Hiring, Firing, and Co-Founders: My Founder Institute Session
1. Hiring,
Firing
and
Cofounders
(or,
how
I
learned
to
delegate
and
love
building
a
team
that’s
da
bomb)
Roy
Rodenstein,
@royrod
Co-‐founder,
Going
/
Director
of
Business
Planning,
AOL
8/5,
2010
2. How
I
think
about
early
stage
teams
• What
are
my
strengths
&
weaknesses?
– Skills:
Hacking,
Product,
Marketing,
Sales,
Finance,
Management
– Qualities:
detail
oriented
vs.
macro
view,
people
person,
communication
– Be
brutally
honest
with
yourself
• What
strengths
does
the
company
need
– Now?
– In
6
months?
– In
2
years?
• What
are
sporadic
vs.
sustainable
roles?
3. Sporadic
needs
“We
need
a
new
logo,
so
I
need
to
hire
a
full-‐time
designer
ASAP!!!”
• Full-‐time
hires
are
hard
– 1-‐3
calendar
months,
days
of
real
effort
on
spec,
interviews,
negotiation
• Firing
is
really
hard
– Hiring
wrong
person
full-‐time
is
very
costly
– Layoffs
take
toll
on
the
team
and
your
credibility
• When
in
doubt,
start
with
low
commitment
• Temp-‐to-‐hire
is
very
common
4. Common
staffing
approaches
Area Example
need Common
best
practices
Design Logo,
page
template 99designs
Design UI,
UX,
IA,Usability Freelance
designer
or
firm
Editorial Writing
web
content,
blog
posts Craigslist,
Twitter
Social
Media Manage
Twitter
et
al,
community Craigslist,
Twitter
Marketing management,
blogger
outreach
Prototype Version
0.1
of
site
to
gather
user oDesk,
RentACoder,
eLance
Hacking feedback Local:
Globant,
Janeiro
Digital
etc.
5. Sustainable
needs
“This
area
needs
help
now,
and
it
still
will
in
a
year”
• Someone
will
need
to
lead
Hacking,
Product,
Marketing
• These
problems
don’t
“go
away”
• Could
be
a
founder,
a
sr.
hire,
or
a
jr.
hire
that
‘scales’
• Wearing
multiple
hats
for
a
while
is
fine
• Plan
out
hires
at
least
6-‐12
months
in
advance
(e.g.
Excel
gantt)
6. What
makes
a
founder?
Believes
in
the
vision
Committed
to
the
company
Sustained
fit
and
value
“My
cofounder
will
help
a
bit
with
emailing
bloggers
and
users,
taking
a
shot
at
drumming
up
some
potential
clients,
and
later
we’ll
figure
out
what
else
they
do”
7. What
a
co-‐founder
blowup
looks
like
Spooks
your
investors,
your
team,
and
your
cap
table
8. Where
to
find
full-‐time
Hires
Monster
Your
friends
Your
friends’
networks
Careerbuilder
Your
network
Twitter
Crunchboard
Craigslist
Quora
Joel
on
Software
LinkedIn
Dice
Facebook
College
career
fairs
Blog
comments
Your
user
community
Meetup
groups
Industry
events
Everywhere…
9. Successful
recruiting
• Write
a
compelling
job
spec
with
personality
– It’s
one
of
your
biggest
advantages
as
a
startup
– As
much
for
you
to
define
the
role,
as
for
the
candidate
• Interviewing
– To
scale
&
check
follow-‐through,
give
candidates
a
quick
test
– Do
‘360-‐degree’
interview
– Have
a
high
bar,
it
makes
people
appreciate
joining
– References:
back-‐channel
are
best
– “A
players
hire
A
players.
B
players
hire
C
players.”
• Close
the
deal
quickly
&
do
what
it
takes
– Do
what
it
takes:
desk
setup
they
like,
take
them+spouse
to
dinner,
…
– Negotiate
fairly,
not
too
generous
or
stingy
11. Got
the
hire?
Managing
101
• Set
expectations
for
the
role
and
growth
path
• Provide
guidance
and
clear
goals
• Get
out
of
the
way
• Maintain
the
relationship
• Keep
the
vision
alive
&
updated
• Be
a
startup!
• Lead
&
inspire
12.
No
‘I’
in
Team…
But
there
is
a
T
Thanks!
More
@royrod,
How2Startup.com