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Hiring the right people is crucial to the success — or doom — of a startup. Finding viable candidates who look good on paper (or, rather, in a LinkedIn profile) is only part of the challenge. Making sure they’re a good fit with the rest of the team is another, and in a startup environment, it’s often every bit as important.
With such an abundance of startups in Austin, it isn’t difficult to tap into the knowledge base of fellow founders and influencers for advice. Here, we’ve compiled the top three hiring tips that arose time and again when we asked several founders for their thoughts on finding and reeling in the right people.
The common themes: adequate timing, informed decisiveness and culture, culture, culture.
1. Take your time if you want to get it right.
Jagath Narayan, the CEO and co-founder of shipping and inventory management company Ordoro Inc., says the process can’t be rushed, and that a bigger team doesn’t necessarily mean a better one. “Hire slowly and deliberately,” he says. “Having a large team doesn't always work to your advantage. In fact, it often works to your disadvantage. I was recently at a conference talking to one of our competitors, and they were shocked to learn that we were just a team of 12 people. They have more than 100 employees and they still lose sales leads to us.”
As for the candidates themselves: “Look for aptitude, attitude and dedication during hiring,” Narayan stresses. “Often, those qualities are more important than domain expertise. Our hiring process is slow and difficult intentionally. There are 5 stages of interviews spread across multiple days that each candidate goes through. Every new person who joins our team influences Ordoro in important ways, and therefore we are extremely picky about who we bring on board.”
2. When you find the right people, pounce.
Finding viable candidates is only part of the challenge. Once you’ve identified and vetted someone who appears on every level to be a great fit and a valued addition, it’s imperative to bring them on board quickly before the opportunity dissolves. As with anything, once your gut feeling about something aligns with the measurable information that’s been placed in front of you, it’s likely a safe bet to move forward with it. If that hire seems like a dream come true after the interview process is complete and all checks and balances have been met, pounce quickly.
Peter Li, co-founder and CEO of fitness technology company Atlas Wearables, says speed is important: “Make the right hires quickly, the right fires quickly, and make sure you are filling the right needs.” His co-founder, CTO Mike Casparian, agrees that after due diligence has been done, quickness is key: “One of the hardest jobs as a founder is to find the right teammates,” he admits, but says it’s important to “buckle down -- it takes time, but at the same time it needs to be done swiftly, and correctly.”
In short, if you’ve found the right candidate for a particular role, snap them up. The opportunity may not present itself twice.
3. Don’t expect hires to do anything you wouldn’t do.
There’s an interesting shift that takes place between the priorities of the established corporate world and those of a startup. In a survey conducted this year by a VentureBeat writer, 350 respondents including developers, designers, technical marketers, product managers, sales leaders, and user researchers were asked the top three factors they look for in a job, and while corporate types’ most popular answers included the words “pay,” “manager,” and “scope,” respondents from the startup realm favored the words “challenge,” “team,” and “flexibility.” In the purest sense, your candidates are looking for a challenge to tackle in a positive team setting that allows for flexibility. And for you as a founder to understand the roles you’re filling and the challenges the people in them will face, it’s a good idea to walk a mile in their shoes before you even meet them.
“Do the job yourselves for a while before you hire someone else to do it,” Narayan says. “I have done all the non-dev jobs in the company -- sales, support, marketing, blogging -- before we hired people to do those jobs. I still answer customer emails when I can, even though we have a dedicated sales and support team now.” Having first-hand knowledge of and empathy for your employees’ challenges, both good and bad, can only help you build a team that respects you as well as one another. As your team grows, it’s imperative to bring employees in on the hiring process to make sure candidates will work well with existing team members.
As for culture fit, Li says, “This is very important. As a startup, a cohesive team is required.” He also recommends a balance of specialists and generalists who can work together to build the brand and solve problems as they arise.
Have an insight you want to share? Email us [email protected]
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