What frustrates you most about hiring developers?

The biggest challenge I've experienced is just how small the talent pool can be at
times. This however might just be something unique to my country. I'm hoping remote work/hiring will enable me to test this hypothesis.

There are so many funnels that reduce the pool of appropriate candidates.

• Firstly, finding individuals who are interested in startups and joining one, and understand the challenges (and rewards) that come with working at a startup
• Thereafter, there is the cultural check. This one tends to filter out a huge amount of candidates. Finding some who fits your culture, but also introduces diversity is challenging. Additionally, it's critical not to hire toxic people, as they can destroy a startup in the early days. A quick note on this: this is also a timely process for us. It requires a full day of getting to know the person.
• The technical/skills interview (which is typically actually before the cultural interview) then further reduces the pool of candidates significantly.
• Finally, it's the challenges of competing with the budget and resources of bigger companies and being able to pay new hires a good/decent salary

Fortunately, I believe that once you've found someone who a) loves startups b) is a good cultural fit c) is really good at what they do d) is okay with a potentially lower salary than a corporate (and/or equity) - then it's just a matter of selling the value of your company and your vision to them (which has consistently been the most straight forward part for me). It's the initially hurdles and funnels I find most challenging