The Suma Five: an executive interview scorecard

An executive interview scorecard for early-stage consumer startups. A practical way to compare senior candidates without hiring the best storyteller in the room.

I believe personality fit is pretty much the most important part of an executive hire.

And that doesn’t mean hiring someone you like, or someone who’s like you (although neither of those are necessarily bad things). What I mean is how they deal with ambiguity, pressure, criticism, responsibility (the list goes on), and whether their way of working suits you as a founder, your team and the stage you’re at.

A CV will tell you whether someone’s done the job before but it can’t reliably tell you whether they can do it here and in these circumstances.

I’ve personally made a mistake along those lines when I once hired someone who’d been working with us through an agency and approached us about going full time and direct. We’d worked with him for a while, so there wasn’t a question mark over whether he could do the job, and so the interview process was minimal. But the signs were there from the get go: he was unhappy with the agency he worked through, and spoke really negatively about the founders, which on one hand explained why he was coming to us direct, but it was also telling of where his allegiances lay and the kind of person he was - and we should have taken that more seriously. The direct relationship lasted about two months and he was a very regrettable hire.

Capability was never the question with him - we knew for a fact he could do the job but the dynamic was different - so it all came down to fit and we completely overlooked it. This scorecard is designed to cover all of the above - it will help you test properly whether someone can do the job, and how they will fit in with the culture you’ve built. And naturally, how someone talks about a previous employer is one of the things to listen for.

Before you interview anyone, write the job down

In my experience, senior (and junior) hires usually go wrong when the job isn’t clearly defined. So before you start interviewing, write down these four things. It takes a little time, but it makes shortlisting much easier:

1. Three 12-month outcomes: List three specific results (not activities) you need them to deliver in their first year, for example “Close Series A at £X valuation” or “Increase gross margin from 41% to 50%”. If you can’t name three, you might not need a full-time hire yet.
2. Clear metrics: Define exactly how you’ll measure success for each outcome (e.g. a specific number, document or milestone).
3. Ownership boundaries: List the decisions they can make independently without asking you first. Be as honest as possible here.
4. Available tools: List their available resources: budget, headcount, software and your time. A CFO with a part-time bookkeeper is a completely different role from one managing a team of three.

This is where I start with any search, and everything below is built around finding the person most likely to deliver the three outcomes you just listed.

How to use the scorecard

Score every candidate against the same five traits, the Suma Five.

Score candidates right after the interview, before talking to anyone else. If multiple people interviewed them, score independently first and then compare. Differences will show you where impressions diverged.

Scoring

Score each trait from 1 to 4. There’s deliberately no middle score.

• 4 = Strong evidence. They gave a clear, specific example of something they actually did. There was enough detail that you could check it.
• 3 = Good evidence. The example was believable and relevant, but lacked detail or needed some prompting.
• 2 = Weak evidence. They spoke in general terms, avoided the question, or gave an example from a very different situation.
• 1 = Evidence against. Something in their answer suggests they don’t have this trait.

Put simply, 4 is excellent and 1 is poor.

Add a short written note (one sentence is fine) to explain the evidence for each score. If you can’t point to a specific example, the score shouldn’t count.

Use the fit note column to record observed behaviours, like how they spoke about a previous boss or reacted to pushback. Stick to objective observations rather than personal preference.

The score is about whether they can do the job. Once you’re confident they can, fit becomes important.

Use the probe column to note anything you want to follow up on during a second interview or reference call, rather than adjusting the score immediately.

For an early-stage consumer business, my rule of thumb is 16 or more out of 20, with no 1s. That’s my own guideline rather than an industry benchmark, so use your judgement around it.

Deal fit sits outside the score. It’s simply whether you can agree an offer that works for both sides.

The Google Sheet adds everything up automatically: get the editable scorecard.

One important interview rule

Let the candidate do most of the talking.

Founders often spend too much of the interview explaining the company and selling the opportunity. Save that for the end and get the evidence you need first.

1. Comfort with ambiguity

What you’re testing: Can they keep moving when things change unexpectedly and there isn’t a clear answer or process to follow?

Ask: “Tell me about a time things changed unexpectedly, the plan you were working towards was no longer possible and it wasn’t obvious what to do next. What did you do?”

Then ask: “How did you decide what to do?”

You’re trying to work out whether they took some ownership of the situation or waited for someone else to give them direction. If someone else ultimately made the call, find out what they did in the meantime.

