COO Question:

In most employee interviews I ask this question: “What scares you the most in life?” The reactions are fascinating. Up until this point, most humans speak too much; they chatter like chimps, crowding the world with verbal noise even when they have nothing to say.

But this question almost always brings pause.

A thoughtful silence enters the room. Eyes look off into the distance and the most remarkable responses flow out of mouths. It’s often at this point that I start to see what I came for…a little bit of the truth.

I ask this question because being part of a startup is incredibly scary and there is no room, or time, for posers. I want to hire someone who has looked into the dark corner and can name the monster. I want to see depth. I want to see gumption. I want to know that when it gets tough and there’s another heartless lap to go, she will go back out into the dark where it is lonely and scary. One step at a time. Until it is finished.