{"id":5822,"date":"2013-11-25T09:00:31","date_gmt":"2013-11-25T17:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/?p=5822"},"modified":"2018-11-19T00:27:38","modified_gmt":"2018-11-19T08:27:38","slug":"life-as-a-startup-founder-recruiter-our-first-key-hires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/life-as-a-startup-founder-recruiter-our-first-key-hires\/","title":{"rendered":"Life as a Startup Founder-Recruiter: Our First Key Hires"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>The following is a guest post from fnBlog Contributor <a href=\"https:\/\/members.foundersnetwork.com\/profile\/585\/\">Michael Overell<\/a>, Founder and CEO of <a href=\"http:\/\/recruitloop.com\/\">RecruitLoop<\/a>. This post, originally posted on The RecruitLoop Blog.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/recruitloop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Gold-digging.png\" alt=\"Making First Key Hires at a Startup\" width=\"243\" height=\"324\" \/>Every startup founder complains about finding the right talent for their company. It\u2019s such a common gripe it\u2019s almost boring, particularly in the Bay Area, where every startup and its dog is looking for talent.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But there\u2019s sweet irony in seeing founders of a recruitment startup face similar challenges.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">I\u2019ve been wrestling with this process myself, spending most of the past 2 months making our first key hires for RecruitLoop in San Francisco. It was as much a learning process as it was a company-building step.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Hang on.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Why not just use\u00a0<a title=\"RecruitLoop\" href=\"http:\/\/recruitloop.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">our own solution<\/a>\u00a0to get affordable help from an independent recruiter?<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">An obvious question, that I\u2019ve been asked more than a few times. The short answer is, we kinda did. In this case, I played the \u2018recruiter\u2019. My cofounders were the \u2018client\u2019. We collaborated using our own tools and platform. We did this for two reasons.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">First, I needed to experience the startup hiring process in this market first hand. I wouldn\u2019t feel credible talking to clients unless I\u2019d very recently felt their pain.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Second, and probably more important, our first hires felt SO critical. I thought I needed involvement at every step. In my mind, it was just as important understanding who\u00a0<em>wasn\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0a fit, as it was selecting the best candidates. It\u2019s formative for the culture we\u2019re building as a company, and we needed to drive it ourselves.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In a team of 6 people, one new member is nearly 20% of the culture and performance. If we do our job right, possibly much more. On the flip-side, a misstep could have a far greater negative impact; possibly terminal. The stakes are high.<\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">First, some background<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">After setting up logistically in San Francisco and\u00a0<a title=\"TechCrunch - RecruitLoop\" href=\"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2013\/08\/05\/recruitloop-close-500000-seed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">raising seed funding<\/a>, our focus quickly moved to building out the team. We had 2 key roles in mind: Head of Growth, and Sales\/Operations.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">We started the hiring process in mid-May. Two months and 215 applications later, we\u2019d confirmed two phenomenal hires. We\u2019ll introduce them in the coming weeks. For now, I\u2019ll focus on the actual hiring process, and how we got there.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">A few stats on our\u00a0<em>activity<\/em>\u00a0in this time:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>215 applications<\/li>\n<li>44 recorded video interviews<\/li>\n<li>46 Skype calls (including repeats)<\/li>\n<li>24 meetings\/coffees<\/li>\n<li>4 trial projects<\/li>\n<li>6 references (provided)<\/li>\n<li>2 back-channel references<\/li>\n<li>1 day trip for an in-person meeting<\/li>\n<li>1 dinner with partners<\/li>\n<li>MANY (15+) \u2018closing\u2019 discussions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In total, over 150 hours of input. Not including hours of indirect effort building our startup \u2018brand\u2019. Our conversion funnel of candidates through the process looked like this:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/recruitloop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/201308-Life-as-founder-recruiter.007.png\" alt=\"A Founder-Recruiter \" width=\"819\" height=\"614\" \/><\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">How we made our first hires<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">You improve what you measure. So, to truly understand the hiring process in an early stage startup, we mapped each step and major activity (diagram below). I\u2019d argue this is an \u2018archetype\u2019 hiring workflow, with steps that can be applied to almost any role, not just at a startup.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Your mileage will vary. Variables include type of role, stage of business, and \u2018luck\u2019 (eg, if you already know the \u2018perfect\u2019 person).<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In this post we\u2019ll give you a look \u2018inside the sausage factory\u2019: How this early-stage recruitment startup made its first key hires.