Also ask: “What’s the most unstructured environment you’ve worked in? What did you put in place to make it work better?”

Then: “Was there anything you deliberately decided not to add or change?”

Remember this is a senior role so you want someone who can bring enough structure to make things work - and ideally without adding meetings, processes and layers that the business doesn’t necessarily need.

4 = They give you a specific example where they took full ownership, can explain how they decided what to do and are open about what they got wrong.

1 = The uncertainty was ultimately dealt with by someone more senior and their role was mainly to follow the direction they were given.

Probe: If they spend a lot of time asking about reporting lines, sign-offs and governance, listen for whether they’re just as interested in the customer and how the business actually works. Some of those questions are completely reasonable, particularly for senior finance roles. It’s more about what they seem to care about first.

Fit note: Listen to how they talk about the people involved when things went wrong. Do they take responsibility for their part, or does the story mostly involve explaining why other people were at fault?

2. Stage fit and speed to impact

What you’re testing: Have they worked in a business like yours before, and how quickly can they get into the detail and start getting things done?

Ask: “Tell me about your first month in your last role. What did you achieve in those first few weeks?”

Then ask: “How soon did you start making changes?”

You want to understand how long they typically spend getting their bearings before they start taking action, and what they choose to focus on when they’re new to a business.

Then ask: “From what you know about us so far, what would you like to achieve in your first month here?”

They obviously won’t have all the information yet. But it’s useful to understand what they’d choose to prioritise based on what they do know.

Also ask: “What’s the smallest company you’ve worked in?”

Then: “What did you end up doing yourself there that you probably wouldn’t have done at a bigger company?”

4 = They can point to specific things they got done early in previous roles and have a sensible idea of where they’d start here. They’re comfortable getting into the weeds and doing some of the hands-on work themselves.

1 = Their first month is mostly spent meeting people, listening and learning about the business, without anything concrete they expect to have achieved by the end of it. (Don’t get me wrong, listening and learning is important too - but they need to state what they’d do with their learnings once they’ve got them.)

Probe: If their examples mostly involve managing a team, ask: “What would you expect to do yourself here?” If their immediate answer involves hiring people before they’ve done much of the work themselves, find out why.

Fit note: Notice whether their thinking changes as they learn more during the interview. When they talk about making changes, do they think about how they’d work with the people already there, or do they assume the existing team will simply adapt to their way of doing things?

3. Ownership beyond their function

What you’re testing: When they see an important problem, will they get involved and help solve it even if it sits outside their usual area?

Ask: “Tell me about a problem you ended up taking responsibility for that wasn’t really yours to deal with.”

Then ask: “Why did you decide to get involved?”

You’re looking for someone who noticed something needed doing and took responsibility for it, rather than someone who only stepped in because they were asked.

Also ask: “Tell me about a time you had to make a decision about something you’d never dealt with before. How did you work out what to do?”

You’re interested in how they get up to speed when they’re outside their area of expertise. Who did they speak to? What did they need to understand? How did they know when they knew enough to make the call?

For specialists, also ask: “What have you learned in the last couple of years that has nothing to do with your core area of expertise?”

You’re looking for genuine breadth. For example, a finance person who has taken the time to understand paid acquisition, or a marketing person who has learned how the company’s cash flow works.

4 = They give you a specific example where they stepped into an unfamiliar area, worked out what they needed to know and took responsibility for getting something done.

1 = They struggle to give you an example of taking responsibility for something outside their own area, or the examples they give only happened because someone asked them to do it.

Probe: If their instinct is always to bring in an expert or hire someone, ask: “What would you do yourself in the meantime?” Bringing in expertise can be the right decision. You also want to know that they can keep things moving without it.

Fit note: Pay attention to how they worked with the person or team whose area they were stepping into. Ask: “How did they feel about you getting involved?” You want to know whether they can take ownership without unnecessarily treading on people’s toes.

4. Judgement under constraints

What you’re testing: Can they make sensible decisions when they don’t have as much budget, time or information as they’d like?

Ask: “Tell me about something important you had to get done with much less money or resource than you wanted. How did you approach it?”

Then ask: “What did you decide not to do?”

You’re looking for an actual trade-off - as when resources are limited, something usually has to give. You want to understand how they decided what mattered and what didn’t.

Also ask: “Tell me about a time you had to make an important decision without having all the information you wanted. What did you do?”

Then: “How quickly did you make the call, and how did it turn out?”

