# Hiring and managing people (Hormozi)

Study notes. Paraphrase and short quotes, each with a source link and timestamp. Acquisition.com course audio and YouTube captions are machine transcribed, so check the source before quoting word for word.

## 1. Internal five core functions (recruit like you acquire customers)
* External core functions (credited to a mentor he names): lead generation, lead nurture, sales, fulfillment, retention and ascension. [How I recruit the best employees in the world... (2021-11-15), 00:00:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxp-e5NionA&t=32s)
* His internal mirror: application generation, application nurture, interviewing (which is still selling), training (fulfillment for employees), retention and ascension of talent. [How I recruit the best employees in the world... (2021-11-15), 00:01:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxp-e5NionA&t=95s) [How I recruit the best employees in the world... (2021-11-15), 00:03:11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxp-e5NionA&t=191s) [How I recruit the best employees in the world... (2021-11-15), 00:04:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxp-e5NionA&t=290s) [How I recruit the best employees in the world... (2021-11-15), 00:05:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxp-e5NionA&t=356s)
* The same ways you get customers (paid ads, earned media, owned media, manual outbound, affiliates, word of mouth, as he listed them in 2021) also get applicants. [How I recruit the best employees in the world... (2021-11-15), 00:02:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxp-e5NionA&t=128s)
* He says high quality candidates find a job within 8 days, so slow follow up on applications loses them. [How I recruit the best employees in the world... (2021-11-15), 00:03:11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxp-e5NionA&t=191s)
* Give a clear path (titles, pay increases tied to milestones); without a visible future an employee is a ticking time bomb. [How I recruit the best employees in the world... (2021-11-15), 00:08:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxp-e5NionA&t=514s)

## 2. Who to hire first: buy back your time
* Map your stack of time. Find the lowest cost activity that takes the highest percentage of your time and hand that off first. [This first hire nearly bankrupt me...but was worth it.. (2021-11-01), 00:00:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOUK4DG0-kM&t=34s) [This first hire nearly bankrupt me...but was worth it.. (2021-11-01), 00:01:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOUK4DG0-kM&t=67s)
* His question for the owner: how can you get the most time back for the least amount of money? Entrepreneurship is buying back time. [This first hire nearly bankrupt me...but was worth it.. (2021-11-01), 00:02:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOUK4DG0-kM&t=134s)
* Usual early order for an unfunded business: an admin or helper first, then someone to help with fulfillment once the service is productized. [This first hire nearly bankrupt me...but was worth it.. (2021-11-01), 00:03:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOUK4DG0-kM&t=235s) [This first hire nearly bankrupt me...but was worth it.. (2021-11-01), 00:04:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOUK4DG0-kM&t=266s)

## 2b. The first five hires
* Rule of thumb order he gives: admin help, help with delivery, a sales role (someone to run intro calls so you only close), marketing assist, a fractional bookkeeper, then an IT or tech person; after that the core team Christmas trees down. Not hard rules; ask how much value you make per dollar versus what the hire costs. [The first 5 hires EVERY entrepreneur should make...or go broke... (2022-02-23), 00:01:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NqsFh5ej0w&t=63s) [The first 5 hires EVERY entrepreneur should make...or go broke... (2022-02-23), 00:02:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NqsFh5ej0w&t=127s) [The first 5 hires EVERY entrepreneur should make...or go broke... (2022-02-23), 00:03:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NqsFh5ej0w&t=190s) [The first 5 hires EVERY entrepreneur should make...or go broke... (2022-02-23), 00:07:54](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NqsFh5ej0w&t=474s)
* Hiring to free your time only helps if you use that time to add value; otherwise margins fall. [The first 5 hires EVERY entrepreneur should make...or go broke... (2022-02-23), 00:04:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NqsFh5ej0w&t=253s)
* Choose which debt to take on in what order (money up front vs fixing CRM, financials or an inexperienced management team later). [The first 5 hires EVERY entrepreneur should make...or go broke... (2022-02-23), 00:06:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NqsFh5ej0w&t=379s) [The first 5 hires EVERY entrepreneur should make...or go broke... (2022-02-23), 00:07:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NqsFh5ej0w&t=442s)

## 3. Manager triangle: why people don't do what you want
* Builds on Andy Grove (High Output Management). Three reasons: they don't know you want it, they don't know how, or they aren't motivated. [The SIMPLE Managerial Framework that changed my business (2022-07-05), 00:01:39](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMowPVgcWbA&t=99s) [The SIMPLE Managerial Framework that changed my business (2022-07-05), 00:02:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMowPVgcWbA&t=130s) [The SIMPLE Managerial Framework that changed my business (2022-07-05), 00:05:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMowPVgcWbA&t=319s)
* Communication cadence signals importance: meet twice a day about a metric and they treat it as important; once a quarter and they won't. [The SIMPLE Managerial Framework that changed my business (2022-07-05), 00:03:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMowPVgcWbA&t=194s)
* Script: ask whether they didn't know what you wanted, don't know how, or aren't motivated. [The SIMPLE Managerial Framework that changed my business (2022-07-05), 00:06:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMowPVgcWbA&t=382s) [The SIMPLE Managerial Framework that changed my business (2022-07-05), 00:06:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMowPVgcWbA&t=413s)
* Check incentives: if they are paid on four other things and not this one, expect low motivation. Explain the purpose (how CRM notes help finance and sales). [The SIMPLE Managerial Framework that changed my business (2022-07-05), 00:08:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMowPVgcWbA&t=509s) [The SIMPLE Managerial Framework that changed my business (2022-07-05), 00:09:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMowPVgcWbA&t=540s)

