Entirely right, experience is huge. That said, I cut my teeth growing an engineering organization from 2 to 50+ when I left. For our first hires we interviewed a LOT. We we're incredibly inefficient, but it paid off. Those first hires are still with the company 6 years later. We didn't get fancy, we simply tried to hire the smartest people we could find.
Today I'm much more efficient and a bit more nuanced in how I conduct interviews. I'm intentionally casting a wider net these days. In those first interviews we did a lot of basically language trivia. It excluded some smart folks, but seemed to select those who really knew what they we're doing.
Also, you might find that there are startups willing to let you sit-in on their interviews. You get to see how they do it, they get an outside voice. I've done this a few times and it's really helpful.
Today I'm much more efficient and a bit more nuanced in how I conduct interviews. I'm intentionally casting a wider net these days. In those first interviews we did a lot of basically language trivia. It excluded some smart folks, but seemed to select those who really knew what they we're doing.
Also, you might find that there are startups willing to let you sit-in on their interviews. You get to see how they do it, they get an outside voice. I've done this a few times and it's really helpful.