Series B Startup Hiring: Scaling from Startup to Growth Company

Why Series B Hiring is Different

The Transition Point

Series B is where startups either professionalize successfully or start breaking. The informal processes that worked with 10 engineers become chaos with 30. The flat hierarchy that felt empowering becomes unclear accountability. The founding team's implicit culture needs to become explicit values and practices.

The Competition Intensifies

At Series B, you're no longer a scrappy startup that candidates give the benefit of the doubt. You're being evaluated against:

Series C+ Companies: More resources, stronger brands, clearer growth trajectories, similar equity upside with lower risk.

Big Tech: Competitive salaries, strong benefits, job security, recognized names on resumes.

Other Series B Startups: Similar equity, similar opportunity, competing for the same talent pool.

Your differentiation must be specific: Why join THIS Series B company? What's unique about YOUR growth trajectory, team, product, or opportunity?

Building the Engineering Management Layer

Your First Engineering Managers

Series B is typically when companies hire or promote their first dedicated engineering managers. This is one of the most consequential hiring decisions you'll make.

When to Make the Hire

What to Look For

Great Series B engineering managers are rare. They need to:

• Build process without creating bureaucracy
• Develop people while maintaining velocity
• Translate between executives and engineers
• Make hiring decisions at scale
• Preserve startup culture while professionalizing

The mistake most companies make is promoting their best engineer. Technical excellence doesn't translate to management excellence. Look for people who are energized by developing others, comfortable with ambiguity in a different way than ICs, and capable of influencing without authority.

Engineering Manager Compensation (US, 2026)

Building Team Structure

Series B is when you move from "everyone does everything" to intentional team design.

Typical Team Evolution:

• 10 engineers: 2-3 informal pods, tech lead coordinates
• 20 engineers: 3-4 teams with designated leads, maybe 1 EM
• 30 engineers: 4-6 teams, 2-3 EMs, clear ownership areas
• 40+ engineers: Multiple EMs, possibly a director, platform vs. product split

Common Structures at Series B:

The Equity vs. Cash Evolution

What Changed from Series A

At Series A, equity was your primary differentiator. Candidates took salary cuts for meaningful ownership. At Series B, the equation shifts:

Having the Compensation Conversation

Series B compensation conversations are more nuanced than earlier stages. You're no longer asking candidates to take a leap of faith—you're presenting a balanced package.

Frame it honestly:

"Our equity is smaller than what you'd get at Series A, but our company risk is substantially lower. We've proven product-market fit, we have $30M in the bank, and we're growing 3x year-over-year. Your 0.15% at our current valuation is worth $X today. At our Series C target valuation, it could be worth $Y. You're trading some upside for more certainty."

Typical Series B IC Compensation (US, 2026)

Cash/Equity Flexibility

Some candidates optimize for cash (family obligations, mortgage, paying off debt). Others optimize for equity (already financially stable, true believers). Offer flexibility:

Option A: Higher cash, lower equity
Option B: Lower cash, higher equity

This isn't just good recruiting—it signals that you respect individual circumstances and make decisions based on outcomes, not rigid policies.

Competing for Senior Talent

Why Senior Hiring Gets Harder

Series B attracts senior candidates because the risk/reward ratio improves. But it also means you're competing more directly with well-funded companies.

What Senior Candidates Evaluate:

The "Prove It" Problem

At Series A, candidates join on faith. At Series B, they expect evidence:

• Revenue/ARR growth: Share real numbers
• User metrics: Active users, retention, engagement
• Technical metrics: Uptime, scale, interesting challenges
• Team stability: Low regrettable attrition signals healthy culture
• Funding runway: How long can you operate? What's the plan?

Senior candidates have options. They'll take meetings with Series C companies, Big Tech, and other Series B startups. You need concrete reasons why your opportunity is better.

Hiring Specialists

When to Add Specialized Roles

Series B is often when you hire your first:

Integration Challenge

Specialists joining a generalist culture face friction:

The Specialist's Perspective: "You've been doing security wrong for years. Let me fix it."

The Team's Perspective: "We've been fine without a specialist. Why do we need process now?"

How to Bridge:

1. Set expectations during hiring: "You're joining a team that hasn't had this function. Your job is to build it collaboratively, not impose it."
2. Give them authority but require buy-in: They own the domain, but changes affect everyone.
3. Celebrate early wins: Quick improvements build credibility for bigger changes.
4. Protect them from resistance: Leadership must visibly support the function.

Common Series B Hiring Pitfalls

Pitfall 1: Hiring for the Company You Want, Not the Company You Are

You're imagining your 200-person future and hiring accordingly. But you're a 30-person company. Staff engineers from 500+ person companies may not thrive in your current chaos.

Signs of Mismatch:

• "When I was at [Big Company], we had a team for that"
• Expects clear role boundaries and established processes
• Frustrated by scope changes or wearing multiple hats
• References org structures you don't have

Better Approach: Hire people excited about building the processes and structures, not just operating within them.

Pitfall 2: Premature Specialization

You hire a React Native specialist, and six months later you pivot to Flutter. You hire a Kubernetes expert, but your infrastructure needs change.

Better Approach: Hire adaptable engineers who can specialize, not specialists who can't adapt. Value learning velocity over current expertise.

Pitfall 3: Promoting Without Supporting

Your best IC becomes a manager because someone had to. They get no training, no coaching, and fail visibly. Now you've lost a great engineer AND failed at building management.

Better Approach: Either hire experienced managers externally, or invest heavily in training and coaching for internal promotions. Management is a skill—treat it like one.

Pitfall 4: Losing Culture Through Growth

You hire quickly without clearly defining culture. New hires interpret "culture" differently. Within a year, you have three subcultures that don't align.

Better Approach: Document your actual culture (not aspirational values, but how you really work). Screen for culture fit explicitly. Have existing team members assess fit, not just skills.

Pitfall 5: Speed Over Quality

You have 10 open reqs and pressure to fill them. You lower the bar. Within six months, you're managing underperformers instead of shipping products.

Better Approach: Slower hiring is better than bad hiring. One great engineer beats three mediocre ones. Protect your hiring bar even under pressure.

Optimizing the Series B Interview Process

Process Evolution

Your Series A interview process (founder talks to everyone, vibes-based decision) doesn't scale. But you shouldn't adopt Big Tech's 8-round process either.

Ideal Series B Process:

Timeline Target: First contact to offer in 10-14 days.

Structured Scorecards

Move from "I liked them" to structured assessment:

Selling the Opportunity

At Series B, candidates are evaluating you as much as you're evaluating them. Every interviewer should be prepared to sell:

• Why this company: Market, product, differentiation
• Why this team: Culture, people, engineering practices
• Why now: Growth trajectory, opportunity timing
• Why this role: Specific impact, career path

Building for Series C and Beyond

What Series C Expects

The hires you make at Series B become your leadership bench for Series C. You're not just filling current needs—you're building the team that will scale to 100+ engineers.

Questions to Ask:

• Can this person manage managers eventually?
• Will they mentor the next wave of hires?
• Do they build scalable systems and processes?
• Are they improving our culture or just fitting in?

Preparing Your Team for Scale

Series B is your opportunity to build the foundation. What you build now determines whether Series C scaling is orderly growth or chaotic struggle.