Learning from Failure – Early Hiring Burns Cash

Timing your first hiring for your startup is very important for an entrepreneur. Hiring too early leads to wastages which can prove very crucial if you need to bootstrap your venture. Identifying the gaps in your startup, making a list of the precise skill sets you require and then finding the right profiles to match the requirements is the primary task and responsibility of the entrepreneur. The more the inaccuracy or deviation in this, the more the wastage of money and time.

Wishareit is a social gifting platform which made this very mistake. On receiving a positive feedback from its initial users and being overly optimistic, the startup hired too many people too soon which cost them months of runway.

Advice – Identifying the gaps in your startup and filling them with the right people is the right way to approach hiring.

Hiring your First Employee

Your startup’s first hire is always special. There are a couple of reasons for that.

First Experience of Hiring – Since this is the first time you are hiring someone, it makes you feel nervous and you tend to more careful and cautious.

For the Long Run – The first hires have two things attached to them – they are generally hired for a very particular skill set and are generally hired for the long run. An entrepreneur hopes to find someone who can stay with the company in the long run and can maybe lead the team around the skill set he/she was hired for.

Based on the importance of the first hire which we can gauge from the points above, I suggest that every entrepreneur should look for the following qualities in this person.

Passion – You don’t need an MBA degree or 5+ years of experience at this stage, you need passion to match yours.

Belief in Concept – Only a person who believes in the business idea as much as you do will want to be part of the company for the long run.

Strong Skill Set – Since that first hire will have to do a lot of the skill based stuff himself/herself, having a strong skill set is a must. Until the startup can afford to put together a team, this person will have to drive this part of the business.

Hiring the right people is a key factor which affects a startup’s growth. Hiring the first few people is even more critical and an entrepreneur must not hurry up and think it through before doing so.

Hiring a Co-Founder

Probably the first very important task of an entrepreneur, building a strong founding team. An entrepreneur should first sit down and identify what skills would be required to execute the business idea well. Once you have the skills listed down, you can start the process.

Look Within your Network: You know the skills you require. Start looking within your network of family, friends and acquaintances. Finding someone you already know is beneficial as you already have some background about the person.

Listing on Websites: There are various websites for finding cofounders, some being https://www.cofounderslab.com, angel.co, http://hiringdecoder.com.

Networking: Start joining clubs and networks in your country which are based on themes/skills which are required by you. For instance, in Beveragewala, we were looking for someone with Tea/Coffee retailing experience. I had joined the different Tea/FMCG marketing groups in Delhi & Mumbai to meet and identify people who could possibly join us.

Events: Attend startup events and try to meet as many people as you can who may be interested in startups. Keep pitching your idea to people who interest you. You never know when and where you might find the right one.

Take your time in identifying the right person to join you. Do not hurry this up as it is very crucial to induct someone who will be a good fit. Also in the meanwhile, keep pushing the idea yourself.

Hiring Challenges

Here are some quotes from leading entrepreneurs on the challenges they faced in hiring for their startups.

Greg Isenberg, Founder& CEO, 5by (now acquired by Stumble Upon)

Joining a startup is a rollercoaster and most people know it. Most people want to go to their 9-5 and forget about work when it’s over. Finding startup employees are a rarity and they have to be willing to work long hours and get paid less than market rates.”

Steve Hoffman, Cofounder, Founders Space

I always tell my startups not to feel rushed. Don’t hire someone just because you desperately need to fill the position. Take a deep breath and wait until you find the right person, even if it means slowing everything down.”

Don Glacy, Founder & Principal, Omnific

“We hire attitude and train for everything else. We have built the company on superior service that requires a great culture. Our biggest challenge is maintaining our culture as we grow and hire new personalities at an increasingly faster pace.”

Baochi Nguyen, CEO, Social Canny

“Finding A-player employees takes time and patience. I’ve made mistakes because I hired too quickly and below my standards. But everytime I’ve kept interviewing (seemingly forever), I’ve hired great people that I will recruit/refer for the rest of my career.”

Jason Wang, Founder & CEO, TryCaviar

“The biggest challenge is finding someone with the right cultural fit. Many candidates look great on paper and do well in interviews, but can they buckle down and accomplish great things with the team?” 

(article taken from eazyhire.in)