Huddle.net - Hiring a Team of Peers

Building a Team of Peers Andy McLoughlin

I am co-founder and product director at Huddle Huddle combines unified collaboration with social networking Huddle was launched in April 2007 Based in London, sales office in Chicago Doubling in size (users / revenue) every 4 months A little bit about us...

Was it really all plain sailing? December 07: 5 staff December 08: 30 staff

Dear God, no!
Picture of stormy sea
Hell no!

The early days
Use nice graphics from the website (or ask Keh)
Building a great team is really, really hard work You rarely get the chance to pick a team from scratch so make it count

Things we've learnt
Your initial team may not make the grade
Don’t be afraid to say no
Meeting the perfect candidate is like falling in love
Working in a start-up isn’t for everyone
Don’t hire people if you wouldn’t want to spend all day, every day with them
Bet on smart, entrepreneurial people
And…

Build “a team of peers”

“ A team of peers”
Coined by Bob, our first post-VC hire
Everyone hires everyone else
Foster the sense of family and buy-in
We run a three stage process
Telephone screen (20 minutes)
Paired technical test (1 hour)
General interview (30 minutes)
Huddle’s patented “4 point scale”
Unless everyone is agreed, it’s a no-go

“ Bet on openness, build trust”
Huddle’s product and company mantra
Keep the team in one building
Publish company targets and roadmap
Weekly company stand-up with open floor
Get engineers and product on sales calls
Get sales and marketing people testing
Company-wide product planning sessions
10% hack time to build cool stuff

Finding talent Direct applicants FTW! We’ve used friends’ recommendations, blogging, speaking, twitter and networking events to successfully recruit great staff. LinkedIn, TechCrunch jobs, Monster and other job boards

Dealing with recruiters Dealing with recruitment agents

Recruiters: a cheat-sheet
Generally, they’re bastards and full of shit
Luckily, it is a hirer’s market
Create a PSL of maximum five agencies
Set a fixed rate (max 15%)
Be explicit with your needs and demand their three best CVs

Interns – something for nothing? Interns: something for nothing?

Interns: a cheat sheet
You can offer unpaid internships but conditions apply
Avoid unpaid interns falling within the definition of 'worker" under the minimum wage legislation
The intern should be learning skills / gaining experience
The intern cannot be subject to any work obligations
No regular payments smaller than minimum wage should be promised or made (travel / food expenses are fine)
Set a finite timeline then graduate to minimum wage
For tech interns and design interns this can be flexible
They’re part of your team so quality standards hold true
Have a look at enternships.com

Losing a friend Breaking up is hard to do

“ I’m giving you my notice”
The first time it happens is heartbreaking
But it’s inevitable
If you love them, let them go!
Look for early signs of unhappiness
Paying below market rate is a false economy
If you’ve instigated the break-up (sacking / redundancy / probation) then ensure you follow proper procedure
Send your CEO / COO / office manager on an HR course

“ A place I'd want to work” Creating “a place I'd want to work”

Creating that place
Great people + nice surroundings = WIN
Make everyone a shareholder
Invest in a good coffee machine
Table football league / Wii / beanbag area encourage creative thinking and bonding
Eat together regularly
Regular outings with partners invited
Continually ask yourself if this truly is a place you’d want to work

Thank you! Email: andy@huddle.net Twitter: @bandrew

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Huddle.net - Hiring a Team of Peers

by Andy McLoughlin on Apr 21, 2009

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