Startup Founder Dakota Younger
Hailing from Alaska, Dakota Younger is a passionate technophile, ex-standup comedian, and a recruiting expert with over a decade of experience. After starting two successful recruiting firms, he set out to solve many of the inefficiencies in the industry through novel design and technology. Dakota is now the founder & CEO of a powerful referral recruiting technology called Boon.
What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
I never really set out to start a company. Boon was born out of hacked together system my team and I built for my second recruiting firm. We knew referrals made for the best recruits, but it was completely manual and laborious process. It wasn’t until our clients said “holy crap that’s awesome” that I realized we might be on to something.
Can you remember what the biggest barriers to entry entrepreneurship were for you?
People thought I was crazy and still do. Most people seem to think that working every waking hour for no income doesn’t sound so enticing. I think a lot founders just have that risk-taking gene that allows us to take that plunge. It didn’t feel like a choice for me.
What does success look like to you personally?
In this business — you are selling a vision. You don’t have anything else. I know I’m on my game when I get others excited in what we are building, which some days can be super difficult. It’s a bit of rollercoaster-ride, but keeping the vision in focus and getting others to believe in it feels good.
“In this business — you are selling a vision.”
What is your role at Boon?
Officially, I am the CEO & founder. The actual role is all over the place, but it really comes down to three things: 1) keeping money in the bank, 2) finding the best talent I possibly can, and 3) getting everyone on board with the vision of the company.
What does a productive day for you look like?
That’s hard to tell, because a lot of days feel like I ran around all day with no concrete progress. You need to make longer-term goals and make sure you stay on course because A LOT of distractions come your way in a startup. If I crossed off some tasks that directly related to our next milestone, that was a good day
Which problem are you solving with Boon?
It a macro-sense we are solving how organizations find, engage with, and hire talent. Zooming in, we are addressing what I call the “referral gap”. A large majority of talent directors regard referrals as the most quality source of hires, but referrals only account for a very small slice of overall new hires. This is the referral gap.
Where does your motivation to solve this problem come from?
Recruiting sucks. Having been in the trenches of the industry for so long, I just became obsessed with changing how this system works. It’s something we all have to deal with. Engaging with new people and opportunities should be a wonderful experience and I intend to make it that way.
What does success look like for Boon?
If we are consistently helping people find new opportunities and helping companies build stronger teams, we are killing it.
Which one thing would you love to tell your younger self?
Take the blue pill.
What has been your biggest failure?
I don’t regret it and would absolutely do it again, but I spent a large portion of my life trying to make it as a stand-up comedian (don’t YouTube it please). I wish I could have made it further, but I learned a lot about myself and gained some good skills from that adventure.
What would you highly recommend aspiring entrepreneurs to do?
Get advice from absolutely everyone, but stay true to your convictions. Everyone thinks they know better and there’s a lot to earn from people, but ultimately you have to make decisions for you.
How many users and paying customers do you have?
We have just over 10,000 users and paying customers are up into the hundreds now.
What makes you worry?
As a founder a lot of people come to rely on you; your employees, your customers, your investors. It keeps me up sometimes.
Challenges expressed are in no way meant to solicit commercial acquisition.
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