Continuing from last month’s article on hiring, another issue that founders typically face when making their first hires is whether to hire generalists or specialists. Founders often assume that candidates can act as generalists and pick up a range of skills, simply because that’s what they had to do.

In my experience, first-time founders tend to project their background and abilities onto potential candidates. This can lead to confusion and frustration on the part of both founders and incoming candidates. Not all candidates can or want to do everything as well as the founders did. Many people prefer to specialize in one skill and are not as eager to take on a wide range of tasks.

While founders generally seek Swiss Army knives in the early stages, it’s essential to recognize that this will be challenging for many individuals. A lot of people only want to develop one skill set, and surprisingly to some founders, most people don’t want to “own” every decision.

As a result, early hires will likely have a profile that suggests they can learn quickly and are willing to take on various tasks, but have one specific skill set. After finding product-market fit, founders tend to look for employees with T-shaped skill sets—deep expertise in one area with a range of complementary skills. As the business matures, the trunk of the “T” deepens, and more specialized skills are required. Boning and peeling knives become preferred to Swiss Army knives.