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Aurelius · Work & Leadership
Knowledge + Guidance

I'm building a product team. Who do I even hire?

You are asking the wrong question first. You want to know who to hire — a designer, an engineer, a PM — before you know what decisions your product actually needs made. That order is backwards, and it is why the search feels foggy. This is not a talent problem. Talented people are everywhere. The problem is that you and whoever you are building this with have not agreed, out loud, on what work must happen and who will own which piece of it. Hire into that fog and you will get two or three strong people quietly pulling in different directions, each convinced they are doing the job right. Clarity comes first, always. Not a perfect org chart — just an honest list of the work, made together, before you post a single job.

◆ How this problem reads on the two dials
GuidanceKnowledge
More coaching
Some to learn
1:1 with AureliusWith others (a Pod)
Some one-to-one
Practise with peers
This isn't a knowledge gap about hiring mechanics — it's a clarity gap that only shows up when people act, so guidance leads.
How the two dials adapt to you →
What’s really going on

You do not have a hiring problem. You have a clarity problem. You are choosing people before you know what work must be done and how it connects. Stop interviewing candidates. Sit down with your partners and name the actual work first. The roles will name themselves after that.

🔒 What you’ll build togetherUnlock by starting
A moveList every piece of work your product needs done in the next six months — tasks, not titles.
A moveGroup those tasks into clusters. Each cluster is a candidate role. Name it by the work it does, not a title you saw at another company.
A moveWith your partners, say out loud who owns which cluster of decisions — before any job post gets written.
A moveWrite the first job description as a list of decisions that person makes alone. If you cannot name three, the role is not ready.
A moveHire into the clearest, most urgent cluster first. Watch what breaks next. Let that tell you who you hire second.
PractiseMap the Work, Not the Titles · a Pod of 4 · 30 min

What changes unlock by starting

  • A written map of the real work your team needs, not a wish list of titles.
  • Clear lines between roles, so two new hires don't collide over the same decisions.
  • A hiring order based on what actually breaks first, not what sounds impressive.
  • A job post you can write in an afternoon, because the role is already named.

Related problems

One object, two jobs: a public answer to a real problem, and — the moment you start the chat — Aurelius’s live plan for your version of it.