Building the Unknown: Bedrock’s Framework for Hiring in Undefined Deep Tech Roles

When you’re creating a new category in deep tech, traditional job descriptions fall short. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Bedrock CEO Joselyn Lai revealed their unique approach to building teams when you’re literally inventing the roles as you go.

The Challenge of Deep Tech Hiring

“Hard tech usually just requires a way larger diversity of people that you bring into your team to make it reality,” Joselyn explains. But the real challenge goes deeper: “These people and these roles that you need to build your tech stack and to deploy your tech stack don’t have obvious cookie cutter job descriptions.”

Moving Beyond Traditional Role Definitions

Unlike software companies where roles are well-defined, deep tech requires a different approach. As Joselyn notes, “In hardware, the type of mechanical engineering and the type of electrical engineering that you need done may be incredibly different from the many other mechanical and electrical engineering job descriptions that are out there.”

This reality forced Bedrock to develop a new framework for identifying and attracting talent. Rather than looking for exact skill matches, they focus on finding adaptable problem-solvers who can grow with evolving needs.

The First Principle Approach

Bedrock’s solution was to focus on first-principles thinking ability rather than specific experience. Joselyn emphasizes that they look for people who “have to be first principles thinkers, and they have to be able to flex and wear many hats in a way that may not be as required in software when you’re really just able to say, like, oh, yeah, I’m an amazing front end engineer and I know that skill will take me farther.”

Learning Through Implementation

Their first major installation with CIM Group demonstrated why this flexible approach to hiring is crucial. As Joselyn shares, “We learned just about all the steps in the construction process… We learned about just the integration between the geothermal system that we’re here to innovate on and connecting that to the h vac system inside the building.”

Each new project reveals new requirements and challenges that couldn’t have been anticipated in traditional job descriptions.

Building Teams for Unknown Challenges

The team needs to be prepared for constant evolution. As Joselyn notes, “You actually have to say, oh, shoot, I have to go learn, like, totally different subject matter because the role is always evolving in an early stage startup.”

This means looking for people who:

• Have deep expertise in their core area
• Can adapt to new challenges
• Are comfortable with ambiguity
• Can think from first principles
• Are willing to learn entirely new domains

The Role of Early Customer Partnerships

Early customer collaborations help shape team requirements. As Joselyn explains, “Finding a customer that you’re able to work with from the very beginning, to get user and customer research, to really dive into the economics of the solution for them and then to deploy as soon as possible in an mvp way is just extra critical.”

These partnerships provide valuable insights into the skills and capabilities needed as the company grows.

Looking to the Future

As Bedrock works toward their vision of having “many tens of thousands of rigs operating around the world,” their hiring approach continues to evolve. The goal is building teams that can handle both current needs and future challenges that haven’t yet emerged.

For deep tech founders, the key lesson is clear: success in hiring isn’t about finding perfect matches for predefined roles – it’s about building teams of adaptable problem-solvers who can evolve with your technology and market needs. The traditional approach of matching candidates to static job descriptions simply doesn’t work when you’re inventing both the technology and the roles needed to build it.