Define the first six months

A founding engineer brief should start with outcomes, not a shopping list of frameworks. Describe the product that must work, the users it serves and the decisions that still need making. Explain whether the hire inherits a prototype, an existing codebase or a blank slate. Agree which decisions remain with the founders and which transfer to this person.

Separate building from managing

Hands-on product delivery and people management require different time and support. If you expect the founding engineer to recruit, review code and set architecture as well as ship features, make those expectations visible. Decide which responsibilities are needed immediately and which may develop later. Do not use a future leadership title to obscure the work required now.

Explain New York working arrangements

State the actual location and attendance pattern early. Explain time-zone overlap with founders, customers and colleagues, including any regular work across London or San Francisco. Candidates need to understand the practical working week as well as the technical problem. Do not assume that interest in a New York company means willingness to relocate or commute.

Assess decisions behind delivered work

Ask candidates to walk through a product or system they built, what they personally owned and what they would change. Explore a difficult trade-off and an approach that failed. Founder experience or competition results can provide useful discussion material, but assess collaboration, product judgment and motivation separately. Use examples the person is permitted to share.

Make the package understandable

Discuss salary, equity and any bonus as separate elements. Use New York employer-advertised ranges as reference points, not guaranteed market rates. Explain grant terms and the assumptions behind any equity illustration. If parts of the package are still undecided, say so rather than asking candidates to infer them from the funding stage.

Use one decision process

Agree who interviews, what each person assesses and who makes the final decision. Give candidates enough context to prepare and explain the next step after each conversation. Josh’s previous New York placements include ICPC finalists and a former founder; those placements predate Corellia Talent. They inform his questions without replacing an assessment of the current brief.

Check the compensation assumptions.

Our salary guide separates advertised pay, disclosed equity and bonus from planning estimates. Compare the role, location and company context before using a figure in a decision.

Explore the evidence and compensation planner

Questions founders ask

Do we need a founding engineer or a CTO?

Choose by the immediate mandate. A hands-on builder and a leader responsible for strategy, people and hiring are different briefs, even when titles overlap.

Should we require previous founder experience?

Only if you can explain why it matters to the work. Explore ownership and motivation directly rather than making a previous title a substitute for evidence.

How should we compare compensation?

Use New York examples for the relevant role and level, then inspect the scope and grant terms. Advertised ranges are not recommended offers.

Can Corellia help define the role?

Yes. Josh works through outcomes, technical expectations, working arrangements and trade-offs before approaching candidates.

Does Corellia have a New York office?

New York is a market served, not an office location claimed. Calls are available into US working hours subject to the booking calendar.

Do you work with bootstrapped startups?

Venture funding is not a requirement. The starting point is the role, the business and whether Corellia’s recruitment service fits the brief.