Startup First 10 Hires Checklist India: Offers, Payroll, IP and Access
Your first ten hires shape both the company and its diligence trail. Build a simple, repeatable path from role approval to first-month review.
Direct answer
For an Indian startup’s first ten hires, use one repeatable workflow: approve each role and cost, issue a role-specific written offer, verify identity and payroll details, document confidentiality and intellectual-property ownership, grant least-privilege access, and review the first month. The Best CS Firm In India standard is not a thick policy manual; it is a clean, consistent record that survives growth and investor diligence.
Start with the role, not the offer letter
Write the outcome the person owns, who they report to, where they work, the approved compensation range and who may authorise the hire. Decide whether the role is an employee, consultant or independent contractor based on the actual relationship, not merely a convenient label. Keep an approval trail before making a verbal promise.
| Before the offer | Founder question | Record to keep |
|---|---|---|
| Role and budget | What changes if this person succeeds? | Job scope and approved cost |
| Reporting line | Who coaches and reviews them? | Named manager |
| Compensation | What is fixed, variable or conditional? | Approved compensation note |
| Equity discussion | Is there a valid plan and approval route? | Plan documents and approvals before any promise |
Offer and joining documents: make the terms legible
State the legal employer, job title, start date, work location or remote arrangement, pay components, probation if used, leave, notice, confidentiality, inventions and policy references. Avoid copying a large-company template that conflicts with the actual role. Have counsel review unusual restrictive covenants, cross-border work or founder-family hires. A separate consultant agreement may be appropriate for genuine independent work.
Payroll and statutory checks: verify the entity’s facts
Collect the employee’s required identity, tax, bank and nomination information securely. Map the applicable professional tax, tax deduction, provident-fund, employee-state-insurance and state establishment obligations to your entity, location and workforce. Applicability can change with headcount, wages and location; confirm current thresholds from the official portals rather than relying on a generic internet checklist.
Simple monthly payroll control
- One owner approves attendance, leave and variable pay.
- Finance reviews gross-to-net calculations and statutory treatment.
- An authorised signatory approves the payment file separately.
- Store payslips, payment proof and filing acknowledgements in an access-controlled folder.
Protect code, content, data and customer relationships
Make IP ownership and confidentiality explicit before work begins. Ask about prior employer obligations and any open-source or third-party assets the person intends to use. For engineers, designers and growth hires, document repositories, brand accounts, domains and datasets assigned to them. This is an operating control as well as a legal one.
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| Access | Good default | Offboarding trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Code and cloud | Role-based individual account, MFA | Revoke keys and transfer ownership |
| Finance and banking | View or maker access only when necessary | Remove mandates and tokens |
| Customer information | Minimum dataset required for role | Close access and recover devices |
| Brand and social | Company-owned account and backup admin | Rotate credentials and update admin list |
First ten hires: a four-stage checklist
- Approve: role, budget, manager and any equity process.
- Document: offer, employment terms, confidentiality and IP, with a signed copy.
- Activate: payroll setup, equipment, MFA, access register and induction.
- Review: 30-day role expectations, access rights, policy gaps and actual cost.
For each new hire, save a one-page completion record with the owner and date for each stage. Avoid storing sensitive identity documents in open team chats or shared links.
Founder / Business Takeaway
The first ten hires do not need bureaucracy. They do need clear expectations, lawful payroll treatment, company-owned work product and controlled access. Build the process once, then improve it after every hire.
Suggested internal links
Official references
- EPFO official portal — check provident-fund coverage and employer guidance.
- ESIC official portal — check employee-state-insurance coverage.
- Income Tax e-filing portal — check payroll tax obligations.
FAQ
Can a startup send an offer before approving the budget?
It should obtain the internal approval first, so the offer matches an authorised compensation and role.
Is a verbal equity promise enough?
No. Confirm the applicable plan, approval and grant documentation before describing equity as granted.
What is the most-missed onboarding control?
Ownership and access records for code, customer data and company accounts are frequently left informal.
