Standard Startup Secrets Presentation for Hiring A+ Talent Workshop

1. Startup Secrets:
Hiring A+ Talent
7.1.19

2. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Startup Secrets
Workshops
2
1. What’s Your Roadmap to Success?
2. Building a Compelling Value Proposition
3. Turning Products into Companies
4. Culture, Mission and Vision
5. Hiring A+ Talent
6. Game-Changing Business Models
7. Go to Market Strategies
8. Getting Behind the Perfect Investor Pitch
9. Funding Strategies to go the Distance
10. Have You Got What It Takes?
11. Mastering Mutual Mentorship

3. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
● The most important capital =
human capital
● You are what you hire
Why is this
important?
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4. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
● A’s hire A’s
● B’s hire C’s
● C’s = Cost you your company
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Hire above
your grade,
never below

5. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
When you make the wrong hire and lose people, you lose…
● What they know
● Who they know
$25.05 billion per year in costs associated with knowledge loss from
just 1% of employees
As a startup, your organization risks disorganization
-The MIT Sloan Review
Making
the
Wrong
Hire
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6. Hiring
It’s all in the details...

7. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Three Key
Assessments
● Can they be successful at the job?
● Will they really love the job?
● Will they fit and reinforce?
EKS IQ
CQ
Attitude
Aptitude
Ability
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8. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
● Do they have the EKS:
○ Experience
○ Knowledge
○ Skills
● And where applicable, the IQ
○ Intelligence
○ Smarts
Can They Be
Successful
at the Job?
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9. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
● Can you:
○ Find people’s passion?
■ If people love what they do, they tend to
do it well
■ If they do it well, they tend to be
successful
● Can you:
○ Find a fit for what they love to do?
○ Set them up for success?
Will They
Really
Love the
Job?
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10. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
What are you
passionate about?
…and sometimes my ONLY question!
My first
interview
question
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11. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
People who are really passionate
about their work tend to love what
they do, take pride in it, and the
results and rewards all follow.
This creates a self
reinforcing positive
virtuous cycle of success.
Uncover
their
Passion
Love it
Do Well
Success
Reward
Will They
Really
Love the
Job?
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12. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
It Doesn’t Have to All Be
About Work
“I never did a day’s work in my life. It was all fun.”
Thomas A. Edison
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13. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
What would you
choose to do if
today was your last
day of work?
Another
Revealing
Question
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14. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Beyond EKS and IQ…
● Think about what will set someone up for success in
your situation / team / organization
○ Street smarts vs. Book smarts?
○ Judgment vs. Intellect?
○ Effort vs. Ability?
● Think about how to find a FIT…
Hiring is
More
Than a
Science
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15. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
● Interpersonal skills, connections and relationships are vital in a
startup
● Three examples:
○ “Speed teaming”
■ Form and re-form rapidly – e.g., around problem solving
■ Cross functional and interdisciplinary teams often best
○ Customer intimacy
■ Often vital in product development, support etc.
○ Leverage: building relationships with key stakeholders
■ Shareholders – for strong investor support
■ Suppliers – for faster time to market
■ Partners – for leveraging other’s capabilities
EQ:
Emotional
Quotient
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16. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
● EKS: Experience, Knowledge, Skills
● IQ: Intelligence Quotient
● EQ: Emotional Quotient
● Fit with your team, etc.
● CQ: Cultural Quality
● Fit with your values, etc.
“the fit between personalities was so much more
important than just finding people who were very
good”
Dick Costolo, Former CEO, Twitter
Wasserman, Noam. The Founder’s Dilemmas:
Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink
a Startup. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ Pr, 2013,
216.
Startup
Secret!
Hire for
EQ and
CQ
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17. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
● IQ
○ What is the most relevant experience, knowledge or
skill you bring to this job?
○ What is your favorite example of a problem you’ve
solved, and how did you solve it?
● EQ
○ What are you most proud of in your work interactions?
○ What is it that you relate to in our company?
● CQ
○ What do you value most?
○ What have you most enjoyed in your previous jobs?
Example
Interview
Questions
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18. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
● EKS: Experience, Knowledge, Skills
● IQ: Intelligence Quotient
● EQ: Emotional Quotient
● Fit with your team etc
● CQ: Cultural Quality
● Fit with your values etc
● QC: Quality Control
● Is each hire additive or dilutive to
your culture?
● Is each hire multiplying or
dividing your culture?
Startup
Secret!
Hire for
EQ and
CQ, and
do QC
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19. Everyone Wants A+
Players

20. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
● What does that really mean?
● How can you apply it in
practice?
Hiring A+
Players
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21. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
● Attitude
● Aptitude
● Ability
Note: Ability is really the broader
sense suitability for the job
Startup
Secret!
Hire for
the
Three
A’s
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Attitude
Aptitude
Ability

22. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Examples of what to look for:
● Problem solving
○ Fail fast, learn faster
● Persistence
○ To get to the root of the problem, issue, or
opportunity
● Participation
○ Team
Attitude
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23. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
● Aware (self)
● Authentic
● Athlete
Startup
Secret!
Hire for
the
Three
A’s
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Attitude
Aptitude
Ability

24. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
The
Golden
Triangle
● Can they be successful at the job?
● Will they really love the job?
● Will they fit and reinforce?
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EKS IQ
CQ
Attitude
Aptitude
Ability

25. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
The Tools
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EKS IQ
CQ
Attitude
Aptitude
Ability
● EKS
○ Resume
■ Interviews
● IQ
○ Proof, e.g.
■ Problem solving
● e.g. engineers – code
● CQ
○ Interactions, observation
■ Trust the process

26. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
● EKS, IQ = can they be successful at the
job?
○ Check with REAL references
● CQ, EQ (Cultural Quality, Emotional
Quotient) = will they fit & reinforce?
○ Do QC (Quality Control) for additive
vs. dilutive to your culture
● Uncover their Passion = will they really
love the job?
○ Separate from needs
● Golden Triangle = all the above and A+
players:
○ Look for 3As: Attitude, Aptitude,
Ability
○ +++ Aware, Authentic, Athlete
Summary
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28. 250+ Warner Music Group
artist websites, 3 site templates,
total creative freedom

29. 30K Concurrent visitors during
Hurricane Sandy

30. add whole foods
340
Unique digital experiences built on a common
Drupal platform – empower store managers
to personalize their store site

31. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Acquia
Hiring
Acquia DNA
● Committed to Awesome
● Do the Right Thing
● Jump In and Own It
● Give Back More
● Inspire a Little Crazy
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32. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Acquia
Hiring
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PIII
● Passion
● Integrity
● Intelligence
● Initiative

33. 3 Practical Startup
Hiring Tips

34. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Tip 1:
Hiring
Known
Quantities
Just hire people you know & have worked well with in past?
YES
● proven teaming, fit
“startups that relied relatively heavily on the founders’ personal
networks received valuations that were 37% higher than those
received by startups that barely tapped the founders’ networks”
Wasserman
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35. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Tip 1:
Hiring
Known
Quantities
Just hire people you know & have worked well with in past?
YES
● proven teaming, fit
NO
● every situation is different
○ “vs. it worked like this in the past!”
● diversity of background can be good
○ “think different”
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36. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Tip 2:
Balance
Youth and
Experience
Youth or Experience? YES!
Youth what’s
possible?
+
Experience what to
consider
=
Success balance
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37. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Tip 3:
Listen,
Don’t
Sell!
Find out what the candidate needs, wants, loves
Need
Want
?
Love
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38. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Tip 3:
Listen,
Don’t
Sell!
Find out what the candidate needs, wants, loves
And FIT to a position you have!
Need
Want
?
Love
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39. Hiring Questions and
Interview Tips
for the Perfect FIT

40. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
3 Steps
1. Questioning
2. Listening
3. Observing
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41. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Cultural
Quality
(CQ)
Questions
● What are you passionate about?
○ What is the most fun you’ve ever had?
■ (Intentionally open to understand work / life passions / balance)
● What have you most enjoyed in your previous jobs?
● What do you love doing day-to-day?
■ (What would an ideal day look like?)
● If you could have changed one thing at your
previous/current job, what would it be?
■ (Also - listen for why the person didn’t change it)
● What is it you think you’ll enjoy most about this job?
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42. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Cultural
Quality
(CQ)
Questions
Aspirations
● What do you aspire to in life?
○ How are you pursuing them?
● What do you want or feel you need to
learn?
○ (To achieve those aspirations)
○ (Listen for difference between want and need)
● What legacy do you hope to leave?
○ (What do you hope to be remembered for?)
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43. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Cultural
Quality
(CQ)
Questions
Values
● What values do you believe in?
○ How do you live those values?
● What do you value most?
● Personalize remaining questions for your
values
○ (e.g. What does Trust mean to you?)
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44. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Cultural
Quality
(CQ)
Questions
Other
● What does balance mean to you in your
life?
● What else do you love about your life?
○ (Listen for consistency in outside interests with
answers regarding work ethics, style etc.)
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45. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Cultural
Quality
(CQ)
Questions
For Managers:
● What does management mean to you?
○ (e.g. What is the role of management?)
● What environment do you like to create?
● How do you like to be treated?
○ (Compare with answer to previous question)
● Who comes first, your customer or your team?
● Do you judge by effort or results?
● What do you celebrate / reward?
● What do you trust and what do you verify?
● If you were hiring me for this job, what other questions
would you ask of me?
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46. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Emotional
Quotient
(EQ)
Questions
● What do people think of you?
○ How accurate is their perception?
● How do you feel you still need to develop personally? (Look
for self respect and yet self awareness)
● What work relationships are you most proud of and why?
● What are examples of work interactions you are most
proud of and why?
● What have you learned from your best and worst work
relationships?
● What is it that you relate to in our company?
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47. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Emotional
Quotient
(EQ)
Questions
For Managers
● How would people describe your management
style?
○ (Compare with the CQ manager answers)
● How do you like to be treated?
○ (Consistent with how you treat others?)
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48. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Intelligence
Quotient
(IQ)
Questions
NOTE: there are many sources of these and they need to be specific to the job.
Try to find practical instantiations and real world tests.
● What is the most relevant Experience, Knowledge or Skill
(EKS) you bring to the job?
● How do you experiment?
● In your previous role(s), what did you learn, prove and act
on?
● What are examples of problems that arose and where did
they lead you?
● What is your favorite example of a problem you’ve solved,
and how did you solve it?
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49. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Final Questions
What else should we know about you?
You will be amazed at what comes out!
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50. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
3 Steps to
Discern 3
Things
3 steps
1. Questioning
2. Listening
3. Observing
Can you hear and
separate what your
candidate
○ needs ?
○ wants ?
○ loves ?
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51. Confidential & Proprietary @underscorevc
Some
Extra
Tips
● Agree your agenda
○ “Get to know you” first
■ (You are looking for CQ, EQ)
○ Then evaluate IQ
■ Break down EKS
● Help the interviewee get comfortable and enable them to
be authentic
■ If necessary take them for a walk or get out of the
office
● Leave time to be questioned
○ Learn from what is asked of you
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52. Startup Secrets:
Hiring A+ Talent
7.1.19