Ryan Shank says the best hires come from trusted recommendations, not your network. Look for three things: high integrity, genuine curiosity, and strong problem-solving skills. A recommendation only counts if someone can actually vouch for the person's abilities.
If you don't have people that you've worked with in the past, I think the best way to find great employees is through trusted recommendations. And I say trusted because a lot of times people will want you to just hire their friends or it'll be a recommendation. If someone can't say, I recommend this person and I think they're extraordinary, then you don't hire that person. They have to have high integrity is number one. And then they have to be curious, right? Because at the end of the day, you're solving problems and you want to work with problem solvers that are also genuinely curious.