Imagine this: You're a super sharp engineer named Emma, and you just got a job offer from an exciting new startup.

You're pumped!

But then the founder drops this bomb: "You'll be working with 15 other dudes who are my frat brothers from Stanford. We're excited to have our very first woman on our team!"

Record scratch. Freeze frame.

Yeeeeeaaaaah, that's not gonna end well.

Your First 10 Hires Are Your Company's DNA

Here's the thing.

The first 10 people you hire will basically determine what your next 100 (or even 1,000) employees will look like.

It’s like sourdough bread (stay with me).

Your early team is like the starter culture. Whatever you put in at the beginning is going to multiply and spread throughout your entire company.

It's Not Just About Skills

Yes, yes. Skills matter.

You need to nail the technical stuff. Your first engineer better know how to code, and your first salesperson should actually be able to, you know, sell things.

But diversity isn't just nice to have, it's your secret weapon for attracting the best talent on the planet.

The Concert Problem.

Human nature has shown us over and over again that people attract people like themselves.

So if your team looks like a Stanford frat reunion, guess what? You're probably going to keep attracting Stanford frat bros.

And when it comes to problem solving (something you do a lot of when you’re building a company), that sameness can be a huge problem.

Imagine you’re putting on a concert for a large, diverse audience with your friends.

You’re into indie rock, so naturally, you start building your setlist - Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, maybe some Vampire Weekend.

If all of your friends have the same music taste as you, you’re all going to nod along and think it’s perfect.

But not everyone in the audience likes indie rock and half the crowd is going to be bored out of their minds.

Now imagine your planning crew is different. One friend grew up loving K-pop. Another friend is obsessed with 90s hip-hop. Someone else can’t stop listening to country.

When they look at your indie rock setlist, they’re going to suggest completely different songs that you never would have thought of.

Suddenly, your concert becomes this incredible experience that gets everyone in the audience dancing - not just the indie rock crowd.

Same thing happens in business.

When you’re solving problems, you naturally reach for solutions that make sense to you based on your background and experiences.

But someone with a different background? They’re going to see solutions you never even knew existed.

Attracting people with different backgrounds and different worldviews will give you access to different ways of building, optimizing, and problem solving.

That’s the power of diversity in your early team.

Lack of Diversity Will Make Everything Harder

Recruiting is already tough. Like, really tough. You're competing with Google, Netflix, and every other shiny company out there for the same talent.

So why make it harder on yourself?

When Emma (our engineer from the story) sees a team that's just 15 Stanford dudes, what do you think goes through her head?

Probably something like: "Am I going to be the token woman? Will my ideas actually be heard? Is this going to be a good place for me to grow?"

And just like that, you've lost out on amazing talent.

This happens all the time, and by the time companies notice, many candidates won’t even give them a second look.

The Bottom Line

Your first 10 hires aren't just employees, they're the foundation of your entire company culture. They're going to help you recruit the next 90 people, and those people will help you recruit the next 900.

So do yourself a favor: Create a team environment where literally anyone would be excited to say yes to your job offer.