\n<\/p>\n
Artisan<\/a> may be known for their bold \u201cStop Hiring Humans\u201d campaign<\/a> but the reality is every founder needs to assemble the right team if they want to scale. The fast-growing AI startup<\/a> is building AI employees for sales outbound and customer engagement. This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen spoke with Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, the co-founder and CEO of Artisan about the early days growing their team and the hiring mistakes that could have killed them before they got off the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n Making the wrong hires or filling the wrong positions are mistakes that compound quickly. They waste time, drag down morale, and often create an execution lag that can be fatal to a startup just starting to scale.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve made a lot of hiring mistakes \u2014 like, a lot within every single role,\u201d said Carmichael-Jack. \u201cWe\u2019ve probably hired over 100 people to have the 40 people that we have now.\u201d\u00a0But every mistake led to a valuable lesson that the founding team was able to implement going forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s much harder to keep a team of 50 on track and mission-aligned than it is a team of 10. \u201cI thought that we would scale faster if I hired all these roles and built this huge team, but it actually makes it more difficult to scale,\u201d said Carmichael-Jack.<\/p>\n No one on the team of an early startup should have downtime. Hires should only happen when there is too much for the team to handle.<\/p>\n An impressive CV with experience at some of the tech giants doesn\u2019t always signal a person who is ready to dive into a startup. The skills needed to perform well on a large well-resourced team don\u2019t always match what\u2019s needed to execute in a startup environment. The experience and passion of a prospective employee matters more than big-name logos on a r\u00e9sum\u00e9.\u00a0<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco, CA<\/span> Someone who is too far along in their career may not be able to operate in the chaos of an early-stage startup and may expect structure that doesn\u2019t yet exist.\u00a0On the other hand, a hire who is too junior won\u2019t have the skills to scale their function.\u00a0<\/p>\n The hiring process should be patient and thorough, even with an impressive candidate. Meanwhile, decisive action is best when someone isn\u2019t a good fit for the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEarly on, we were way too slow. So we would sit on a decision for weeks or months and not really do anything and try and help them a bit, but not really, and just float around. And it never works out when you do that,\u201d said Carmichael-Jack. \u201cYou can tell when someone\u2019s not working out in a role, and usually they know as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Carmichael-Jack\u2019s early mistakes are a reminder that hiring isn\u2019t just an operational task; it\u2019s a strategic one. The wrong hire doesn\u2019t just slow you down; it can reshape your culture, dilute your standards, and make every future hire harder. The right ones, however, compound just as quickly.<\/p>\n In the end, even a company building AI employees learned the same lesson every founder eventually does: You can\u2019t scale a company without humans \u2014 they just have to be the right humans.\u00a0<\/p>\n Subscribe to Build Mode on Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a>, or wherever you like to listen<\/a>. And watch the full videos on YouTube<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Apply to Startup Battlefield:<\/strong><\/a> We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself). Be sure to say you heard about Startup Battlefield from the Build Mode podcast. Apply here<\/a>.<\/p>\n TechCrunch Disrupt 2026:<\/strong><\/a> We\u2019re back for TechCrunch Disrupt on October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, where the Startup Battlefield 200 takes the stage. So if you want to cheer them on, or just network with thousands of founders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts, then grab your tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\nOverhiring<\/h3>\n
Logo shopping<\/h3>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\nHiring too senior or too junior<\/h3>\n
Being too quick to hire and too slow to fire<\/h3>\n
\n