People The hire that taught us to slow down We filled the role in nine days. We spent the next six months learning why that was the problem. Priya Nandakumar 21 August 2026 1 min read Priya Nandakumar Priya writes the occasional guest issue on hiring and team design. She leads people operations at a 40-person logistics startup. Website Enjoyed this issue? Get the next one straight to your inbox. Free, no spam. Email address Subscribe Discussion Related 10 Sep 2026 People Members only One-to-ones that are actually about the work No. 15 10 Jul 2026 People Hiring for disagreement, not just skill The best addition to a five-person team last year was someone who pushed back in the first interview. We almost didn't call her back for exactly that No. 5 1 Oct 2026 Reader Questions Reader questions: on deadlines, on saying sorry, and on the channel that never sleeps Three questions from this month's inbox: a deadline nobody believes in, an apology that came too late, and a chat channel that runs all night. No. 18 24 Sep 2026 Tools The spreadsheet that outlived three tools We bought three products to replace one spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is still here, and it finally explained why. No. 17 17 Sep 2026 Money Paid members only Deep dive: what a small team's budget actually looks like after a year No. 16
10 Jul 2026 People Hiring for disagreement, not just skill The best addition to a five-person team last year was someone who pushed back in the first interview. We almost didn't call her back for exactly that No. 5
1 Oct 2026 Reader Questions Reader questions: on deadlines, on saying sorry, and on the channel that never sleeps Three questions from this month's inbox: a deadline nobody believes in, an apology that came too late, and a chat channel that runs all night. No. 18
24 Sep 2026 Tools The spreadsheet that outlived three tools We bought three products to replace one spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is still here, and it finally explained why. No. 17
17 Sep 2026 Money Paid members only Deep dive: what a small team's budget actually looks like after a year No. 16
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