Hire your Head of AI last, not first, says PE operator
alex_verem · x · 2026-11-14
Responding to a common question from PE-backed operators—should you hire a Head of AI to build the program top-down?—mardehaym says start the work first and hire the leader later, a lesson he learned expensively building sales and marketing at Limestone.
The math on one failed top-down cycle: 1-3 months to find the person, 6 weeks before they start, then a trial period. If it fails, you've lost about six months and are back at zero—and each failed cycle deepens decision fatigue.
What worked instead: put a hands-on person in the trenches first, prove the model, then hire the leader to scale it.
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