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Meet Najdana Majors
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Najdana Majors scaled teams from 200 to 1,000 at Celsius in one year, then built Web3-native talent systems at Everclear managing 30 FTE plus 60+ DAO contributors. Her superpower: bringing enterprise-grade structure to startup speed. Psychology background, agency training, Fortune 500 experience—then applied it all to crypto's chaos.
Core belief: Culture isn't an afterthought. It's the cornerstone that determines if your hires succeed or burn out in three months.
Key Takeaways
Structure your process, not your bureaucracy
Most founders either wing it completely or copy enterprise playbooks that kill speed. Majors found the middle path: lightweight structure that protects quality without slowing decisions.
"At NCR, we had it in some places, didn't in others. At Celsius, same thing. Here I've got it to the point where it's really structured—we know from the beginning how every step will look."
Her four-step process for all roles:
- Recruiter screen: Motivation, basic fit, company sell
- Manager phone screen: Skills check and team chemistry
- Technical deep dive: Take-home assignment + 60-minute discussion
- Values interview: Founder conversation on culture and vision
Timeline target: about 3 weeks from first call to decision. "When you find the right person, you need to drive them through the process really quickly."
Action for founders:Define your exact hiring steps before you need them. Document the process. Train everyone who interviews. Speed comes from clarity, not shortcuts.
Trust your gut, but rate everything else
Majors combines structured scoring with intuition—a balance most founders get wrong.
"Structure doesn't mean you're just assessing people the right way, but it also means that legally it's sound. You should ask all candidates the same questions."
Her system: 1-4 rating scale for skills, plus gut check for motivation and culture fit. Both matter, but differently:
- Skills 4, gut 4: Absolute must-hire
- Skills 3, gut 4: Push forward, often succeeds
- Skills 4, gut 2: Red flag, dig deeper on motivation
- Skills 4, gut 1: Don't hire, even if they look perfect on paper
"I had a candidate that looked perfect objectively, we rated them really highly, had all the right skills. But intuitively I felt like this person is not going to make it. We hired them, they didn't work out within the first month."
Action for founders:Build objective criteria first. Then trust experienced judgment when something feels off. Document both so you can learn from patterns over time.
The first call is a sales conversation
Most recruiters treat initial screens as pure assessment. Majors flips it: sell first, screen second.
"That call is not just meant to assess the candidate. It's also meant to sell. Why should they join this company if they have a few other options?"
Her recruiter screen structure:
- Company vision and culture (heavy emphasis)
- Role expectations and growth opportunity
- Structured behavioral questions on learning, problem-solving, communication
- Two-way Q&A
This approach filters for true believers while building excitement in qualified candidates. "Top talent isn't looking to repeat. They want to level up."
Action for founders:Train your first screener to be a company evangelist, not just a gatekeeper. Good candidates should leave that call more excited about your mission than when they started.
Fractional beats full-time until real scale
Majors' hottest take: most startups waste money hiring full-time people ops too early.
"I have a hot take that only in bigger companies do you really need a full-time person. A lot of times what happens with heads of people is they get tied into operations that maybe somebody else can do which pulls them away from their priorities."
Her framework for when to hire people support:
- 3-10 people: Founders handle everything
- 10-20 people and <2 hires/month: 10-20 hours/week fractional people lead
- 20-30 people and 2–4 hires/month: Part-time expanding to full-time based on growth rate
- 30+ people and >4 hires/month: Full-time head of people with clear strategic focus
"You solve problems as they come up. When something becomes a problem, you go and solve it then."
Action for founders:Resist the urge to hire full-time HR early and overload them with a lot of operations. Find experienced fractional talent who can set up lightweight systems that scale with you, not against you.
AI augments, never replaces human judgment
Majors uses AI tools daily but draws hard boundaries on where automation belongs.
"I really think it's going to be augmentation between people and AI. If I can have a tool that makes me 10x in productivity, absolutely. But there needs to be some control from a knowledgeable human."
Her AI boundaries:
- Yes: Resume screening, sourcing tools (LinkedIn + Juicebox), basic requirement filtering
- Maybe: High-volume, junior role screening via chat
- Never: First video interviews for mid/senior roles, final hiring decisions, cultural assessment
"For any kind of mid-level or senior level, absolutely not. Why? That call is not just meant to assess the candidate, it's also meant to sell."
Action for founders:Use AI to move faster on repeatable tasks. Keep humans in control for relationship-building, culture assessment, and strategic hiring decisions. The best talent will walk away from AI-only processes.
Local events beat big conferences
Most founders chase big conference networking. Majors found better ROI in consistent local engagement.
"When you go to local events that happen every month or every few weeks, you're gonna develop partnership with those people. You're gonna get to know them better."
Her sourcing strategy combines:
- Direct outreach: LinkedIn + newer tools like Juicebox AI
- Local events: Monthly meetups, not yearly conferences
- Referrals: High-converting but requires good internal culture
- Selective agencies: Partners who understand long-term fit, not just placement
Big conferences create many shallow connections. Local events build relationships where you can spot potential that doesn't show up on resumes.
Action for founders:Invest in 3-4 local events you attend consistently rather than flying to every major conference. Build relationships over transactions.
Metrics that matter
Hiring process health:
- Time from first call to decision (target: under 3 weeks)
- Pass-through rates between stages (avoid 80-90% advancement—too loose)
- Percentage receiving "strong yes" vs lukewarm signals
Long-term team strength:
- 90-day retention rate
- Internal mobility and promotion rates
- Employee engagement survey results (Majors tracks burnout early)
Culture indicators:
- Referral quality and conversion rates
- Values demonstration in performance reviews
- Authentic motivation assessment in hiring
Key takeaways
✅ Structure enables speed, not bureaucracy. Define your process once, execute consistently, decide fast.
✅ Culture beats credentials. Hire for growth mindset and values alignment—skills can be taught faster than motivation can be instilled.
✅ Scale your people support intentionally. Fractional leadership handles most startup needs - until growth demands more.
✅ First impressions are sales conversations. Top talent evaluates you as much as you evaluate them—make every interaction count.
✅ Gut plus data beats either alone. Structure protects against bias, but experienced intuition catches what scorecards miss.
Pro tips
✅ Every internal recruiter could use some agency experience. Agency experience teaches speed and volume, but internal roles teach long-term thinking about talent.
✅ Take-home assignments beat live coding. Give candidates time to think and show real problem-solving, not just pattern matching under pressure.
✅ Values interviews work when they're conversations. Skip the formal Q&A—let founders and candidates explore mutual fit authentically.
Day one actions for founders
□ Map your hiring process - Define exact steps, timeline, and decision criteria before you need to hire
□ Train your first screener - Whether founder or recruiter, ensure they can sell your vision as well as assess fit
□ Build your local network - Identify 2-3 monthly events in your space and commit to consistent attendance
□ Set up lightweight tools - Choose ATS that's easy to customize, not enterprise-heavy (Lever, Ashby, Greenhouse)
□ Create your gut check framework - Document what good motivation and culture fit actually look like for your company
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