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Startup Recruitment for Founders

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Re: Startup Recruitment for Founders

#11

Post by mgkimsal »

hkmurakami wrote: post #7
throwaway2016a wrote: post #2

I find it interesting if not a little disconcerting that the equity table has the startup hiring a COO at 2% - 5% equity but no CTO and the closest it has listed is "Lead Engineer" at 0.5% - 1%. I suppose there could be a VP of engineering under that chart since it doesn't specify what type of VP. This article seems to be propagating the myth that engineers need MBA types more than they need engineers. The article al…

a bit offtopic but -- imo technical folks don't need MBAs. However you _do_ need a person who can sell. That person might have a technical background, might happen to have a MBA (though frankly very few MBA types are very good salespeople), but honestly the skill is orthogonal to anything else. The question you ask an engineer is "can you build this?". The question you ask a business cofounder is "can you sell this?"

so true. to get a bit pedantic, there's generally no 'business' to 'administrate' in the early days, so an 'MBA' is... not specifically useful. To the extent an 'MBA' is useful, it's probably in doing things that are tangential to the degree itself.

Re: Startup Recruitment for Founders

#12

Post by UK-AL »

hkmurakami wrote: post #8
ryandrake wrote: post #5

A curious bit: > Rookies: Won’t always request equity, Experienced: More likely to request equity Is this really true? I would think it's the opposite--the rookie has not yet felt the sting of swapping salary for worthless equity and would be more likely to value equity higher, whereas the veteran will know better... The whole section on equity convinces me that I'm not joining a start-up any time soon. 1-3% for hire…

The veteran knows that equity is something you can negotiate hard for and is very negotiable. Regarding equity comp for early hires, presumably the founders have already done significant derisking by finding initial product market fit, secured initial capital, built a prototype, have buyer interest/commitments, etc. Every time I see complaints about single digit % compensation, I wonder how many of the people complai…

This post hightlights the real barrier to entry for startups. Being connected with people with the money.

It's normally the people with best connections and the best relationship with investors and not the best product market fit that can get funding.

Re: Startup Recruitment for Founders

#13

Post by Yizahi »

throwaway2016a wrote: post #2

I find it interesting if not a little disconcerting that the equity table has the startup hiring a COO at 2% - 5% equity but no CTO and the closest it has listed is "Lead Engineer" at 0.5% - 1%. I suppose there could be a VP of engineering under that chart since it doesn't specify what type of VP. This article seems to be propagating the myth that engineers need MBA types more than they need engineers. The article al…

These equity tables really motivate me about startups. Motivate me to treat them as gamedev studios - meaning stay as far away as possible.

Re: Startup Recruitment for Founders

#15

Post by rmason »

ryandrake wrote: post #5

A curious bit: > Rookies: Won’t always request equity, Experienced: More likely to request equity Is this really true? I would think it's the opposite--the rookie has not yet felt the sting of swapping salary for worthless equity and would be more likely to value equity higher, whereas the veteran will know better... The whole section on equity convinces me that I'm not joining a start-up any time soon. 1-3% for hire…

He's advocating for two classes of employees, those with and those without equity. That in my opinion is a recipe for failure. You will create a huge amount of resentment and pull apart a team that should be working together. Either everybody gets equity or nobody gets it.

Re: Startup Recruitment for Founders

#16

Post by spajus »

> Ask them if they’d like to have a quick phone call

And that's how you fail to get introverted people interested. I'd have to be deaperatelly pissed off at my current position to want to voice chat about "great new opportunity" without getting all the details in writing first...

Re: Startup Recruitment for Founders

#17

Post by throwaway2016a »

hkmurakami wrote: post #7
throwaway2016a wrote: post #2

I find it interesting if not a little disconcerting that the equity table has the startup hiring a COO at 2% - 5% equity but no CTO and the closest it has listed is "Lead Engineer" at 0.5% - 1%. I suppose there could be a VP of engineering under that chart since it doesn't specify what type of VP. This article seems to be propagating the myth that engineers need MBA types more than they need engineers. The article al…

a bit offtopic but -- imo technical folks don't need MBAs. However you _do_ need a person who can sell. That person might have a technical background, might happen to have a MBA (though frankly very few MBA types are very good salespeople), but honestly the skill is orthogonal to anything else. The question you ask an engineer is "can you build this?". The question you ask a business cofounder is "can you sell this?"

Late replying but... I completely agree. Tech types do often underestimate the importance of sales. They have a "if you build it they will come" mentality.

But as two counter points...

- I've seen business people make this same mistake. Although probably not as much.

- A technical CEO can hire and manage a non-technical hire (sales person) just as well if not probably better than a non-technical CEO can hire engineers.

As a technical CEO/CTO myself I recommend that one of your first hires when the project nears launch should be a sales person. If you wait until the project has already launched you're late and you will burn through capital while they ramp up and build a pipeline.

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