{"id":1003,"date":"2012-03-20T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-20T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/?p=1003"},"modified":"2018-11-22T07:35:19","modified_gmt":"2018-11-22T15:35:19","slug":"vetting-a-startup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/vetting-a-startup\/","title":{"rendered":"The Process of Vetting a Startup"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"We<\/a>We all wish we\u2019d worked for Facebook or Google or Intuit or HP before they went public.\u00a0 We\u2019d all be retired by now, or close, or funding our own new ventures.\u00a0 But as some smart jerk says, hindsight is 20-20.\u00a0 How can we identify start-ups that are taking off before they\u2019re saturated with interested candidates and investors?<\/p>\n

I ask three\u00a0big\u00a0<\/strong>questions of any potential client before deciding to bring them on and inform my network about them.<\/p>\n

1. PRODUCT: What are you selling?\u00a0 How do you differ from your competitors?\u00a0 Do you face the market differently?\u00a0 Did you develop a proprietary technology that will sink everyone else?\u00a0 Are you faster?\u00a0 Smarter?\u00a0 Easier or more efficient? \u00a0Beware of\u00a0buzz words<\/a>.\u00a0 Let\u2019s see some data to really distinguish you from your competition.<\/p>\n

2. PEDIGREE: Who are your leaders?\u00a0 Did they come from tried and true companies?\u00a0 Have they successfully lead companies to IPO or acquisition in the past?\u00a0 Will they act as mentors to new hires? \u00a0Which Venture Capital or Private Equity firms have invested? \u00a0Which round of fundraising are you on?<\/p>\n

3. CULTURE: Do I want to spend my entire day at your office?\u00a0 What\u2019s the culture?\u00a0 Have you invested in benefit packages, retirement investment strategies, gym memberships, internal communications models?\u00a0 Are your employees friends?\u00a0 Do you offer growth opportunities, assigned mentors, clear goals, and consistent support?\u00a0 Significant equity, green territories, creative freedom, collaborative work sessions?<\/p>\n

Rarely does a start-up offer all of these things, and more often than not many components are missing (or have yet to be built out) but these are all important factors to consider.\u00a0 As a job seeker, you would be remiss not to fully understand what you\u2019re walking into.\u00a0 Because start-ups hire quickly, you may want to engage before you write off a company, and a lot of these factors can be determined via your interview process.\u00a0 Talk to your Betts recruiter about these questions and ensure they align with your values and expectations.<\/p>\n

Email katie@bettsrecruiting.com with any thoughts or questions<\/p>\n

This is a repost<\/a> from the Betts Recruiting Blog<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all wish we\u2019d worked for Facebook or Google or Intuit or HP before they went public.\u00a0 We\u2019d all be retired by now, or close, or funding our own new … <\/p>\n

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