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/recruitloop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/201308-Life-as-founder-recruiter.004.png\" alt=\"Startup Hiring Workflow\" width=\"819\" height=\"614\" \/><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">Build Your Employer Brand<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Early-stage startups don\u2019t have a discernible \u2018employer brand\u2019. That\u2019s a concept reserved for larger companies with HR teams who visit conferences and make powerpoints on the topic.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">At a startup, you just have brand. And in a hiring sense, that equals\u00a0potential plus public profile.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Potential\u00a0= market size, product, problem, team. The exact same things you\u2019d pitch to investors. Candidates are asking \u2018is this a big problem I care about?\u2019 and \u2018can it be the next big thing?\u2019.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">If you\u2019ve done your job, the trajectory in most of these areas is set before you even think about hiring.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Public Profile\u00a0= online presence. It\u2019s your blog, social media, press, website and design. Candidates are thinking \u2018will I be stoked to tell my friends about this company?\u2019.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Now, this is stuff you absolutely can impact, and will make the difference between winning and losing a top hire.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">I was consistently impressed (and sometimes surprised) by the level of \u2018stalking\u2019 from every candidate we met. Our company blog. Twitter stream. Press stories. My personal blog. We\u2019ve collectively invested hundreds of hours across these channels, telling our story. To a candidate, this is our voice, values and personality.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Never underestimate the impact of your \u2018public profile\u2019 in convincing candidates.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Time invested: +100s of hours over +12mth period<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">Write Job Description<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Are job descriptions important in a startup? Some might disagree, but we think they are critical, despite all the moving parts. First, they set expectations with candidates, and help with self-selection upfront (ie, so you don\u2019t have junior developers applying for your CTO role).<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Second, and often forgotten, is the internal importance. A thoughtful JD will align your team on where new players will fit, and how current roles will change.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Time invested: ~3 hours, including internal discussion.<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">Ask for Referrals<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">We leveraged the network. Everyone knows someone, and is generally happy to make introductions. We turned to email, every social network, and networking events.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">I see this as an ongoing part of the role for a startup CEO. Even when not officially \u2018hiring\u2019, I\u2019m investing time in meeting and tracking potential candidates. Dozens of coffees over a 3-6 month period could be tagged as \u2018recruiting\u2019 in some way.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Time invested: ~30 hours over a 3-month period, including all the coffee meetings in advance of actively sourcing.<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">Post Job Ad<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Yep, we posted job ads. But only on two networks: LinkedIn and AngelList. Guess what? Most of our candidates came directly from these channels. And both of our hires were sourced from a single ad on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">LinkedIn job ads: \u00a0$395 + $100 promoted credits.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Initially this felt like a huge expense. But we can directly trace our two key hires to a single LinkedIn job ad. In hindsight it was our best investment.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">A few lessons:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Invest in promoted credits.\u00a0One of our hires wasn\u2019t actively looking at the time she applied. But LinkedIn showed her \u2018a job she might be interested in\u2019. She applied. We connected. #win<\/li>\n<li>Complete your company profile.\u00a0It\u2019s the first click for any candidate who sees your ad. If your profile sucks, and they haven\u2019t heard of you, it\u2019s unlikely they\u2019ll click through to your site.<\/li>\n<li>Expect a mix of crap and quality candidates.\u00a0Including some who don\u2019t remotely meet your requirements. Have a system of triage to quickly sort the crap and jump on the quality. More on this below.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Both of our key hires were sourced from a single ad on LinkedIn<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">AngelList Talent<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">This is a free service from\u00a0<a title=\"AngelList Talent\" href=\"http:\/\/angel.co\/talent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AngelList<\/a>. When we initially started sourcing, it was a phenomenal source of startup talent. An incredibly high quality:noise ratio.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Recently, the noise has increased as more general candidates seem to have discovered the channel. It\u2019s too easy for candidates to express interest (effectively, apply) But I know for a fact there are very smart people working to solve\/improve this, and make it an ongoing source of startup talent. AngelList should be part of the mix for any startup looking to hire.