How do you choose the right people to work with?
I submitted the question in the title to Chris MacAskill, the co-founder of SmugMug, during a live Mixergy interview.
Chris started by saying they have always focused on passion. The primary thing they look for is that the person cares about what the company is doing. He described the purpose of Smug Mug, which is a place to store and share your life photos like wedding pictures, baby pictures, travel photos and more. These things are part of your legacy he said.
After explaining the importance of passion, Chris went on to say that as the company grew they started to higher people that had a particular skill. For example, at some point they needed a Javascript expert so they hired one. These people may not necessarily have been passionate about photos but could contribute to the mission of the company.
To sum up, look for people with passion at the beginning. Once you have a strong core focus on hiring for specific skills.
