How I Hire Employees For My Startup - Building a Billion $ Company - Episode 9

Summary

In this video, the founder of Stan shares the challenges and strategies involved in hiring the first employees for a startup. Key steps include sourcing great talent through personal networks and social media, vetting candidates based on core values and technical fit, and convincingly selling the company's vision to potential hires. The founder emphasizes the importance of persistence, thoughtful hiring processes, and genuine passion in attracting top talent. The video also features interviews with early hires, highlighting what motivated them to join the risky but exciting startup journey.

Takeaways

• 📈 Hiring is one of the hardest challenges when starting a company.
• 💼 Convincing someone to join a startup requires selling the vision and determining if they're a good fit.
• 🔍 Step 1 to hiring: Finding great talent through various methods like personal connections and online communities.
• 📱 Using social media and creative methods like viral videos can help attract talent.
• 🔗 LinkedIn is a key tool for reaching out to potential hires, especially from successful late-stage startups.
• 📝 Step 2 to hiring: Vetting candidates thoroughly to ensure they are a perfect fit and align with company values.
• 🎯 Defining core values and technical requirements helps streamline the vetting process.
• 🚀 Step 3 to hiring: Convincing great talent to join by selling the company's vision and potential.
• 🤝 Personal connections and mutual introductions are valuable in the hiring process.
• 🌟 Successful hires are often motivated by the opportunity to make an impact and take ownership in a startup.

Q & A

What is the primary challenge mentioned in the script for starting a company?

The primary challenge mentioned is hiring. It's difficult to convince people to join an early-stage idea and to determine if they are the right fit for the company.

What are the three key steps to hiring as outlined in the script?

The three key steps are: 1) Finding great talent, 2) Vetting great talent to determine if they are a good fit, and 3) Convincing great talent to join the company.

What is the 'friend method' mentioned for sourcing talent?

The 'friend method' involves asking smart friends or mentors for introductions to their smartest friends, vetting them to see if they are a good fit for the company.

How did the speaker initially scale their hiring process?

The speaker scaled their hiring process by posting about job opportunities on various online communities, joining Discord chats, and telling their story on social media.

What is the significance of posting job opportunities on engineering subreddits and Discord chats?

Posting on these platforms helps reach out to a community of engineers who might be interested in job opportunities, increasing the chances of finding the right talent.

What was the speaker's approach to using social media for hiring?

The speaker used social media by making a video standing around New York City with a cardboard sign saying they were hiring, telling their startup story to attract candidates.

What is the 'trid andry method' mentioned for sourcing talent?

The 'trid andry method' involves reaching out to employees of competitors on LinkedIn, specifically targeting late-stage startups where employees might be looking for their next early-stage opportunity.

What is the speaker's advice on targeting companies for talent sourcing?

The speaker advises targeting late-stage startups like DoorDash or Airbnb, as employees there might have already made their money and are looking for their next early-stage opportunity.

What are the three components of the interview process mentioned in the script?

The three components are: 1) Values fit, 2) Technical fit, and 3) Baking the candidate into the decision-making process through vetting their talent.

What is the importance of having a hiring rubric in the interview process?

A hiring rubric helps define the core values and qualities the company is looking for in a candidate, allowing for a more thoughtful and structured hiring process.

What was the reason Alyssa, the head of Creator success, decided to join Stan?

Alyssa decided to join Stan because she enjoyed talking with the founder, felt reassured by the founder's financial background, and connected with the mission and passion during the interview process.

What is the speaker's final advice on convincing candidates to join a startup?

The speaker advises focusing on the opportunity to make a significant impact and the excitement of building something from scratch, as opposed to the stability of a larger company.

Outlines

00:00

🧑‍💼 The Challenge of Hiring for a New Startup

The speaker discusses the difficulties of hiring for a new company, emphasizing the challenge of convincing talented individuals to join an early-stage, risky venture. They outline a three-step process for hiring: finding talent, vetting candidates, and convincing them to join. Initially, the speaker relied on personal networks and friends for introductions but eventually turned to broader methods such as social media and LinkedIn outreach. They share experiences of using various online communities and affinity groups to attract potential candidates and describe the importance of effectively selling the company's vision to attract great talent.

