How do startups weigh experience vs. hunger?
How Should Startups Balance Hunger, Energy, and Experience?
The space startup ecosystem attracts brilliant, ambitious people fresh out of school, people who want to build fast, learn everything at once, and take big swings early in their careers. But can raw tenacity really replace experience? And how should founders and hiring managers think about the tradeoff between youthful intensity and seasoned execution?
In this episode, the VHTB team, Justus Kilian of Space Capital, Matt Gjertsen of Better Every Day Studios, and Seyka Mejeur of AdAstra Talent Advisors, looks at the realities of hiring young, scrappy talent inside fast-moving startups. They examine why early-career founders often struggle with people leadership, how urgency exposes missing experience, and what separates teams that harness raw ambition from those that get tripped up by predictable missteps.
We also look at the other side: why experienced leaders bring crucial pattern recognition, how larger companies like SpaceX or Amazon can be the best crash course for ambitious young people, and what organizations need in place before they hire someone who’s going to learn by doing (and by making mistakes).
Whether you’re hiring, leading, or debating whether to join a startup straight out of school, this episode gives a grounded look at how experience, energy, and self-awareness shape outcomes in early-stage companies.
Episode Highlights
00:00 The young-and-scrappy appeal, and its hidden pitfalls
02:38 Why some early-career founders struggle with “wisdom gaps”
04:07 When recruiters must push back on unrealistic expectations
05:59 What fresh founders often miss about people, friction, and alignment
07:47 When companies undervalue HR until it’s too late
09:36 Developing young managers: what you can’t assume they already know
11:32 How to weigh energy vs. experience in recruiting
12:29 When high energy and low experience become a compounding problem
13:25 The value of real mistakes, and why candidates shouldn’t hide them
15:48 Why self-awareness is the real differentiator at any age
17:00 Why big-company experience can build necessary pattern recognition
Episode Takeaways
- Energy is powerful, but experience prevents avoidable pain.
- Self-awareness can compensate for low experience, but only if mentors and guardrails exist.
- High-tenacity early hires need space to make mistakes; not all startups can afford that.
- Experienced leaders bring pattern recognition new founders don’t know they’re missing.
- HR and talent fundamentals matter early, not only once things break.
- Mistakes aren’t liabilities; they’re how wisdom is earned.
- Joining a high-caliber company first can accelerate your trajectory when you later jump into a startup.
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