This week, I sat down with the brilliant Sarah Lamontagne, Founder of Montagne Motion Consulting, to dive into smart hiring and what really matters when founders make those all-important first hires.

Sarah’s seen it all, from prisons to AI scaleups, and brings some refreshing honesty, and tonnes of experience to bear hiring, culture, and building the foundations for a people-first business.

Some personal highlights from our conversation:
✅ Why founders waste time (and budget) trying to DIY their early hires.
✅ The real cost of a 5-stage interview process (and why it needs to die).
✅ How finance and HR should actually collaborate (hint: start with muffins).
✅ What culture really is, and why Slack emojis don’t count.
✅ Why every founder needs to think about succession planning before they think they’re ready.