Principles

I use Ray Dalio's personality assessment tool every time I hire someone.

It's free. It takes 30 minutes. And it tells me more about a candidate than three rounds of interviews ever could.

Here's why this matters if you're building something from scratch.

The Problem With Traditional Hiring

When you're a founder watching every dollar, bad hires hurt twice. You lose the money you paid them. You lose the time you spent training them.

Most of us hire based on resumes and gut feeling. We ask questions. We listen to answers. We make a decision based on who we like.

The problem is that people tell you what you want to hear in interviews. You only know what they want you to know.

Dalio figured this out decades ago at Bridgewater Associates. He started investing at age 12. Got fired in 1975. Borrowed $4,000 from his father and formed Bridgewater in his apartment.

As the company grew, he had 30 direct reports. He wrote individualized notes to 67 people. The manual approach didn't scale.

So he systemized it.

What Makes PrinciplesYou Different

Dalio launched PrinciplesYou in April 2021 as a completely free assessment. It was designed with expert psychologists Dr. Adam Grant, Dr. Brian Little, and Dr. John Golden.

The assessment measures traits that Dalio and his team observed at Bridgewater for years. These traits predict actual behaviors, not just personality types.

Here's what sets it apart: 80% of Fortune 500 companies use personality tests to screen senior roles. What they pay thousands for, you can access for free.

Dalio himself says the assessment is "much more reliable than interviews." That's coming from someone who built the largest hedge fund in the world.

Skills Can Be Taught, Values Rarely Change

I learned this the hard way scaling my auto-tech business to $55 million.

Resumes tell you skills. Skills can be taught. Values and core abilities rarely change after someone reaches adulthood.

Most companies hire on skills instead of values. This mistake causes damage that shows up months later when the person doesn't fit your culture or work style.

The PrinciplesYou assessment reveals values. It shows you how someone thinks, makes decisions, and handles conflict. You see their natural patterns before you make an offer.

The "Shaper" Insight

In his book "Principles," Dalio wrote about having Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Reed Hastings, and Jack Dorsey take his personality assessment.

He wanted to understand what "shapers" have in common. A shaper is someone who comes up with unique visions and builds them despite doubts and opposition.

The assessment revealed patterns: fierce commitment to goals, extreme determination, resilience, and attention to detail.

For aspiring founders, this insight is gold. You can see if a candidate has shaper qualities before you bring them on your team.

How I Use It In Practice

When I'm hiring, I send candidates the PrinciplesYou link after the first interview. I tell them it takes 30-40 minutes and helps us both understand if we're a good fit.

Most candidates appreciate the transparency. The ones who don't complete it tell me something too.

Once I get their results, I compare them to my own assessment and my team's profiles. I look for complementary strengths, not identical personalities.

Here's what I focus on:

Decision-making style - Do they need all the data or move fast with incomplete information?

Conflict approach - Do they avoid disagreement or lean into tough conversations?

Work preferences - Do they need structure or thrive in chaos?

Goal orientation - Are they driven by achievement or relationships?

The assessment doesn't make the decision for me. It gives me data to ask better questions in the next conversation.

Bridgewater's Radical Transparency Model

Dalio built Bridgewater on radical truthfulness and transparency. Every meeting was recorded. Every decision was documented. People gave each other real-time feedback.

This approach isn't for everyone. Complete transparency can be disastrous in some environments.

But the principle behind it works for any founder: make decisions based on data about people, not just feelings about them.

The personality assessment is one piece of that data. It's objective. It's consistent. It removes some of the bias that creeps into hiring decisions.

What You Learn About Yourself

Before you use this tool to evaluate others, take it yourself.

I took the PrinciplesYou assessment before I asked anyone on my team to do it. The results showed me patterns I knew existed but never named.

I learned I move fast with incomplete information. I prefer direct conflict over passive tension. I need autonomy more than structure.

Understanding your own patterns helps you build a team that complements your weaknesses. You stop hiring people just like you and start hiring people who fill your gaps.

The Free Tool That Levels The Playing Field

Big companies pay consultants thousands of dollars for personality assessments and team-building workshops. They have HR departments and hiring specialists.

You're bootstrapping. You're watching every expense. You need tools that work without breaking your budget.

PrinciplesYou gives you Fortune 500-level insights for free. It's built on decades of research and real-world testing at one of the most successful companies in finance.

Dalio studied 500 years of history to decode patterns in human behavior and economic cycles. He applied those insights to building teams. Now you can use the same framework.

How To Get Started

Go to principles.com and take the assessment. Set aside 30-40 minutes when you won't be interrupted.

Answer honestly. The assessment only works if you're truthful about your preferences and behaviors.

Review your results. Read the detailed breakdown of your personality profile. Save it somewhere you can reference later.

Then start using it in your hiring process. Send it to candidates after your first conversation. Review their results before the next interview.

Compare profiles across your team. Look for patterns in who works well together and who creates friction.

The Bottom Line

Hiring is expensive. Bad hires are more expensive.

You can keep making decisions based on resumes and gut feelings. Or you can add objective data to your process.

Ray Dalio built the largest hedge fund in the world by understanding people deeply and making decisions based on principles, not emotions.

His free personality assessment gives you access to the same framework he used to build Bridgewater Associates.

I use it every time I hire. It has saved me from expensive mistakes and helped me build teams that actually work well together.

The tool is free. The insights are priceless. And for founders building something from zero, that combination is hard to beat.