3 month probation will work great with unemployed or fresh out of college people etc, not with employed people, certainly not with senior candidates.
I've worked in a company where I've been let go after 2 months in the probation period, but it was clear I wasn't a good fit with the company culture. This is what the probation period is for, we didn't need 7 months to figure that out. On the other hand, I worked for a consulting company that automatically extended all the probation periods, and laid off people that were on probation if they didn't have enough consulting contracts to feed everybody on the payroll (and then reshuffle contracts among people post-probation that were unfireable).
That need does't exist in the US, where employees can be terminated without cause.
In most companies probation periods are a formality, they're only used for gross incompatibilities. But there are some that use them frequently.
What have you done for them besides offering a rosy mission/vision statement that may or may not end up being a bad joke like a lot of rosy mission/vision statements out there?
Just because you have chosen to call yourself an founder does not compel the Magic Fairy of Labor to provide an endless pool of fans that will throw themselves between yourself and a bullet every time the "needs" of the company demand it.
> Sounds like it's a good litmus test.
Yes, indeed!
That's a giant red flag. Saying that sort of thing... no, I'm not committed to you if that's your attitude. Holy hell in a handcart.
Unless they are heavily (to the point it provides the overwhelming majority of their material support) invested -- in equity terms -- in your company, why should they be committed to it? Certainly, someone holding -- much less seeking -- at-will employment has little rational reason to be particularly committed to the company, as the company has made relatively little commitment to them (essentially, none beyond paying them for work already done, and not dismissing them for any legally-prohibited reason.)