05:01

🔍 Vetting Candidates Thoroughly

The speaker highlights the importance of thoroughly vetting candidates to ensure they are a perfect fit for the company. They discuss their initial mistakes of hiring out of convenience and stress the need for a thoughtful, deliberate process. This includes defining core values, establishing job responsibilities, and using a structured interview process to evaluate candidates. The speaker introduces Lauren, who helps outline their interview criteria, focusing on values fit and technical skills, and shares insights into what they look for in a dream hire, emphasizing passion, enthusiasm, and a deep understanding of the role.

10:03

💼 Convincing Talent to Join Your Startup

The speaker explores the challenge of convincing talented individuals to leave stable jobs and join a risky startup. They interview Alyssa, their first business hire, to understand what convinced her to join the company. Alyssa cites the speaker's financial background, genuine passion, and the opportunity for significant impact as key factors. The speaker reflects on the importance of making a strong personal connection and providing candidates with a sense of ownership and excitement about the startup's mission. They conclude with a quote emphasizing teamwork and the speaker's ongoing journey to learn and improve as a leader.

Keywords

💡Hiring

Hiring refers to the process of finding, vetting, and convincing candidates to join a company. In the video, the speaker discusses the challenges and strategies involved in hiring the right talent for a startup, emphasizing the importance of finding great people, vetting them properly, and selling the company’s vision to them.

💡Sourcing Talent

Sourcing talent involves identifying potential candidates who might be a good fit for the company. The video highlights three methods for sourcing talent: the friend method, using social media, and leveraging LinkedIn. Each method is discussed in detail, illustrating different ways to reach out to potential hires.

💡Vet

Vetting is the process of evaluating a candidate’s qualifications, skills, and fit for the company. The speaker talks about the importance of differentiating between a good candidate and a great candidate, and shares their interview process to ensure a thorough vetting of candidates.

💡Vision

Vision refers to the company’s long-term goals and mission. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the need for founders to effectively communicate their vision to potential hires to convince them to join the startup, highlighting the importance of selling the company's mission and goals.

💡Friend Method

The friend method involves leveraging personal networks to find potential candidates. The speaker explains how they asked friends and mentors for introductions to qualified individuals, and how this method helped them meet their co-founder and other early hires.

💡Social Media

Social media is used as a tool to promote job openings and tell the company’s story. The video shows how the speaker used various platforms like subreddits, Discord chats, and viral videos to attract candidates, emphasizing the importance of raising awareness and engaging with potential hires online.

💡LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a professional networking site used to connect with potential candidates. The speaker describes their strategy of reaching out to employees of legacy competitors on LinkedIn, sending connection requests, and pitching their startup to attract talent.

💡Values

Values refer to the core principles and qualities the company looks for in candidates. The video discusses how defining these values helps in the hiring process by creating a rubric for evaluating candidates based on their alignment with the company’s values.

💡Technical Fit

Technical fit assesses a candidate’s ability to perform the specific duties required by the job. The speaker explains how they evaluate candidates based on technical skills and functional fit, ensuring they meet the job requirements and can contribute effectively to the team.

💡Mission Alignment

Mission alignment is the degree to which a candidate’s personal values and goals align with the company’s mission. The speaker mentions the importance of finding candidates who share the company’s passion and vision, as this alignment is crucial for long-term commitment and enthusiasm.

Highlights

The hardest part of starting a company is hiring, especially convincing others to join an early-stage idea.

Three key steps to hiring: finding talent, vetting talent, and convincing talent to join.

The 'friend method' involves asking smart friends or mentors for introductions to potential hires.

Networking through mutual customers can lead to meeting co-founders and other candidates.

Utilizing online communities and social media to source talent and tell the company's story.

Posting job opportunities on engineering subreddits and joining Discord chats to attract engineers.

Creating viral content on social media to attract attention and applications for job openings.

