5 Lessons I Learned as a Startup Founder in 2016
Two years ago I started Cocoon together with my Co-Founder Vincent. We wanted to disintermediate the recruitment industry by creating an equal level playing field between hiring managers and talented job-seekers. Although lots of people don’t agree with me on this, I still feel finding a job is just like dating: it’s an exciting but fun process that should lead to a long lasting relationship. If one of both parties is not feeling attracted to other…well, you get my point.
2015 was about actually getting started, together. We had an intense time at Rockstart Accelerator, raised a small funding round en shipped our very first prototype. Although there were tens of people using the app, it’s funny how we felt like we were actually accomplishing great things.
Whereas 2015 was an amazing year, I believe 2016 has been the year in which I have learnt more than in any single year of my life. That’s actually also how I explain my grandmother why I’m doing all this.
Was it all fun? No.
1. User feedback trumps your vision. Right?!
All entrepreneurs start their journey with a vision for the industry. To make recruitment fun and equal again, we had our idea on building an amazing product. Of course.
I believe we listened to feedback of both job-seekers and companies very well. However, we were protecting some vital parts of Cocoon for a long time: “this is JUST how it should work”. We built an algorithm that sorted the right job-seekers for our clients. I will spare you the details, but most clients basically just wanted to see all actual applicants first. And then, yes, they might be interested to see all other talented people second.
Doesn’t feel fair and equal, right? Eventually we gave in and we made our algorithm sort candidates in a more effective way for clients. After making this change, user retention on the company side has grown with more than 200%. And this, of course, has lead to way better results for our candidates as they got more responses from potential employers.
2. Say NO, a lot
As a startup founder, there are many opportunities out there to explore and to discover. It is really tempting to hunt down all of them. When we started we were so easily swayed by opinions and feedback from mentors, other entrepreneurs and investors. To them we always listened and we tried to implement all their ideas. They are the real experts right?
Imagine what you get if you make a product that’s working for everyone who’s looking for job…and yes, you do want to follow-up on all their ideas in new coffee meetings or calls. And then you get even more new ideas!! Yes, all these people are experts and really want to help you. And yes, we are very thankful for all their insights and opinions.
3. Hire Fast (and yes….Fire Faster)
While we are still a rather small team, one should never underestimate the influence of toxic employees on the rest of the team. We hired 8 people last year of which 1 person was a bad fit. We find ourpeople with Cocoon (of course!!) and start with a 30 min call in which both the candidate and someone from us get to ask 3 questions. Then we schedule a longer coffee or lunch meeting to get to know each other better and to discuss sales/marketing tactics or tech issues. Usually the process does not take more than 2 weeks. We are competing with other tech companies on talent, so speed is important here…
We had a good feeling with this ‘bad hire’ but he needed a bit more time to wrap up school. The official first day was postponed multiple times and once this person actually started ,more problems came up. Tasks remained undone, other team members became annoyed and we ended the contract within the probation period. Although it did not ruin our operation and nobody died, we had lost a lot of time. And time….that’s a startup’s biggest enemy.
4. Beers and coffees are nice, sometimes.
Lots of people in the startup world are in it for the lifestyle. I have to admit, I was also attracted by the atmosphere I encountered when visiting friends of mine who were working at a startup while I was still working at a big corporate.
With the huge amount of co-working spaces, meetups, parties, conferences and other network events, one could spend his entire week on being busy. Being busy with building a lifestyle instead of building a company, that is. I decided to do the latter, since I’m investing in Cocoon with my life basically. Of course, I’m doing coffee meetings with people I like to meet or people that want to meet me. I just make sure they are scheduled before or after office hours. If people don’t want that, they are not serious about it anyway.
5. Remember to Celebrate Success
We experimented, learned, failed and got back up…many times. It has been such a thrilling ride and I tend to only focus on what’s next. At the start of a new year I realise I have not taken the time to sit back, look around and enjoy what we are actually accomplished together. I really need to do this more often. Not only for myself, but also for the rest of the Cocoon team. We are actually making a difference in people’s lives by getting them a new job with a simple app. That’s pretty cool, right? :-)
For now, I want to thank the whole Cocoon team, our clients and jobs-seekers, our mentors and investors, my friends and family who walked with me and supported me along my entrepreneurial journey. Without anyone of you, Cocoon would not exist and I could not have learned so many great things. In the future, I will make more time for beers and coffees ;-)