<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">Source Passive Candidates<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">We couldn\u2019t just rely on candidates from job ads. I spent countless hours sourcing passive candidates, mostly on LinkedIn. Sourcing is one of the true skills \/ activities most people think of when it comes to external recruiters.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">My approach was pretty simple:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Run a few searches: eg, keyword: \u2018growth hacker\u2019, location: \u2018San Francisco\u2019, prior company: &lt;redacted&gt;.<\/li>\n<li>Explore the results, including the column of profiles for \u2018other people also viewed\u2019.<\/li>\n<li>Save profiles\u00a0(using tags, notes and reminders), and send InMails to anyone who looks interesting.<\/li>\n<li>Track all messages\u00a0in a CRM\/spreadsheet, and follow up as required.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">This is easily one of the most time-consuming parts of the \u2018active\u2019 hiring process. It\u2019s also one that can be easily outsourced to someone who knows what they\u2019re doing (<a title=\"Find a Recruiter - RecruitLoop\" href=\"http:\/\/recruitloop.com\/recruiters\">preferably on an hourly rate<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Time invested: +40 hours<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">Initial Screening (recorded video interviews)<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Screening applications is incredibly time consuming for any founder-recruiter. But it\u2019s one area we absolutely \u2018drank our own champagne\u2019.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">We applied a rough heuristic:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Any candidate who applied but was \u2018meh\u2019 on paper (in terms of either experience or cultural fit) = immediately send to a\u00a0<a title=\"Video Interviews - RecruitLoop\" href=\"http:\/\/recruitloop.com\/video-interviews\">recorded video interview<\/a>.\u00a0All founders viewed the video, and added feedback as required. Very few candidates made it to the next step after starting here.\u00a0This let us avoid (unnecessary) meetings with over 30 candidates, who were clearly not a fit after watching their videos. Massive time-saver.<\/li>\n<li>Any candidate who was \u2018rockstar\u2019 on paper = take directly to a coffee \/ call \/ Skype meeting.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Whatever your approach, develop a system to quickly triage every applicant. Your mission is to focus on the gold nuggets of potential, and minimise any wasted time.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Time invested = 44 video interviews (5-10 minutes each)<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">First Interview<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Rockstar candidates on paper, or applicants with a solid video interview, we\u2019d take directly to a Skype call. A video chat is more insightful than a simple phone call. It\u2019s also far more efficient than an upfront coffee.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Some common high-level questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Why are you interested in the role?<\/li>\n<li>Tell me about a time you\u2026<\/li>\n<li>What are you looking for in 3-5 years?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">At this stage, we\u2019re primarily screening for cultural fit (including shared priorities and values), while digging deeper into specific areas of experience.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">With our founding team split across two countries, the next step for exciting candidates was a second Skype with another team member.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Time invested: \u00a017 \u2018first-round\u2019 Skype interviews (20-60 minutes each).<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">In-person Interview<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Several of our top candidates were \u2018remote\u2019, looking to move to the Bay Area. This made live interviews a challenge. But there were several local candidates we met in person at this stage.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The in-person interview let us dig deeper on specific questions from earlier screening interviews. It was also the first chance to apply the \u2018airport test\u2019, which is a critical rule for any hiring decision:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">How would you feel stuck in an airport with this person, if your flight was delayed by 6 hours?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Time invested: 18 interviews (50-60 minutes each).<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">Verify Skills<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The best way to understand suitability for a role is a live working project. A genuine try-before-you-buy trial (eg, of a week or month) isn\u2019t possible for most candidates, who will be working in full-time roles elsewhere. But a short working trial is possible. And highly recommended.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">We ran 2 trial projects with our top candidates:<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">1. Specific growth project.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">We asked them to develop a list of potential projects that would best demonstrate their skill, given a budget of 3-5 hours. Having them develop the list is helpful in testing their understanding of the \u2018problem\u2019, and where they see themselves adding value.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The project we mutually selected from the list was a\u00a0<em>conversion optimisation review<\/em>\u00a0for our website. This required a combination of strategy and tactics, and gave excellent insight into their working style, technical understanding and creativity.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">2. Develop sales strategy.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">For our more sales-focused candidate, we asked a more general question: \u2018How would you plan and execute your first 100 days in the role?