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Ask HN: What about a platform for hiring teams instead of individuals?

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Re: Ask HN: What about a platform for hiring teams instead of individuals?

#51

Post by dsacco »

Pinging 'tptacek or 'lvh in the hopes they'll comment on how they do this with Latacora :)

In my experience "hiring a team" is closer to consulting (maybe long-term contracting) than it is to literally taking on a team of W2 contributors. It's not that it can't happen, it's just how I see it manifest itself the most often.

A group of employees being hired as a team need to 1) work well together (so that bandwidth is more than the sum of its parts), 2) complement each others' skillsets to reduce skill gaps and 3) all be more or less looking for work at the same time.

Number 3 is what's really important, but number 1 is also important because a team being hired all at once is (presumably) a team where each member is more or less equal in productivity, but not necessarily redundant. In my experience, that typically defines something closer to a consulting team than an organizational team.

Re: Ask HN: What about a platform for hiring teams instead of individuals?

#52

Post by 11thEarlOfMar »

It would need to be somehow unique from both an acqui-hire and contracting with a professional service company.

You really don't want to go to the step of individual interviews. The point you're making is that each member contributes in ways that have been demonstrated to have sufficient value from the team's perspective. The evidence is your portfolio of successful projects in the past. Each member's strength may not come through in interviews.

Also, part of the value to your clients is that all the recruiting, hiring and onboarding work has already been done. Saves them time & money.

You're still going to need contracts, accountability, communication overhead, and those aspects are difficult to administer if each member has their own contract. Moreover, you'll need to determine how the payments are going to be divided and how to handle payment terms, collections, etc.

It seems most reflective of a law firm... So at first glance, I'd consider setting the team up as an LLP.

Re: Ask HN: What about a platform for hiring teams instead of individuals?

#53

Post by potatolicious »

I think the traditional form of this is the acquihire - though beware that this is much more expensive than hiring individuals.

IMO rightly so - the price paid in acquihires per-employee is reflective of the fact that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts - and a team that has proven itself capable of working well and shipping is worth a lot.

Re: Ask HN: What about a platform for hiring teams instead of individuals?

#54

Post by tootie »

tpae wrote: post #25

Please checkout our startup: https://www.superteam.io/ We're currently accepting closed beta testers. We're a platform designed to create teams with freelancers. Our mission is to make freelancing easy as possible, through team collaboration and specialization.

I've seen at least one other that I won't link because I know the founders and they are dishonest and slightly insane. Suffice it to say, there is a burgeoning market for this service.

Re: Ask HN: What about a platform for hiring teams instead of individuals?

#56

Post by mbateman »

I am part of a startup with founding team of 12 previous coworkers. One of our selling points during the seed round was that we're starting off with an aligned team. It was really attractive to some investors.

In principle the same should go for hiring, but in practice I think it's game theoretically more complicated. I've hired swaths of cohered tech teams before, but it was one by one, to allow for more individualized assessment and negotiation.

Re: Ask HN: What about a platform for hiring teams instead of individuals?

#57

Post by thechut »

brudgers wrote: post #20

Hiring a team is often the basis for buying and selling consulting services. The premium that consultants charge is often based on the value of having assembled a team with specific expertise. The other way teams are bought and sold is via the outright purchase of companies. It is hard to see why and how a functioning and talented team would be assembled outside those circumstances. I mean a team built to sell sugges…

Agree here, this is exactly what a good consulting shop should be doing and offering.

Re: Ask HN: What about a platform for hiring teams instead of individuals?

#58

Post by fecak »

sokoloff wrote: post #44
fecak wrote: post #14

I've almost hired full teams for my clients a few times as a recruiter. There tend to be a couple issues with this model. For one, what if the hiring company interviews the team and wants 7 of the 10? The team has to make a decision to either look for work where they can all be on the team, or abandon members. The other issue is timing. The team members need to all be available at (or around) the same time, and they…

> There tend to be a couple issues with this model. For one, what if the hiring company interviews the team and wants 7 of the 10? The team has to make a decision to either look for work where they can all be on the team, or abandon members. Exactly. We've been approached a few times by intact teams all wanting to join. My approach has always been that I love talking to people in this situation, but that our contract…

And going forward the issue could also become on-the-job performance, where it could potentially come up where one team member underperformed. In a large consulting company environment the solution is easy (remove and replace), but with this kind of model it can be more complex.

Re: Ask HN: What about a platform for hiring teams instead of individuals?

#59

Post by vincentmarle »

You can't validate an idea by posting on HN and decide what to do by reading the (overwhelmingly negative) comments alone. You would get the same negative responses if you were Travis Kalanick ("hey guys what do you think of starting a ride share app") or Brian Chesky.

You have to "get out of the building" (Steve Blank) and talk to your potential customers.

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