Recruiting top talent is typically one of the #1 challenge for early-stage companies and herein is why bad leaders lose great people. Why? Credibility. As an early-stage company, you don’t have a compelling story that is strong enough to convince the best candidates.  Your job as CEO is to overcome that credibility gap with your own leadership. You see great candidates have a different decision lens than average candidates. What makes a great candidate? A great candidate has a combination of: experience or experiences that are 100% relevant to today and the near future, a personality that is obvious to all during the interview process, a sharp mind that shows intellect as applied to the company’s mission, an ability to communicate effectively, and a culture fit with not just the company but the team they will be most closely working with, a radar that can spot B.S. from the truth. Therein lies your challenge as a leader, finding a way to sell the company, the vision and you without going too far and falling into the B.S. territory. My general rule of thumb is that you are allowed about 15% exaggeration over the truth. Of course, this is difficult to …