Most great growth people either:
Earn a lot of money already.
Run their own thing.
Or both.
And — at the risk of alienating 90% of the field — growth is riddled with charlatans.
When I was hiring a Head of Growth previously, I interviewed a ton of candidates with glittery resumes. But when pushed, most couldn’t go beyond surface-level frameworks. They could quote the blogs. They knew the lingo. But they couldn’t reason from first principles. They crumbled when you actually asked why.
So now, as I’m building out the growth team at Superpower, I’ve developed a few heuristics, questions, and fast filters that have helped me separate signal from noise — and I wanted to share them.
The 15-Minute Filter
Start with a short call. 10–15 minutes is all you need to know if it’s worth going further. No one wants to be 5 minutes into a 45-minute interview thinking “Oh no.”
A quick call is the best tool in your hiring stack. Overall Tips:
What I’m Looking For
Sharpness — Can they think clearly and make connections quickly?
Founder energy — Are they fast, resourceful, and good at prioritizing?
First principles — Can they break things down to the fundamentals?
My Go-To Questions
“What’s one piece of marketing you saw recently that you thought was really smart? Why?”
Good candidates light up. They get specific. They explain why it worked.
Bad candidates stay vague. If their inspiration diet sucks, that’s a red flag.
“We’re launching a new membership tier at Superpower. You’ve got $10k and 30 days to get 100 customers. What’s your plan?”
I’m listening for:
Do they ask clarifying questions?
Do they prioritize?
Do they get scrappy or go straight to paid ads?
Do they understand tradeoffs between speed and polish?
[Show a sample conversion funnel or dataset] → “What do you see? How would you fix it?”
Watch how they think. Are they systematic? Curious? Do they know what metrics matter?
“What’s the most underrated marketing channel right now?”
I want to hear original thinking — not whatever’s trending on Twitter.
“What are we doing wrong? What would you change?”
If they can’t spot obvious improvements, they won’t help you grow.
Athyna is a company I own shares in and am currently working with for one of my hires. You can scale your AI and Growth teams without the fluff — just real builders, not résumé poets.
AI-matching + human vetting to cut through the noise.
Global talent pools in LatAm, SEA, Africa — smart, fast, and hungry.
Zero upfront fees. Pay only when you hire someone legit.
The Final Gut Check
“If I disappeared for a month and this person was in charge of growth — would I be excited or nervous?”
If it’s nervous… don’t hire.
Would love to hear if you have any feedback on my process or how this goes for you.
Until next time,
Ajay (My charlatan status is still pending 😬)
Ajay’s Resource Bank
A few tools and collections I’ve built (or obsessively curated) over the years:
100+ Mental Models
Mental shortcuts and thinking tools I’ve refined over the past decade. These have evolved as I’ve gained experience — pruned, updated, and battle-tested.100+ Questions
If you want better answers, ask better questions. These are the ones I keep returning to — for strategy, reflection, and unlocking stuck conversations.Startup OS
A lightweight operating system I built for running startups. I’m currently adapting it for growth teams as I scale Superpower — thinking about publishing it soon.Remote Games & Activities
Fun team-building exercises and games (many made in Canva) that actually work. Good for offsites, Zoom fatigue, or breaking the ice with distributed teams.
✅ Ajay’s “would recommend” List
These are tools and services I use personally and professionally — and recommend without hesitation:
Athyna – Offshore Hiring Done Right
I personally have worked with assistants overseas and built offshore teams. Most people get this wrong by assuming you have to go the lowest cost for automated work. Try hiring high quality, strategic people for a fraction of the cost instead.Superpower – It starts with a 100+ lab tests
I joined Superpower as Head of Growth, but I originally came on to fix my health. In return, I got a full diagnostic panel, a tailored action plan, and ongoing support that finally gave me clarity after years of flying blind.
