4 Questions to find the right talent
The quest to find the right team members for your startup
I recently did a simulation in class on startups finding talent and funding simultaneously. It clearly demonstrated the competing pressures founders have on their mind and on their time, but I feel missed some key elements. Purpose, Experience, Needs, and Gut.
I have worked on several startups previously and recruited talent that was not passionate about our mission, but was detail oriented and skilled. It was tough to motivate them in tough times, when funding was low and when we had to push through late nights.
And its not always about pedigree. I previously worked on a education technology startup and recruited a graduate student from a top education program and that was a graduate of one of the best colleges in the world and it was still not a fit, because she wanted to have more ownership over our direction.
I have even been that person, in a company that was not completely happy because I did not have the autonomy I wanted.
Finding the fit is tough… and as a founder of a startup, the talent matching process does not get easier. Each person you bring on to help, takes time to mentor and coach. Also bringing on the wrong person can be detrimental. Example in a team of 4 people, adding a team member that is constantly disgruntled means 20% of your organization is unhappy?!
As a founder of a startup, in selecting talent, I balance several things at one time. Here are a few questions I use to guide me.
- Are they passionate about the mission?
Understanding if and why a potential team member is passionate about the mission is table stakes. When I worked at Teach For America and went through the recruiting process, this is the first filter they use. They looked for evidence related to my personal connection to their mission. As an early startup founder you may not be able to offer lots of money for the time people are investing. Understanding why people are interested in joining and what makes them tick, is key.
Also the younger the startup the more creativity in developing solutions is required, which is associated with ‘intrinsic’ motivators such as ‘autonomy, mastery, and purpose’. If they believe in the mission, it connects to their sense of purpose, and they are more likely to give extra energy and excel.
2. What are they good at?
To continue on this point, I always ask what they do in their spare time. People usually default to what they are good at to fill their ‘idle’ time. It can be writing, snapchatting, posting on Facebook, or reading TechCrunch. Whatever it is, if you can connect what needs to be done, with what they love to do, you can tap into their sense of mastery which can motivate them further.
3. What does the business need?
From a skills perspective you are trying to make sure your team has the core startup skill sets, sometimes referred to as the hipster, the hacker, and the hustler.
To simplify it even further, as a startup mentor once said to me…
You are either building, selling or getting in the way
Make it clear whether they are building or selling. Some people early on default to ‘giving advice’. Advice is nice, but if your on the team, you need people that roll up their sleeves and think by doing.
4. What does your gut say?
Now this is a tough one. Your subconscious is reacting to the world around you based on a lifetime of experiences collected in your mind since birth and you should not ignore it, but be self aware. Ask yourself if you are being bias in an unfair way (based on gender, race, experience, ect.), and try to concretely identify what observations you just can’t ignore.
We used these core questions, combined with the insight from my team mates, to recruit a team of associates for the summer for ALEX. We are excited to welcome them and look forward to getting better at this process as we grow!
Sergio Marrero, co-founder, ALEX
