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There are only two ways to find a perfect match for your job opening:

1. Find a candidate with proven success in the exact position you are seeking to fill.
2. Find a curious, fast learner who’s potential matches and exceeds the job requirements.

While most managers go for the first approach, it presents two major problems:

1. As a startup, we try to do things that have never been done before. It’s impossible to find people with proven success in something that has never been done.
2. A candidate that has a proven background in a company similar to yours will bring “best practices” and ideas from the very companies you are trying to disrupt. You will not succeed at disrupting a company by doing what they do.

We startup CMOs must opt for hiring the second type of candidates: innovative, smart, and fast learners. Experience matters a lot less than talent and motivation for a startup.

The obvious downside to this approach is that we must accept a high level of risk in hiring. You will have to interview a lot of candidates before you find the right one, and you should be ready to swiftly let go of the ones that don’t work out.