@DrAnneCarpenter @academicchatter I appreciate this question and think about the layers within it.
I have seen early career faculty create labs with other faculty, so that seems like a first question.
I also wonder about the distinction between post-docs, which seems to be highly personal and a very small world, often word of mouth from faculty you are likely familiar with, grad students, who may have come from lots of places, have been interested in your work, or not have much idea to why they are really interested in early in their career, and undergraduates who may be recruited through classes and other ways on campus...