[barrystaes]

Right from the smallest of technicalities like giving control of my domains, server, sites to employees scares me.

Sounds simple but.. when you hire a technical guy; hire/keep the ones that are smarter than you. This allows you to let it go. If you thrust them to doing a better job than you would, its easyer to not get in their way.

On HR vs core employee: if you have fulltime work for a core employee, get one asap. This frees up the time you need to build your bussiness instead.

[techcorner]

hire/keep the ones that are smarter than you. How? Why would they join a small company?

[mastercoder82]

> Why would they join a small company?

Once the basic needs are met, many smart and talented people look for internal motivation. It doesn't matter if it is a small or a large company, as long as they are happy and satisfied. According to Daniel Pink's theory of motivation [0], there are 3 aspects of intrinsic motivation: 1. Autonomy - trust them, don't micromanage, let them take decisions 2. Mastery - allow them to get better and acquire skills 3. Purpose - give them a meaningful purpose and sell them your vision

Internal motivation may mean differently for different individuals, but I believe the above three aspects cover the most of it.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive:_The_Surprising_Truth_Ab...

[0xdb]

There are lots of reasons for choosing a small company over large ones: interest in the field, involvement in decision making, maybe more technical freedom, less bureaucracy ... I would say it depends more on the company itself than its size