Building a stellar team has been one of my greatest challenges and most rewarding experiences as the founder of SiMa.ai.Over the years, I've learned that finding and vetting the right candidates is both an art and a science. In this article, I'll share some of the unconventional strategies we've developed for sourcing top talent and conducting in-depth reference checks. Whether you're just starting out or you're looking to refine your hiring process, I hope these insights will help you build a team that's ready to tackle the challenges of your cutting-edge startup.How to source high-quality candidates for your startupYour network is your most valuable resource for finding candidates. We've consistently found that the people who have stuck around the longest at SiMa.ai have come from our direct network. As a founder, you need to be networking like crazy, so you have a large pool of people to reach out to when you’re trying to fill roles.But your network isn't the only place to find great talent. Here are some other strategies we've found effective:Look to your customersBelieve it or not, your customers can be a great source of talent. At SiMa.ai, about 15 percent of our team originally came from our customer base.These hires bring valuable insights and use cases, which makes our engineering team more savvy and context-aware. Just be careful not to overdo it — you don't want to strain your customer relationships.Tap into trade showsTrade shows might seem old-school, but they're fantastic places to meet potential hires. You'll connect with peers and even competitors.If you're doing well in your market, you'll likely generate a lot of interest. In fact, about 12-15 percent of our team at SiMa.ai came from our peers, even in our competitive market.Carefully consider recruiting agenciesWhile many startups turn to recruiting agencies, we've personally found them ineffective for our needs. In our experience, if you're relying on recruiting agencies, you might only be seeing the bottom of the talent pool. However, this may vary depending on your industry and specific needs. Advanced reference check strategiesMy team has learned that reference checks are crucial to our hiring process. It's incredibly challenging to gauge if someone is truly a fit during a 45-minute interview, so we've developed a comprehensive approach to vetting.Our managers personally handle all reference checks, and we conduct three types for every candidate: Recommended references: We start with the references provided by the candidate. While these are typically positive (I've never had a recommended reference say, "This person is terrible!"), they can still offer valuable insights into the candidate's strengths and working style. Network references: Next, we tap into our own network to find people who have worked with the candidate. This gives us an independent assessment, and it often reveals aspects of the candidate's performance and personality that might not come up in a formal interview or from a recommended reference. Critical references: This is where we dig deep. We seek out people who the candidate has fired or laid off in the past, or individuals known to have had conflicts with the candidate. We know these references might have a negative bias, but they still give us important insight into the candidate's management style, how they handle difficult situations and potential personality clashes. This three-pronged approach helps us build a more complete picture of the candidate. We've found it particularly valuable for critical hires. For instance, when hiring a senior leader who had let go of several people in the past, we interviewed those former employees to understand why things didn't work out. This gave us invaluable insights into the candidate's leadership style and decision-making process.While this process is time-consuming, we've found it essential, especially for roles that can make or break our company. It's not foolproof — we still make mistakes — but it has significantly improved our hiring success rate.