[My Observations] — Young Guns: Leading & Hiring 20-year-old’s
Look, if you had, one shot or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment
Would you capture it, or just let it slip? —
As human beings we always transcend individually BUT as a group we need to collaborate our individual energies.
Any good cause needs ardent & committed followers. When this happens at its best something magical happens; great founding teams are built. Think about PayPal early days. Young, contrarian, driven, bright, highly opinionated, curious & passionate. This paves way for a great foundation to go from 1st to 20 hires & next 100 & so on.
After running a high growth SaaS startup ExtraaEdge based out in India for ~3 years & working with amazing young talent I have build some heuristics. These heuristics have been built by observing 20 years old over past 2–3 years with 1000+ interviews & hiring discussions. Moreover, observing them grow, evolve, learn & on some occasions see them destroy opportunities as ego & short term thinking plays the devil.
They : The bright 20 year olds passionate to join a high growth startup
You : The 30 year old founder who on most occasions feels like 40
MY FEW 20 CENTS :
1/20
They are driven & bright but most times think short term. T20 is big, Test is obsolete. Salary hikes important ESOPS good to have.
2/20
They are only loyal to themselves & where they see individual growth benefits. If aligned with the company’s growth they stay else better they leave
3/20
Keep feeding their attention span with 2 food. Curiosity & Challenges, smart ones will stay, weak ones will grow, average ones will leave.
4/20
Driven ones love to fight wars with you late nights & days in the startup trenches. The ones who survive give them raise & equity.
5/20
They mostly come to you with a consequence seldom a problem. Help them move to the problem. Bright ones will arrive at problem & solve, average ones will seek an excuse.
6/20
As much as possible they thrive in a flat structure without bureaucracy. Bossing them around won’t help, guiding will.
7/20
Best culture they love is where forgiveness is better than permission. Let them take decisions & screw up. They will end up helping other they’s.
8/20
Praise them in person in public, criticize the context & situation. Its a tonic for self-improvement. They know when they see it.
9/20
Best ones from the smart ones emerge — just observe them taking micro-decisions under pressure. Put some more pressure till they break. Ones who don’t promote them.
10/20
Stop educating them about product value, it's too nuanced. Won’t get, throw them with customers/users they will educate them about your product’s core value.
11/20
2-year celebration is a trigger for a default job change. Average ones will react to this trigger, smart ones will come & ask you. Boss! What Next! Promote them right away!
12/20
#Gossip will always happen. Never try to stop it just educate them the definition of #Gossip so they recognize when they see one
13/20
Great culture for them is when others including them know the “right thing to do”. Your job is to keep defining whats the right thing.
14/20
They will mostly leave one day. Let them go. They have not fully grasped the power of compound interest. Once who do reward, promote them & give them the responsibility to hire more they’s.
15/20
Try to think like a 20-year-old, act like a 40-year-old & feed/leverage from their energies when your chips are down.
20 = energy + passion | 40 = response more & react less
16/20
Always help & navigate them when they need career advice. They believe those who connect with their problems may also have the solution. You will be appreciated
17/20
They may not like you & that’s ok. Actually better. But they should always be inspired by you. If not someone else will inspire/conspire them & they will leave.
18/20
They have a keen eye for challenges & innovation. They thrive with these two aspects. If these 2 are not built in your company DNA you need 30+ process-driven exec.
19/20
Girls are statistically more committed but family, personal life & marriage are important for them more than guys. Realize & be prepared for the change.
20/20
Never, Never, Never forget to do these 3 things over & over & over again.
Ask Questions / Listen Intently / Take Actions. They will love it & refer more they’s to join the company
Would look forward to hear more thoughts especially from 1st time entrepreneurs hiring these crazy & brilliant 20 year old’s.
Thanks to Alex from Groove, Gaurav from TopRankers, Sachin from TownScript, Sushil from ExtraaEdge & a bow to Naval Ravikant for his wisdom.
