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Jason Fried: Do the Job Yourself Before You Hire Someone to Do It

By Jason Fried · Leadership · 3 min read

Fried started interviewing biz dev guys. Impressive resumes. Well-dressed. Impressive words. And he realized — I don't know what questions to ask. Because no one at the company had ever done that job.

Key Points

You have to do the job first before you can hire someone to do it
You can try to spend your way out of problems or learn your way out — learning gives you a deeper solution
Fried did customer service for 2-3 years before hiring someone — then he knew who to hire

You have to do the job first before you can hire someone to do it.

The Biz Dev Guy Problem

Fried: We thought we needed a biz dev guy. I don't know why — we were like, everyone needs a biz dev guy, right? So I started interviewing biz dev guys. Their resumes were impressive. Well-dressed. Impressive words.

And I didn't know what questions to ask them. I didn't know what I was supposed to hear from them. I didn't know if what they were saying was right. Because I'd never done that job. No one in our company had ever done that job. How can we possibly evaluate somebody when we don't know what they do?

I didn't know what questions to ask. Because no one at the company had ever done that job.

Do the Job First

Fried: The key is — you have to do the job first before you can hire someone to do it. If it's not you, maybe it's your business partner, maybe somebody else in the company. But somebody internally should try to do it before you hire someone else.

You can try to spend your way out of problems, or you can try to learn your way out. If you learn your way out, you'll come up with a much better, deeper solution.

You can spend your way out of problems or learn your way out. Learning gives you a deeper solution.

Customer Service for Three Years

Fried: Before we hired a customer service person, I did customer service for two or three years. I answered all the emails. So I knew who to hire, what questions to ask, and if they were bullshitting me or not.

Before we hired a system administrator, David — my business partner — and Jamus, one of our programmers, did our system administration for the first three years. Then we could evaluate quality, personality, and skills in a deep, intimate manner.

I did customer service for 2-3 years. I answered all the emails. Then I knew who to hire.

Grow Slowly

Fried: People freak out — they say, well, we can't grow fast then. My suggestion is to grow slowly. It puts a really good constraint on you. It forces you to learn stuff — which is really important if you're running a business.

I'm not a system administrator but I know a little about it. I'm not a programmer but I know a little about it. Because I've been around it and tried to do it myself. That really helps you understand the people working for you.

Grow slowly. It forces you to learn stuff. You should know how to do everything in your business.