Startup Hiring — Choosing Passion over Pedigree!

TBM Growth
Aug 25, 2017 · 3 min read
Design: Nancy Garg| Content: Rini Srivastava

Is ‘Team Theme’- the mantra for Startup Hiring overrated? Cliché? Certainly not. Team is the only thing that matters for a startup because,

“Individuals don’t build great companies, teams do”

One of the trickiest things about identifying and hiring the right talent for a startup is determining whether someone with a refined resume and radiant interview skills will be able to deliver in the long haul.

In today’s globally connected world, products and product leads disappear in nano-seconds until and unless there is a rapid innovation. For this to happen, should a startup hire a startup talent, or top-notch executives and some grey hair guy with lots of corporate experience?

True to the core, the startups feel that the only way to survive in this competitive market is to depend on pedigree hiring, thinking these people have the experience to take the business to the next level.

Harvard. Oxford. Cambridge. MIT. IIT. IIM — these sound ‘Impressive but not Imperative.’

For a person who has ‘done it all’, there’s little left to visionate in the new job. People who have ‘experienced that, done that, been there’ do have an entitlement but they expect smooth sailing in the startup world.

On the contrary, startup world is all about ravenous fighters who have the skills and experience to step up their new job. No doubt, having experience and track record is always admired but hiring someone with exceptional skills, inner drive to face challenges — is all the more important!

Remember two ground rules while hiring for your early stage team -

▪ A startup’s early stage team should be as passionate about the product and services as the founders. If these early hires are not sold on the product/service and the overall vision, chances are they will swerve from the startup goals very often.

Hire specialists and not generalists. Though it may sound tempting to find that elusive evangelist who can multi-task but these all-round stars may not be best when you have deadlines around. Lookout for experts in various areas who can build a strong team by complimenting each other’s skill sets.

The invasion of C-suites is inevitable in any business, it could happen at 500+ or 1000+ employees, when the startup is about to implement some management structure for the first time. But it should certainly not happen at the 1–100 level because someone who does not match your vision may slip through the cracks and the results can be devastating.

Rightly said, “Choose your first 10 employees very carefully, as they determine the next 100”

At the end of it — never run after hiring a Seth Godin, hire the next Seth Godin.!

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TBM Growth

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TBM GROWTH 36ONE° offers specialized expertise at every phase of the business cycle to help organizations, entrepreneurs and leaders .

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