\u2019<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Again, we were looking for a combination of strategic thinking, tactical execution, and hustle.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Time invested: 3-5 hours from each candidate. 2 hours of discussion once projects were completed.<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">Reference Checking<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">At this point we had narrowed the field to two options. We were serious in our interest, and ready to learn more from their prior work experiences.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">References can take two forms:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Provided by the candidate.\u00a0Obviously, no candidate will provide a referee with a negative opinion. But these references still offer critical insight. Verbal cues, pauses, and side-comments provide invaluable information. We recommend completing them for every genuine candidate.<\/li>\n<li>Back-channel references.\u00a0These are more sensitive, and also more valuable. We scoured LinkedIn to find mutual contacts with our candidates, removed by one degree. That is, a 1st degree contact who could introduce us to someone our candidates had worked with.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Most startup candidates will understand the need for back-channel references. But you need to be sensitive, and apply common-sense. Don\u2019t contact someone at their current company. And assume your investigations will get back to them at some point.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">One of our back-channel references was amazingly helpful and insightful. But he immediately contacted our candidate to tell them we called.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Time invested: \u00a03 hours searching LinkedIn for mutual contacts +\u00a02 hours of reference calls.<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">Final Interviews<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">It\u2019s hard to draw the line where \u2018final interviews\u2019 began. At some point our calls and discussions moved from \u2018probing\u2019, to more of a discussion of mutual fit.\u00a0Up until the time we made offers, we had a total of:<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<em>Candidate 1<\/em>: \u00a06 calls and 2-hour breakfast<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<em>Candidate 2<\/em>: \u00a06 calls, a 2-hour meeting and a dinner with partners (their\u2019s and mine)<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">There\u2019s no right number of calls or interviews. In our case, it was a balance between building enough insight and confidence into their ability and fit, without wearing them out. We faced an extra challenge that both candidates lived outside the Bay Area, and our other founders are on the other side of the world. In a perfect situation (local founders interviewing local candidates), these numbers may be much lower.<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">Negotiate Offer<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">OK. We did it! Found not one but two great candidates, and were ready to make offers. All done, right?<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Nope.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Negotiating the offer for a startup role turned out to be almost as fraught and time-consuming as the selection process.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Really? Well, think about what you\u2019re asking highly qualified people to do:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Take a career risk on an unknown company<\/li>\n<li>Take a significant reduction in salary<\/li>\n<li>Place faith in a team they\u2019ve met only a few times (and not all in person)<\/li>\n<li>(In our case) move across the country to do it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Hopefully by now you\u2019ve convinced them on the vision and potential. But eventually, raw numbers do come into play.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In our case, there was was no formula or rulebook. Our approach was highly personalised to each candidate, and based on a simple premise: We had identified genuinely awesome people, who fit our culture and could make a significant difference to our business.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In hindsight, we did a few things right:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Being completely transparent\u00a0about what was and wasn\u2019t possible.<\/li>\n<li>Sharing external benchmarks\u00a0for salary and equity. This added some objectivity to sensitive discussions. Another shout-out to AngelList, whose\u00a0<a title=\"AngelList Salaries\" href=\"https:\/\/angel.co\/salaries\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Salary Tool<\/a>\u00a0is incredibly helpful (once you remove a few crazy outliers from your comparison).<\/li>\n<li>Taking time to understand\u00a0their priorities, constraints and personal circumstances.<\/li>\n<li>Always, negotiating in good faith. Your negotiating style gives candidates deep insight into your style as a founder (and vice versa). Ultimately, we wanted them on-board, with no bad blood or resentment about the outcome.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">I believe this helped immensely in building a strong relationship well before the start date.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Time invested: +20 hours, covering discussions with candidates, internally and external advisers.<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">Hire<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In my mind, the \u2018hiring\u2019 stage starts from the time candidates accept your offer. This is also a nontrivial commitment in time. If you haven\u2019t already, involve a lawyer. You need:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Offer letter<\/li>\n<li>Proprietary Invention Assignment Agreements (PIAA)<\/li>\n<li>Options plan setup<\/li>\n<li>Various HR compliance steps.