Startup experience maybe. FAANG experience, you probably don't need. There are a ton of people out there that specialize in getting you off the ground and through your first couple of years. Realize, people coming from FAANG-like companies are use to having resources available that your very young company may not have. Finding someone that understands that to me is more important than finding the best possible technical genius. Don't forget google didn't start with "Google scale" engineers. They hired smart, driven people with a lean mindset. For your enjoyment the early google infrastructure http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/voy/museum/pictures/display/...