Research has advanced our understanding of capability development, yet the role of temporal patterns in capability formation remains insufficiently understood, particularly for new ventures that must build capabilities under severe resource constraints. This paper addresses this theoretical oversight by developing a theory that explicates how temporal patterns in early hiring shape capability development in new ventures. Drawing on theories of knowledge integration and organizational learning, we propose that hiring compression—the temporal concentration of early hires—affects capability development through distinct mechanisms related to knowledge absorption, recombination, and codification. We argue that these mechanisms interact with knowledge complexity and absorptive capacity to determine optimal patterns of early hiring in ventures. By illuminating how temporal patterns create distinct capability trajectories, our theory contributes to capability development, entrepreneurship, strategic human capital, knowledge integration, and organizational learning research, offering important implications for understanding venture capability development under resource constraints.