Reaching out to employees of competitors on LinkedIn as a strategy for hiring.

Targeting late-stage startups for potential hires who are looking for their next early-stage opportunity.

Evolving as an entrepreneur from selling products to selling the company's mission to attract talent.

The importance of vetting candidates thoroughly to ensure they are the perfect fit for the company.

Using a hiring rubric to evaluate candidates based on values and technical fit.

Conducting multiple interviews to ensure a thoughtful and intentional hiring process.

The challenge of selling the company to potential hires, especially in the early stages.

Sharing the founder's financial background to instill confidence in potential hires.

Creating an emotional connection during the interview process to demonstrate genuine passion for the mission.

The appeal of joining a startup for the opportunity to make a significant impact and have ownership of projects.

Learning to lead and build a successful company through the journey of starting a business.

Transcripts

so what's been one of the hardest things

about starting Stan oh definitely hiring

without a doubt yeah why was that you

have no idea what you're doing when you

first started a company and to try to

convince another human being to join you

on this really early stage idea and then

also vet if they're even the right fit

for the company is just insanely

difficult so I figured actually today as

we head into the office I'm going to

teach you guys step by step how I made

my very first hires as well as we're

actually going to interview some of my

very first hires and ask them what on

Earth convinced them to quit their

stable well-paying jobs to come join me

when my startup idea was just a very

early stage idea and super

[Music]

