Lessons I learnt by recruiting 10 coworkers in 2 months after a seed round
A seed fundraising for a startup also means expanding a team. This being said, it means becoming recruiter for early stage startups without a proper HR rep. At Zyl (formerly called Comet), this happened a few weeks ago when we raised €1 million and switched from a team of 6 to a team of 16. Another challenge is that the tech talent market is completely saturated and it can become a barren run to find the right people. Our recruitment plan was as followed:
- 2 iOS developers
- 2 Android developers
- 2 Deep Learning scientists
- 2 UX/UI designers
- 1 CMO
- 1 Business developer
See what I mean? And we were looking for as many senior profiles than junior ones…
… but we successfully managed it and accomplished the challenge in 2 months! Before I start listing the lessons we learnt, take a break and enjoy those funny metrics we got:
- # of Linkedin invitation sent: 628
- # of interviews done: 223
- Shorter screening interview : 4 minutes 52 seconds
- Longer one : 55 minutes 31 seconds
- 0 incoming applicants hired
OK, I’m sure you were expecting something sweeter when you read the post title — sorry about that but here’s the truth! Let’s take a closer look at what can make you more productive while recruiting your seed team.
Lesson #1 Know exactly who you need
At the beginning of the hiring process, we only thought of recruiting 3 profiles: 1 Lead iOS, 1 Junior Android & 1 Deep Learning scientist.
If you’ve read the article so far it’s not the team we ended with. And this made us lose a lot of time not sitting around a table for 45 minutes and deciding what kind of profiles we needed. So, here is my advice: do it before starting anything!
The second bullet point to this lesson is that for each profile you’re recruiting, you need to be able to precisely describe your ideal candidate and your selection criterias.
After 3 interviews with an Android developer, we realised he had never tried our app — and being product oriented was one of our main requirements. Don’t waste your time!
Lesson #2 Have someone in charge
Get someone who’s interested in people. At Zyl, looks like it was me, with my marketing and business development background and almost no previous recruitment experiences. But I was curious to understand how it looked like to be on the other side of the table.
Have a chat with your team and identify who’s the most appropriate person to take the lead. In the case of an early stage start-up it’s crucial to hold steady in order not to get lost in the recruitment processes.
Lesson #3 Get helped
A premium Linkedin account can give you access to search criterias such as « Seniority level » and expend the search beyond your network. Try it, it’s free for 30 days!
And if you’re recruiting experienced engineers, my advise is to get helped by recruitment specialists. OK, it’s a bit expensive — but there are great platforms such as Talent.io, Hired or Hiresweet that can help you source qualified candidates. And remember, we’ve never hired any incoming applicants…
Lesson #4 Be fair
Your chances to get a 6 years experienced Lead iOS without offering the market salary or a serious equity package are near 0%. You can’t have everything — and if you’re still looking for this 2-years experienced intern paid the legal minimum, it’s not going to work out. Let’s be honest, amazing applicants, with the skills you’re looking for, deserve a fair pay.
Lesson #5 Have a final chat with the co-founders
There was this guy I wanted to get in the business development team. There was also a bad feeling that I had about him but couldn’t identify. I asked him for a final interview with one of our co-founders. Which step is super important to maintain the company culture and make sure the applicant is aligned with the vision. It helped us realize that the applicant didn’t fit our values and wasn’t ready to join a startup. You need to be 100% confident that the person you want to recruit is the right one, otherwise you’ll have troubles at some point.
Lesson #6 Know your weaknesses
We found great candidates who were thrilled with Zyl. At the end of the 30-minute screening call I was suggesting to meet in our offices. Then the question of our localisation was asked: we are based in the East Parisian suburb, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés — which is not so far away from Paris but can become a pain if you live West. So we started telling right away that we were based otherwhere while headhunting — and completing this with a photo album (on Zyl of course, check it out by clicking this link from your smartphone) of our amazing office. It worked! The lesson is: don’t hide your weaknesses. Explain them straight away and then address them with your strengths.
And after 2months learning those 6 lessons, we got it! Here’s a picture of the — almost — entire team .
Oh and btw, almost forgot to mention this: even if it was a relatively quick hiring wave, the team is awesome and we haven’t reduced our expectations to find them!
Obviously, many challenges are yet to come: we’re gonna have to learn how to efficiently and smoothly onboard everyone! To be continued…
Just got a fresh new team? Share your feedback below — questions I haven’t answered yet? Please get in touch, I’d be happy to help!
