Some Thoughts on Hiring at a New Startup

1) Look legit, as much as possible without spending mass $. Marketing is key for startups, again try look like you know what the hell you're doing.

Most people will walk away if you don't have a solid website. Have a company Linkedin, Facebook, and GMaps listing as well.

The more results in google search the better, try to fill the front page for your name with random things like an actual company would. As long as your name isn't stupid this is much easier than it sounds, you can make a lot of noise on the interest for free.

Have a working phone number with a phone tree, best if it's an 800 # but local area code is better than nothing.

A few company shirts helps even if you only wear them while interviewing. If you have an office on top of it you're set.

Whatever you do try to avoid meeting at public places like coffee shops, a lot of scams are doing this nowadays and candidates will be weary. If you don't have an office your home is probably best.

Another thing, use something like Workable to manage candidates and have a real financing and benefits system setup like zenefits + freshbooks. These things will be visible to prospects and new employees quickly and again shows that you know how to run a real company.

2) Cut all the buzz and BS in job listings. Don't try to make it sound like a difficult job to land. Make interviews easy and fast to get, LOWER the bar. Emphasize lax rules and freedom. These are your only advantages.

Remember who you're competing against. Good candidates will have many choices of where to work and you don't have anything against their brand appeal, pay, benefits, and overall attractiveness. Don't pretend that you do, your selling points are as follows: Be your own boss, loose rules and freedom to build something as they see fit will be the main drivers for most of your early hires. You may get wannabe CEO types, and don't be afraid, these are the people you want. Be afraid of the ones in it solely for money. There's much better ways of making money than joining a startup...these people are probably stupid or naive.

Most good candidates will end up with more than one offer. You need to make the process faster than any other company so that you can short circuit some of these people before other companies have a chance. You're small enough to be quicker to the draw than larger companies, use that to your advantage. To make the process faster, you need to do more thorough initial screenings so that you hire more people that come in the doors. Bigger companies don't want to waste the time but you can afford to. Most companies have an "offer lag" of about 1.5-3 weeks from initial contact, so you should be hiring people by Friday if you meet them Monday.

The "culture fit" is really important in super small companies. Try to make friends with the person you're interviewing. Is it someone you would chill with? Look at your current employees. Do they like to go out an party on the weekends? Play sports? Video game nerds? Try to hire the same at first. People not getting along at huge companies doesn't matter much, but when you're forced to work together all day it's important

The theory is that if the recruiter has a high level of control over both candidate and client, the odds of a positive outcome for the recruiter (a fee) increase. The client and candidate are both essentially 'buyers' in the sense that they have to agree to accept the other, and the recruiter is 'selling' to both parties.

But nobody wants to buy from someone who sells too hard, and that's what most recruiters end up doing.

When I started in recruiting, I wanted to be involved in every stage of the process to be sure I had some level of control. More recently I've realized that if the candidate is mature (and not going to make rookie mistakes like asking 3x market rate for salary just to 'test the waters') and the client has a decent hiring process, I'll make the intro and then step away until (if) I'm needed.

A recruiter can be quite helpful as a sounding board for both sides during negotiations to help facilitate a deal or save a deal that is failing.

>I’ve had folks change their mind even after accepting an offer. Hell, to be honest I’ve done it myself (and felt terrible about it).

A recruiter should also be helpful in providing guidance on situations like these. For example, I usually offer my clients a handful of tips to try and guarantee that someone who accepts the job will actually show up on day one. Having lunch with the new team between acceptance and start date is probably the most common.

But today's recruiter is far too interested in control. Make the intro, step away, and step in when necessary - otherwise, let them talk.

Our approach is to meticulously research anyone we're serious about and bring these things up during their interview. In my own interview experience it's extremely rare for someone to take any interest in your personal projects and achievements, or even in your "story". We lived in the same state? You came from a place I'de like to visit? We both know some obscure language? Worked at the same company? Interesting/crazy projects on github? I'll star you. The end goal is to make it hard to say no, and making as much of a personal connection as possible has worked wonders for us. Make sure not to go too far and lie... if you can't find anything that interests you about a candidate why consider them in the first place?

Whenever I've been looking for a job a quick turnaround is a sign of competence. These guys are on top of their game type thing, as in they know I'm good and want to hire me right away. I just don't see waiting being a positive especially in a startup when you're supposed to be doing everything fast and efficently.

It's me btw, can't remember my throwaway pw :).