By Mina Rozenshine, Managing Partner, DK Recruiting
When you’re building a company—especially early on—you don’t just need people who can do the job. You need people who care like it’s theirs.
You don’t just need talented people—you need people who take ownership. People who see a loose thread and pull it. People who don’t wait to be told what’s broken—they show you.
People who don’t wait for instructions, but who raise their hand before you even realize there’s a gap. People who don’t just talk about “my role,” but who ask, “What’s best for the whole company?”
But here’s the problem: Most hiring processes are built to find skills, not ownership.
That’s how strong companies end up with average teams.
What Ownership Actually Looks Like
Ownership isn’t about job titles. It’s a mindset. You’ll see it when someone:
- Spots problems before they blow up
- Doesn’t say, “That’s not my job”
- Cares what happens after something ships—not just about checking the box
- Makes decisions with the whole business in mind—not just their piece of it
It’s the difference between employees—and people who act like owners.
Why You Miss It in Interviews
It’s easy to miss.
When you’re under pressure, it’s tempting to focus on resumes, skills, experience, checklists. You want someone who can do the job.
But ownership isn’t written on a resume. It comes out in stories, in decisions they’ve made, in the way they talk about work.
If you don’t look for it, you won’t find it.
And here’s the thing about hiring:
- A lot of the time, you don’t know what you don’t know
- You’re hiring for areas you’re not an expert in, so you have to trust someone else
- You’re getting advice from every direction—investors, advisors, partners
- And you’re afraid to get it wrong—because the wrong hire can set the whole business back
So when someone walks in with polish, confidence, and a big-name resume, it’s easy to hope they’re the answer.
That’s why this happens more than you’d think.
How to Spot Ownership Before You Hire
Start asking different questions:
Ask about messy projects: “Tell me about a time when something was stuck or failing. What did you do?”
You’re listening for someone who stepped in without being told.
Look for unofficial wins: “Have you ever solved a problem that wasn’t technically your responsibility?”
Owners can’t help themselves. They fix things.
Watch their questions: Owners ask, “How does this role connect to where the company is going?” Non-owners ask, “What exactly are my responsibilities?”
And don’t stop with the first success story—dig into the mess. Ask about failures. Ask about what they did when things didn’t go right. That’s where the real mindset shows up.
A Real Example: Why This Matters
I worked with a founder who made this mistake early on.
They hired a head of sales and a head of marketing at the same time—two people who had worked together before, who were polished, confident, and came armed with impressive resumes. They had “done it before.” It looked perfect on paper.
But here’s the thing: they came in expecting to copy and paste their old playbook. They didn’t really dig into the business. They didn’t raise flags when early results were weak. They just kept running the same play.
A year later? Both were gone. Big salaries, big budgets spent, no results, morale down.
When we did the next search, we looked for something different: people who asked uncomfortable questions, who challenged assumptions, who didn’t come in with a copy-paste mindset.
The new hire? They didn’t just “own the number”—they owned the whole problem. They rebuilt the messaging, worked with product to tweak positioning, changed how the team worked cross-functionally. They weren’t just running plays—they were building them.
That’s ownership.
Bottom Line
It’s not that candidates are trying to fool you (although sometimes they are)—it’s that interviews are performative by nature. And with so much advice online about what to say, people can prepare impressive-sounding answers without actually being the person you’re looking for.
If you want to build the right team—not just a team—you need to look for ownership in what they’ve actually done, not just what they say they value.
Startups need people who don’t just say they want ownership—they need people who act like owners, even when it’s inconvenient or messy.
Good answers don’t build your company. Real ownership does.
Next time you’re in an interview, don’t stop at the polished success story. Ask them: “Tell me about a time you got it wrong—and what you did next.” That’s where you’ll find the owners.
