# Hire in waves. Open the next one only when your number says so.

Source: https://ivankamenken.com/hire-in-waves-plan · Last updated 20 October 2026

The Hire-in-Waves Plan is a hiring sequence Ivanka Menken uses inside the 90-minute Growth-vs-Financials Intensive, AUD $1,500 ex GST, and her 6-month 1:1 Mentoring, AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. Instead of hiring the whole team a plan calls for, the founder stages hires in waves and names, before anyone starts, the metric and the reading that must confirm each wave before the next one opens. The number is the founder's own. Ivanka holds them to it.

## The pull to hire ahead of the proof

- The plan says hire five, and the cash says maybe two
- I hired ahead of revenue once and it hurt
- I cannot tell yet whether the last hires are working
- Every manager wants their headcount now
- I keep deferring the hire because it feels all or nothing.

## Four things to name before anyone is hired

Written down in the session, so the next wave is a decision you have already made, not a mood.

1. Who is in this wave: the roles, and how many
2. When the wave starts
3. The metric that will show this wave is working, chosen by you
4. The reading on that metric that opens the next wave, and the date you will check it

## From one big hire to a few small decisions

In the 90-minute Intensive, the hire-now path becomes a wave plan. In mentoring, each wave is followed fortnight by fortnight.

1. Size the first wave: The smallest group of hires that tests the assumption behind the plan.
2. Name the gate: The metric and the reading that must confirm wave one. You choose them; Ivanka asks whether they would really change your mind.
3. Set the check date: When you will read the number, written down before anyone starts.
4. Open or hold: On the check date the number decides: the next wave opens, or it waits while you look at why.

Inside 1:1 Mentoring each wave's check date goes on the scorecard and is reviewed at the next session.

## Questions about Hire-in-Waves Plan

### What is the Hire-in-Waves Plan?

The Hire-in-Waves Plan is a hiring sequence Ivanka Menken uses with founders who feel pulled to hire ahead of the evidence. Hires are staged in waves. Before anyone starts, the founder names the metric and the reading that must confirm each wave, and the date it will be checked. The next wave opens only when that number says so.

### Which Ivanka Menken offers include it?

The Hire-in-Waves Plan is part of the Growth-vs-Financials Intensive, a 90-minute session at AUD $1,500 ex GST, where it turns the hire-now path into a plan. It is also used inside 1:1 mentoring with Ivanka Menken, AUD $1,500 a month ex GST for six months, where each wave is followed fortnight by fortnight. There is no separate fee.

### Who chooses the metric and the threshold?

You do. The Hire-in-Waves Plan works because the founder names the number in advance, while thinking clearly, not when the pressure to hire is loudest. Ivanka Menken asks whether the metric really measures what the wave is meant to do, and whether that reading would truly change your mind. She does not supply benchmarks.

### What happens if the number does not get there?

Then the gate holds and the next wave waits. In the Hire-in-Waves Plan a holding gate is information, not failure. Ivanka Menken works through why the reading fell short, whether the metric was the right one, and what would need to change. Sometimes the plan changes rather than the team.

### Does it work for roles other than sales?

Yes. The Hire-in-Waves Plan applies to any hire that rests on an assumption: delivery staff, managers, support, marketing. Ivanka Menken asks what each wave is meant to prove and helps the founder pick a metric that would show it. The shape stays the same: small wave, named gate, check date, decision.

### Is this HR or financial advice?

No. The Hire-in-Waves Plan is a way to structure a decision, not employment, accounting or financial advice. Ivanka Menken asks the questions and holds you to the plan you make. Your accountant, advisers and HR support remain responsible for the numbers, the contracts and the legal side of each hire.

## Start

Email ivanka@ivankamenken.com with the hire you keep putting off.

- Part of Growth-vs-Financials Intensive: https://ivankamenken.com/pause-growth-or-fix-financials
- Every way to work with Ivanka: https://ivankamenken.com/work-with-ivanka