risky so there are three key steps to

hiring step number one is actually

finding great talent so like where do

you actually Source great people from

and then how do you actually convince

them to talk to you and then that leads

you to step number two which is how do

you actually vet great talent

specifically the hard thing about

interviewing is figuring out how you

tell the difference between a good

candidate or a solid candidate and a

really great seller candidate and then

the last step is how do you actually

convince great talent who can have any

job they want to come join you because

your number one job as a founder or an

entrepreneur is to learn how to sell the

company's vision and get people behind

you so let's dive into step number one

so there are three main ways that I get

in contact with really great talent and

the third one that I'll actually show

you is probably the one we use the most

but the first one is how I started which

is what I call the friend method which

basically is you ask all of your

smartest friends or mentors for

introductions to their smartest friends

and you vet those people on whether or

not they're a good fit so I actually

found my co-founder this way where I was

talking to so many people about the fact

that I was looking for my first hires

that one of our mutual customers

introduced us and through that process

basically I got to meet so many other

great candidates because every person

you meet is someone who's vouched for by

someone who's smart or capable and if

you don't end up vibing with that person

they can still introduce you to even

more people and so what I did when I

first started was I took my phone I just

started scrolling through my contacts

and I just started writing a message of

like hey like you know I'm working on

this thing I'm looking for these kinds

of people do you happen to know anyone

out there and I basically just sent that

to hundreds of people I knew and just

begged them for some sort of connection

and over time if you persist on that you

actually end up meeting really fantastic

people but one thing that I realized as

we were trying to hire more people was

that in this first method I wasn't

thinking about scale and basically what

I mean by that is you can either spend

your time messaging one person or you

can spend that same amount of time

trying to figure out a way to

communicate to 100 if not thousands of

people so basically to get the word out

about Stan I just started posting about

all of our job opportunities on like

every online community I could possibly

think of so when we were making our

first engineering hires I started to

think about where do engineers hang out

online so I started posting on different

engineering subreddits I started joining

Discord chats I started working with

affinity groups like women and Tech and

through that process I actually found

something that I found even more fun

myself which was actually telling our

story on social media so y'all look at

this video I made that that went like

decently viral where I just started

standing around New York City with a

cardboard sign that said we're hiring

where I told our story as a startup and

who we were actually looking for and it

actually ended up being a fun way to get

people to actually know about Stan and

we got tons of inbound applications from

this and so when I think about y'all

going out and using social media to

build your Brands and to build your

company Mission it's really going to be

about just raising up your phone telling

your story like hey I'm on this Mission

if you're interested at all like come

join or like come DM me and that in and

of itself just like putting yourself out

there is going to help you get exposure

to lots of great candidates now all of

that leads me to our last method which

is our trid andry method that we do the

most which is actually just going Buck

Wild on LinkedIn AKA I just put together

a list of all of our Legacy competitors

and started reaching out to all of their

employees and this is actually how I

made my first ever business hire Alyssa

who's our head of Creator success where

I basically just sent a ton of

connections on LinkedIn where I gave a

short intro to who I was and what I was

doing and then I said hey we're looking

for this kind of role does this excite

you if it does I'd love to chat and

that's actually how we've made most of

our recent hires is actually sending

hundreds of outbounds by the way you get

ghosted a ton or rejected but eventually

you're going to meet the right person

also quick Pro tip some of the best

companies to Target are actually late

stage startups so successful ones like a

door Dash or an Airbnb because the

employees there that have been there for

a while since the early days have

already made their money and are looking

for their next early stage opportunity

so one really cool mental model to think

about is how in this process you're

actually evolving as an entrepreneur

where when you first start your company

you're actually you're just trying to

sell customers on your product right

you're trying to get people to actually

use your business and over time as

you're more successful now in order to

scale your business you're not selling

customers so much in this case you're

selling people on joining your mission

to actually go sell your customers for

you to scale your business over time so

now you actually have a couple people

responding to you potentially interested

in getting to work with you but you

can't actually take your foot off the

gas just yet because this is the place

where a lot of people start slipping up

and making mistakes and this brings us

to step number two which is how do you

vet if a candidate is truly the perfect

fit for you and when I think about the

number one mistake that I was making

when I first started hiring was I was

hiring out of convenience AKA I was so

desperate for I was like please someone

help me as opposed to being super super

thoughtful about whether or not this

candidate was truly the best fit for the

job AKA whether or not they were truly

even better than me and so I'm actually

just going to walk you through our

entire interview process of how we truly

vet a candidate and really discern

whether or not that candidate is a top

1% talent and this process actually

breaks down to three components that

actually matches up with three different

documents so that first component is

your values AKA what are the qualities

you care about in a candidate and that

matches up with your hiring rubric

because then on top of that you then

need to establish your needs AKA what

does this job actually need to be

responsible for and then lastly you have

to bake the candidate into this

decision-making process which is vetting

their Talent OR coming up with a

question list and so I figured the best

way to actually show you this process is

live because we're actually bringing in

a candidate for a final round interview

in just an hour so I'm going to pull in

one of my teammates Lauren who's

actually running this process and we'll

walk you through how we're using all

these different process

