we go 0 to 300 -- the mike krieger, drake song

excellent post by instagram cto, who took team from 0 to 300, on hiring engineers. 

the cliffnotes: when instagram was acquired he had a team of just 6 generalists. 

first engineering hires-- should be generalists who know how to solve your problems and don't get too into the weeds. to test for this- give engineering interviewees a complicated problem to solve with finite period of time. see how much they solve in said time. if it's not much....boy bye. these people should also have passion (for engineering and for the work they're doing) and not just be there to work. and (i think prob most importantly!) these early hires should be diverse!!!! it's true. most companies f this up pretty early ;) 

next engineering hires-- managers. you need managers before you think you do. you want to have mgr behavior on your team before you actually need management. 

then... you go from generalists to platform engineers to product engineers. 

^^ "When it comes to that shift, timing is everything. Do it too soon, and you lose the benefits of that culture-building intermediate stage. Do it too late, though, and you may sow the seeds of discord. “We made the switch around 150 engineers, which was too late,” says Krieger. “I think the breaking point — and the clearest sign that this was something that we needed to change — is when your product managers and your engineering managers start hating each other.”"