You want someone who knows when they have enough information to make a decision, rather than waiting until everything is certain.

Also ask: “Tell me about something you pushed for and later decided to stop.”

Then: “What changed your mind?”

This is useful because it shows whether they can recognise when something isn’t working, particularly when they were the person who backed it in the first place.

4 = They can give you specific examples of making real trade-offs, deciding what to prioritise and making calls without perfect information. They’re also comfortable talking about decisions that turned out to be wrong.

1 = Their examples depend on having plenty of budget, people or time, or they struggle to give you an example of something they chose to stop or deprioritise.

Probe: When they describe a big success, ask: “What did you have to give up to make that happen?” You’re trying to understand the trade-off behind the result.

Fit note: Push back on one of their answers where you genuinely see it differently. See what happens. Can they explain why they made the decision, engage with your point and change their mind if you’ve given them information that changes the picture? Pay attention if they become defensive, simply repeat themselves, or immediately agree with you without explaining why.

5. Product and customer judgement

What you’re testing: Have they made a real effort to understand your product, your customers and the market you’re in?

Don’t ask whether they believe in the product or are excited by the company. Most candidates know what you want to hear. You’re better off finding out what they’ve actually done to understand it.

Ask: “What have you done to get to know our product?”

Then ask: “What do you think we could improve?”

You’re looking for evidence that they’ve actually engaged with it. Where it’s reasonably possible, they should have used the product. If they couldn’t, they should have found another way to understand it, such as reading customer reviews, looking at competitors or speaking to someone who uses it.

Also ask: “Who do you think our customer is?”

Then: “Is there anyone you think we’re trying to appeal to who probably isn’t really our customer?”

You’re interested in whether they’ve formed their own view rather than simply repeating the language from your website or job description.

Also ask: “Who do you think our strongest competitors are, and what do you think they do better than us?”

Then: “And where do you think we’re better?”

This shows whether they’ve looked beyond your business and understood the wider market.

4 = They’ve properly engaged with the product and done some independent research. They have a clear view of the customer, can identify specific things they’d improve and can explain where they think the product is stronger or weaker than the competition.

1 = They talk generally about liking the company, product or mission but can’t say much that suggests they’ve actually looked into the product, customer or market.

You’re scoring preparation and judgement rather than enthusiasm. Someone who has found three genuine problems with the product may tell you more than someone who simply says they love it.

Probe: If everything they say about the product is positive, ask: “If you joined tomorrow and could change one thing, what would it be?” If they’ve genuinely spent time thinking about the product, they should have an answer.

Fit note: Pay attention to how they give you critical feedback. Senior people need to be able to tell a founder when they think something is wrong. You want someone who can make the point clearly and explain why they think it, without being unnecessarily blunt or avoiding the difficult bit.

Deal fit (not scored)

Deal fit is about whether you can make an offer both sides will be happy with long term. Address these topics early on, record the answers on the sheet, and don’t lower a strong candidate’s competency score because of a deal-fit gap - either bridge the gap or stop early.

Salary: Give them the range up front, something like “The range for this role is £X to £Y base, plus equity. Does that work for you, and where would you need to land within it?” and then stop talking. Don’t ask what they earn now. UK pay transparency is likely moving away from it and they’re within their rights to decline to answer anyway. If you don’t know your range yet, my benchmarks for what these roles pay at seed and Series A will help.

Equity: “What would you need to understand before you could put a value on the equity?” Anyone who’s taken equity seriously before will ask about the last round’s valuation, the option pool, vesting, the strike price and what happens on exit. If someone says something like “equity’s a nice bonus”, they’re more than likely telling you that salary is their main driver.

The trade: “If we could only offer the bottom of the cash range, what would make it work?” There isn’t a right answer here. You just want to see whether they’ve thought about cash against equity.

Notice period: It can depend, but three to six months is normal at this level. Worth finding out now though, along with whether their current employer might be flexible.

Location and working pattern: Where they’ll be based and how often, and whether that’s going to work for them long term.

Conflicts and restrictions: Are they bound by any non-competes, non-solicits, board seats, advisory roles or even a side business, and how does that affect their position with you? Ask directly - it’s much easier to deal with now than at the offer stage.

If any of these don’t work and can’t be made to work, stop there, whatever the score. An offer process that was never going to land costs you time you won’t get back.

Interview questions by role

The Suma Five are the same for every role, but what good looks like for stage fit and speed to impact is different for each one. Swap these in for section 2.

