to create user-centric product design, so why not also build a people-first company, too? But they’d have to rethink standard hiring practices.

Often, nearsighted companies hire so-called “A Player”, or “Rock Star” employees. Unfortunately, folks with this reputation are often egotistical jerks that cause more problems in companies than solutions. Why hire a new employee for their skills first, to only fire them for issues of character later? Dave believes this is backward. A key ingredient to creating a different sort of company is to hire folks who are first of all humble, possess the necessary skills for the job, and have a love for learning. The rest can be taught.

—---------------------------------

Timestamps