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">We also used\u00a0<a title=\"Zenefits\" href=\"http:\/\/zenefits.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zenefits<\/a>\u00a0to manage this process, which takes 99% of the hassle out of all this compliance. Upload your offer letters and legal agreements. Zenefits looks after e-signatures, storage, and compliance documents ready for your new employees to hit payroll. #win<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">On-boarding<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">On-boarding new employees is the topic for another blog post altogether. And we\u2019re only halfway through it. There\u2019s the process of getting new employees up and running (tactical on-boarding). Then, the softer stuff of sharing team norms, and understanding their work and communication styles.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">For what it\u2019s worth, our tactical list includes steps like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Adding to GoogleApps: email, calendar, GoogleDocs<\/li>\n<li>Adding to shared Dropbox folders<\/li>\n<li>Adding to our Yammer account<\/li>\n<li>Creating logins for the necessary SaaS services (email marketing, CRM, Google Analytics, etc)<\/li>\n<li>Adding a desk in our coworking space<\/li>\n<li>Sharing our most critical \u2018current\u2019 documents on strategy, product roadmap, priorities etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Interestingly, all of these costs for us are completely variable (\u2018something-as-a-service\u2019). I shudder to think what this list would look like if not building a startup completely on \u2018cloud\u2019 services.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Job done. Two awesome hires. What can we learn for next time?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">3 Lessons as a Startup Founder-Recruiter<\/h3>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">1. Hiring properly takes time<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The hiring process is\u00a0<em>seriously<\/em>\u00a0time-consuming. I invested the majority of my time, effort and emotional capital to recruitment over a 2-month period.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But according to\u00a0<a title=\"Fred Wilson - What a CEO Does\" href=\"http:\/\/www.avc.com\/a_vc\/2010\/08\/what-a-ceo-does.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">people smarter than me<\/a>, building the team is 1\/3 of the job for a startup CEO (the other two-thirds being driving the overall strategy and keeping enough money in the bank). Invest the time to do it properly.<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">2. \u2018Recruitment\u2019 is not a single, one-off activity<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The hiring process involves a multitude of steps. Each requires different skills, focus, and time. Some parts of the hiring process are harder than others. And rarely will someone be outstanding at all of them.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">If you believe these statements (as we do), then there\u2019s huge opportunity to develop a more modular, skills-based approach to the \u2018service\u2019 of recruitment. One that allows companies to access the right support at any stage of the process. And be more selective about what steps they outsource vs insource.<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"\\&quot;ltr\\&quot;\">3. Software helps, but recruitment requires real human effort<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">We\u2019re fortunate in knowing a few things about recruitment. I know many founders are less so. We also used our own tools heavily (eg, video interviews) to be more productive, with better results.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Next time, I\u2019ll look to \u2018outsource\u2019 steps that don\u2019t require my 100% attention. For example, sourcing passive candidates. This is an incredibly time consuming activity that doesn\u2019t require my personal involvement for a great result.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Luckily, I happen to know a\u00a0<a title=\"RecruitLoop Recruiters\" href=\"http:\/\/recruitloop.com\/recruiters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">few excellent recruiters<\/a>\u00a0who can help me in this way, charging only for the time they invest on the specific task.<\/p>\n<p><em>Want to learn more about <a href=\"http:\/\/recruitloop.com\/\">RecruitLoop<\/a>?\u00a0 Check out RecruitLoop\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/recruitloop.com\/blog\/\">Blog<\/a>\u00a0or connect with them on Twitter\u00a0<\/em>@RecruitLoop<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<footer>\n<div id=\"socialButtons\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/footer>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The following is a guest post from fnBlog Contributor Michael Overell, Founder and CEO of RecruitLoop. This post, originally posted on The RecruitLoop Blog. Every startup founder complains about finding &#8230; <\/p>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/life-as-a-startup-founder-recruiter-our-first-key-hires\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":6307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7168],"tags":[8054,98,7928],"table_tags":[],"class_list":["post-5822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-startup-roles","tag-startup-roles","tag-startups","tag-tech-startup-business-plan"],"acf":[],"featured_image_data":{"src":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/recruitloop.jpg","alt":"recruitloop","caption":"recruitloop"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5822"},{"taxonomy":"table_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/table_tags?post=5822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}