## 4. Role of HR and pay (his HR story)
* An over staffed HR director spent about 90 days of resources raising pay, which he calls a terrible decision. [Recruiting and Hiring Tips - How to Hire The Best Employees (2021-01-28), 00:01:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cemduJKQl5w&t=104s) [Recruiting and Hiring Tips - How to Hire The Best Employees (2021-01-28), 00:03:58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cemduJKQl5w&t=238s)
* Your job is not to make employees happy. Employees are not your customers; the company is. [Recruiting and Hiring Tips - How to Hire The Best Employees (2021-01-28), 00:05:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cemduJKQl5w&t=336s) [Recruiting and Hiring Tips - How to Hire The Best Employees (2021-01-28), 00:26:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cemduJKQl5w&t=1564s)
* Marketing, sales and product are core; IT, HR, finance and legal are operations that must happen but support the core. [Recruiting and Hiring Tips - How to Hire The Best Employees (2021-01-28), 00:10:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cemduJKQl5w&t=634s)
* Pay based on value provided; a superstar salesperson may be worth a big raise because replacing them is costly. [Recruiting and Hiring Tips - How to Hire The Best Employees (2021-01-28), 00:13:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cemduJKQl5w&t=799s) [Recruiting and Hiring Tips - How to Hire The Best Employees (2021-01-28), 00:25:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cemduJKQl5w&t=1532s)
* A strong core culture makes new people assimilate or are rejected. [Recruiting and Hiring Tips - How to Hire The Best Employees (2021-01-28), 00:22:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cemduJKQl5w&t=1361s)

## 5. When to fire (official free PDF)
* Fire for: not meeting standards, tearing down the team or not living the values, ignoring rules after time to correct, apathy, thriving on drama. Manage "up or out"; firing should never be a surprise; use counseling and a PIP with clear targets (except severe misconduct like theft). [Acquisition.com free PDF: when-to-fire-someone](https://www.acquisition.com/files/when-to-fire-someone.pdf)
* X posts: "Your business will grow faster from firing all the dumb people than it will from hiring more smart people." [X post 2026-10-03](https://x.com/AlexHormozi/status/2106176375950381344) and "Your worst person is your acceptable standard." [X post 2026-10-20](https://x.com/AlexHormozi/status/2112601462048227600)

## 6. Building a business that runs without you
* Beliefs to switch: a trained hire who learns your way without your mistakes might be 50% as good as you right away, and if the owner can do it right with part of their time, someone else can do it better with all of their time. [How to Build a Business That Runs Without You (2025-10-16), 00:17:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLpLmhWqKEU&t=1033s)
* Look for A players who describe their role in metrics in as much detail as possible; he measures skill by the quality and quantity of metrics someone tracks. [How to Build a Business That Runs Without You (2025-10-16), 00:23:09](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLpLmhWqKEU&t=1389s)
* Interview more people than you think you should; group interviews for front line roles (maybe up to manager) save time and let you read people quickly. [How to Build a Business That Runs Without You (2025-10-16), 00:25:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLpLmhWqKEU&t=1517s)
* He calls overexpansion one of the number one reason[s] people go out of business. [How to Build a Business That Runs Without You (2025-10-16), 00:23:09](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLpLmhWqKEU&t=1389s)

## 7. Traits are trainable skills
* People skills really means about a hundred micro skills (like smiling when someone walks in), and each can be trained. [How to Get Ahead of 99% of People (2023-07-05), 00:02:09](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh8Oc7ERdIU&t=129s)
* Traits people say the best are born with are simply buckets of smaller skills; deal only with what you can measure and observe, which makes teaching simpler. [How to Win (At ANYTHING) (2023-12-09), 00:11:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNll1BaskLA&t=666s) [How to Win (At ANYTHING) (2023-12-09), 00:13:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNll1BaskLA&t=797s)
* Intelligence is rate of learning: the phone rings with no script and nothing changes, versus someone who adjusts each time. Confidence is domain specific, so practice in the exact situation. [How to Win (At ANYTHING) (2023-12-09), 00:17:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNll1BaskLA&t=1067s) [How to Win (At ANYTHING) (2023-12-09), 00:19:57](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNll1BaskLA&t=1197s)
* Collaboration breaks down into skills too: recruiting, recognizing talent, onboarding, training, managing. [How to Get Ahead of 99% of People (2023-07-05), 00:21:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh8Oc7ERdIU&t=1282s)