You're drowning. But is itactually time to make the hire?

Whether a specific role you're considering is a real go right now. You mark six signals 0/1/2 — fully-loaded cost coverage, runway after the hire, the role's revenue case, whether the work is documented enough to hand off, the founder time it frees, and whether the actual engagement has been reviewed for employee vs. independent-contractor classification — and it returns HIRE NOW, BRIDGE WITH A CONTRACTOR, or NOT YET, with, where a signal is short, the one thing to fix first. BRIDGE WITH A CONTRACTOR is a capacity result, not a determination or recommendation that anyone qualifies as an independent contractor. It means only that temporary outside capacity may be worth considering before a full-time hire—which could come from an agency, vendor, professional firm, or properly classified contractor. Confirm the actual arrangement under applicable federal and state standards before engaging anyone. Score several roles and it rolls them up so you know which to sequence. It grades a hiring decision, never a person.

Because two signals are gates. If reliable revenue can't cover the fully-loaded cost (salary + payroll taxes + benefits, not just the headline salary) for a couple of months, or the work is still entirely in your head, the verdict is NOT YET no matter how high the score. The most common first-hire mistake is hiring on exhaustion and then not making payroll; the second is hiring before the work is documented, so you pay a salary and still do the job. The shipped 'drowning founder' Ops-assistant sample scores 76 and still reads NOT YET — everything's strong except coverage.

It's the middle band: you're busy enough and the role has a real case, but coverage is tight or runway thins, so a full-time employee hire is premature. This is a capacity result, not a determination or recommendation that anyone qualifies as an independent contractor. It means only that temporary outside capacity may be worth considering before a full-time hire—which could come from an agency, vendor, professional firm, or properly classified contractor. Confirm the actual arrangement under applicable federal and state standards before engaging anyone. Worker classification depends on the applicable law and the facts of the actual working arrangement. A contract or Form 1099 label does not by itself determine status.

It scores whether the actual engagement has been reviewed for classification — but it is not a legal determination. Worker classification depends on the applicable law and the facts of the actual working arrangement, including how the work is directed, performed, integrated, and structured. Federal tax, federal wage-and-hour, state wage, unemployment, workers’ compensation, and other standards may differ and may change. A contract or Form 1099 label does not by itself determine status. Document the proposed arrangement and confirm uncertain or consequential classifications with qualified employment counsel. The kit keeps the signal classification-test-agnostic.

Neither — it's deterministic and offline. You enter your own 0/1/2 marks on what you actually know about coverage, runway, and the role; it computes the verdict and connects to nothing. The same logic runs in the workbook, the Python engine, and the on-page demo, so all three agree to the number. Bring your fully-loaded cost figure from your own books where you have one. As an initial planning assumption, the tool uses approximately 1.25–1.4× salary. Actual fully loaded cost may be higher and varies by role, location, benefits, insurance, equipment, recruiting expense, and business circumstances.

No. It's a decision aid that helps you pressure-test a hire before you make it — it doesn't tell you what you can afford, certify a classification, or replace your CPA or attorney. Use it to find the gap that would make a hire premature, and confirm the affordability and classification specifics with your own advisors.