How To Assemble A Perfect Team And Raise A Startup From Scratch
First of all, let’s get acquainted. My name is Eleonora Zolotaryova, and since last year, I’m working as a Content Marketer at Serpstat. In this article, I’d like to tell you our personal story of success and how we coped all things.
A brief history of one startup
Serpstat is the all-in-one tool for SEO, PPC and Content Marketing. For 4 years of its existence, Serpstat became a leading SEO platform in Eastern Europe, at the moment quickly developing all over the globe. Over the last half a year, Serpstat set #1 among all SEO tools on Product Hunt and became one of the best-selling tools on AppSumo of all times. To this date, we have over 100K of users and are close to the goal of $ 1 million ARR (annual recurring revenue).
How did a small company from Ukraine get all this, without attracting millions of investments? Believe me, at the bottoms of all lies a well-coordinated work of our team.
What’s the difference between the startup team and the stable business’s employees?
As it’s already clear from the heading of this paragraph, employees needed for startup are different from the ones needed for the big stable companies. Let me explain why.
Startup life is unpredictable. Yesterday you were nobody while today you have it all. The team of the startup can grow chaotically. Yesterday there were no vacancies, today there are 10 of them. In startups, there is a lack of a clear corporate culture, and almost everything depends on the team. At the first stages, everybody should be ready to do everything.
While the AppSumo campaign I mentioned above, we worked 24 hours a day during the whole week. We had thousands of requests from the potential new users, and marketing team, as well as the sales team, were helping our support team to survive. :) At the same time, our programmers were working to not let everything collapse because of the tremendous activity on Serpstat site. 24 hours. 7 days in a row. Is such situation possible in companies like _____ (insert any great famous naming)? I hardly believe this.
What personal qualities to pay attention to while hiring to the startup
All the team members should be hired carefully and patiently. People Serpstat is always looking for are pro-active, self-motivated, able to reach the goals and quickly learn everything. Nobody cares what kind of education the employees have and whether they have it at all. Here’s what our VP of Marketing says:
“When I interview the potential employee, it looks something like this:
- What are you keen on?
- I adore running.
- Oh, cool, tell me, what are your achievements at this?
- I have a medal in the half-marathon. My personal record is 21 km for 3 hours.
- Wow, he can come up to us, — the thought flashes in mind. “
Among personal goals can be anything, even cross stitching with a personal time record. That’s just another evidence that person knows how to get what he wants in everyday life. And sure he could also deal successfully with work responsibilities and emerging problems (they always have a place to be). One more thing: the person should be pleasant and sociable, you have to feel comfort while communicating and working with him. If you don’t feel this comfort, it’s better to refuse such job seeker.
We always follow this rule, and we are definitely proud of our team. Everyone occupies the place he or she belongs to.
Should people in the startup be similar to each other?
Just a small part of Serpstat team :)
Sure. Moreover, new people need to support the values of the startup, be like-minded in general. Try to ascertain this at the interview stage. Don’t judge the candidate only for his technical skills, this is not right for startup. The team should be enthusiastic about the same ideas, it makes the necessary microclimate for development. At the same time, a good mentor can always raise great people to the level of well-qualified specialists.
How we spread over outside the native market and fulfill the vacancies with a limited budget
Startup team should be united by the same idea, but isn’t it a better idea to motivate the team with an impressive salary? Of course, the good salary is always a motivation. But not always the most important one. It often happens that a person changes the work at the famous companies for the work in the small startup with less financial motivation. Why? Because a startup is an unlimited opportunity for growth, and this growth is rapid. In a large company, you may need years to promote. In a startup, you may grow from assistant to the head of the department in a few months.
How to filter out people who are interested only in money from the first interview?
For this, it is enough to understand the real motivation of a particular person, his loyalty to the idea of the project. Often the candidate not only doesn’t read anything about the startup but also does not read the short description of the vacancy. Simply submitted for a job, the name of which was considered suitable. It is clear that such a person will not catch fire with an idea at all, which means that many processes will drag on, which is deadly for a startup. As I wrote above, new people should approach the “family values” of the startup. Be like-minded. It is noticeable already in the first conversation.
How to rally the assembled team?
Remove strict subordination between the head and employees, this is the remnants of the past. In Serpstat the average age of the team is 24 years, and our heads are about the same age too. We turn to each other with a nickname, don’t wear formal clothes at work, and play board games at lunch.
Become a family. We hang out after work together, we attend exciting events, not only specific SEO events, but also sports, cultural. About how fun our corporate holidays are, I will better not write. :)
Chief Editor of Serpstat Blog Mipsy (Helen) and Administrative Coordinator Melkaya (Irina) before the 100km bike rally
Let your people understand clearly how important each person is for your product development. The person should feel that he/she plays the key role. To this date, we have 45 employees and each of us is significant for the startup and affects the development of the product.
How to inspire the team for maximum performance?
In 2016, our CEO Artem Borodatyuk, founder of Netpeak Agency and Netpeak Group, opened access to the financial statistics to all our team members. He said:
“You know our goal and see our growth, let’s work and earn more and more.”
It appeared to be crucial for a startup because everybody sees how their work affects the development of the product in general. Each Serpstat employee can see the daily earnings and costs of the company, how many new users come.
The second important point is a well-thought-out system of motivation. Everyone’s salary depends only on how hard he was working. Run away from the kind of “the employee at the rate” concept, this is another relic of the past.
In Serpstat, the rate is below the market rate, but we don’t have a single employee at the bare rate. Everyone gets bonuses based on the motivation system and gets a salary appropriate to efforts. This approach sets the pace for the formation of a developing startup since the company’s revenues are completely dependent on each employee in the team.
Thanks to such things, we have constant growth. It also supports the fervor of the team.
Who were the first people in our the team?
Of course, the first guys who entered the team were developers. After the tool was ready, immediately the company joined the marketing team, then a bit later the support team. The first 5–7 employees were universalists: they were able to sell, and support, and do marketing. Subsequently, these people became heads of the departments.
The bottom line
Do not look for workers, look for great people to join the family. As our HR Sawyer (Helen) says:
“The team for the startup should be recruited the same way as you look for the husband/wife. Focus on your needs and find the one who best corresponds them.”
In Serpstat we are not just a team, but a real family. And this is the main guarantee of success.