CFO and Head of Finance interview questions

“What does our model need to show an investor in six months’ time that it probably doesn’t show today?”

“If the only number you trusted was the bank balance, how would you rebuild our cash forecast from there?”

Listen for: whether they ask about your revenue lines and stock before answering. A finance lead who’s been through seed to Series A before will be asking about the data room within the first ten minutes.

COO interview questions

“What’s the first operational process you’d write down here, and what would you leave unwritten for another year?”

“Tell me about a time you scaled a team from under ten to over thirty. What broke?”

Listen for: specifics on the supply chain, fulfilment or service model that match your business, rather than generic stuff about operating rhythm.

CMO and Head of Marketing interview questions

“Roughly what’s our blended CAC, and what would you do if I told you it had to halve by March?”

“Show me a channel you built from nothing. What did the first £10k buy you?”

Listen for: whether they’ve looked at your ads, emails and reviews before the interview. If they haven’t, it’s a sign they’re more of a corporate marketer than a consumer one.

CRO and commercial lead interview questions

“Where does our next £1m of revenue come from, and what would you need to believe for that to be true?”

“Tell me about a channel or partnership you opened that the company hadn’t sold through before. How long did it take from first conversation to first order?”

Listen for: whether they talk about your actual channels (retail, marketplace, DTC, wholesale or B2B) or about “pipeline” in the abstract. And whether they’ve worked out what the channel would cost as well as how big it could be.

MD and General Manager interview questions

“If you ran this business for a year while I was away, what would be different when I got back, and what would be the same?”

“Tell me about a P&L you owned end to end. What was the one number you watched, and what did you do the month it went wrong?”

Listen for: whether they can keep the whole business in their head at once - product, cash and people - or whether they drift back to the function they came from. An MD who’s really a marketing director with a bigger title is a pretty common mistake, and an expensive one.

Head of Customer interview questions

“What would you want to see in our cancellation reasons before you touched anything?”

“Tell me about a retention change you made that you could measure. What was the number before and after?”

Listen for: whether they talk about the customer or the tooling. If it’s tooling first, that’s a bad sign at this stage.

Reference calls: the questions to ask

Reference calls shouldn’t be a formality. Here is a quick 15-minute framework for them.

First, the rules. References should only come after a conditional offer, and you shouldn’t contact anyone without the candidate’s agreement. That includes former colleagues, an investor you happen to know or even a mutual friend - the reason being that you don’t know what knock on effects that could have for them - for example, word getting back to their current employer. So ask permission for each person, and naturally, don’t go near their current employer unless they’ve explicitly said you can.

Open with something like: “I’m not looking for reasons not to hire them. I’m trying to work out how to set them up well.” Better that the referee’s relaxed so they tell you more.

Then, depending on the referee’s relationship to them:

“What was their scope, and how many people did they have?” Check this against what the candidate told you. Any differences here should be noted.

“What did they need most help with?” Everyone needs help with something, so a referee who can’t name anything hasn’t thought about it or isn’t being straight.

“How did they handle it when the plan changed?” This is section 1 again, from the outside.

“What did they do outside their job?” Same idea as section 3.

“How did they take feedback, especially when they disagreed with it?” Same test as the pushback in section 4, from someone who’s seen it for longer than an hour.

“Would you hire them again, for this kind of role, at a company this size?” It’s the “company this size” part you care about. Plenty of people would be a yes at a 500-person company and a no at 15.

Separately, in the interview rather than on the reference call, ask the candidate: “Who else saw you operating at close quarters?” If they name someone, ask whether you can speak to them. Who they’re willing to put you in front of beyond the obvious two tells you a lot, and so does a candidate who can’t think of anyone.

The Sheet

The Sheet follows this guide. There’s a tab for the role outcomes, one scoring tab per candidate (with a column for each interviewer and a deal-fit section) and a comparison tab that only fills in once everyone has scored. Any score without an evidence note doesn’t count towards the total, and a 1 or a deal-fit gap turns that candidate’s row amber on the comparison tab so you can’t miss it.

Get the editable scorecard and make a copy for each role you’re hiring for.

A last word

If someone scores 18 and you still don’t want to hire them, don’t ignore that. The scorecard is there to stop you hiring on gut feel alone, and part of that is making you say out loud what the feeling is about. Then you can decide whether it’s based on something real or just nerves.

If you want a second pair of eyes on a shortlist, or someone else to run the search, drop me a line at simon@suma.ventures.