documents come in go in come in go in

come squeeze in okay we are here with

Lauren hi everyone I'm the Creator

Partnerships manager here at Stan

awesome um Lauren we're about to make a

huge hiring decision today what are we

hiring for um we are hiring for someone

else to join the Partnerships team

they're responsible for um activating

ambassadors bringing them onto the

program and yeah maintaining them

through throughout their time cool so

basically like taking care of our top

graders exactly so basically what we do

here is we just have two sets of

different criteria in which we're

evaluating new candidates so we have the

values fit the warmth the depth the

mission alignment and then the other

part here is is the technical fit like

the functional fit right so basically

what we do before we even set out on

this interview process is we Define

these core values around what we want to

look for and this higher we also Define

like how do you exemplify that core

value and like there's like a score with

that totally and then that allows us to

go thoughtfully into this hiring process

to know what we're looking for

especially because we did this last part

is we just like sit here and visualize

like what a dream hire looks like so I'm

curious for you what does the dream hire

for the CPM rooll look like passion for

the Creator space with that a deep

understanding of what creators need and

that every creator that you meet here at

s is going to be different always say

that we're like a mosaic of a ton of

different types of creators um and a ton

of enthusiasm and just excitement that

you can relay to them on the phone and I

also think two key values is just having

warmth and depth U being excited and

warm showing up for them in a great

capacity on the phone and then also

having like a deep understanding of what

they need and really understanding that

having that empathy I love that the

other things I would add for this one is

like they love coaching people they love

seeing people succeed totally and they

also I think the thing we've been

looking for and hopefully we'll find it

today and making our final decision is

like someone we sit down with and you

just like immediately get good energy

from 100% you want to get along with

them that' be

awkward sorry what are some red flags

around interviews they don't make eye

contact with me on the phone yeah they

don't have an understanding of what San

is

oh yeah do your research before Y and

just overall excitement and enthusiasm

if I can't tell that you're excited

about this role then how are you going

to relay that excitement to the folks

that we're chatting with on a daily

basis totally and Lauren what else

should people do like and subscribe yeah

I didn't pay her to say that whatsoever

so as Lauren heads into this final round

interview what she's done is she's

listed out all of our values and all of

our technical requirements as well as

sub questions per value that she can

actually ask this candidate to D whether

or not this candidate actually meets our

bar the other thing about this interview

process is we've really lived by the

truism of higher slow Fire fast where

we've actually met with this candidate

now five times because we just want to

be super super intentional about anyone

else we bring on because what we

recognized is like you're not actually

just hiring this candidate you're hiring

not only them but the 30 to 50 people

that maybe they hire over time as well

but the hard part here is even if you

find someone that you end up being sold

on you actually have to sell them on

joining you and this leads us to our

last step which is how do you pitch your

company and in the beginning this is so

hard cuz you're just this tiny startup

and you have no idea if you're going to

make it you're also struggling to keep

everything afloat and now on top of that

you've got to convince someone to join

your vision to to take a bet and so I

figured the best way to teach you on how

to sell a candidate and what a candidate

actually cares about is actually I'm

going to pull in Alyssa our head of

Creator success first ever business hire

and actually ask her what about Stan

back in in the early days when we were

nothing was so exciting for her that she

left her stable job at a larger

competitor to actually come take a risk

on us there she is she's feeling nervous

I can tell I just saw her move her

seat

iing hi Lissa how are you how are you so

Lissa what do you do here at Stan um I

am heading up the Creator success team

so when when we first started

interviewing Stan was nothing yeah right

it was just like hey come join so what

possibly convinced you to quit your

super stable job to come take a bet on

St I think there was a couple of things

okay one was I just like enjoyed talking

with you um two was your Finance

background to be honest oh interesting

that was really important because I feel

like you hear about startups failing and

it's really risky like even going

through interviews right now that's one

of the top like concerns of candidates

and knowing that you could talk through

the financials and that I know that like

you wouldn't get us in a bad position

was huge so that was honestly like one

of the big ones um and I think the last

one was I think we like during our

interview process like shared a moment

like I'm pretty sure I got emotional and

I think it was like talking about like

helping other people and I could sense

that like you had that same passion it

wasn't like a fake salesy conversation

like it was genuine so I think those

were like the top ones for me oh that's

wonderful so Mission alignment also

sounds like drisking the business so

it's like almost like the opposite of

like think about startup upside is like

obvious so it's drisking and then the

first one is we just like we just vibed

vibed yeah other than what you said I

think the main thing that I'm realizing

a consistent thing for anyone who wants

to join a startup and how you win

against like a bigger company that's

more stable is like bigger companies are

kind of boring yeah you don't have a lot

of ownership either where it's like here

you come in you own our entire custom

sucess experience and you get to you get

to build you get to like make real imp

and I think that's probably the common

theme that unites all our most

successful hires there's just been like

this desire to just like go make an

impact run fast so

yeah so as we head out for the day I

want to leave you guys with one of my

favorite quotes that I've been sitting

with recently which is if you want to go

fast go alone but if you want to go far

go together and this has actually been

one of the toughest growth areas for me

where I'm actually weakest is and

learning these like soft skills of like

what does it mean to manage a team or

lead an organization like these things

that feel really abstract and so I'm

honestly just kind of learning as I go

and so if you're at all looking to learn

how to lead an organization or I guess

build a billion dollar company then I'd

love to have you follow along the

journey and we can just learn together

so I'll see you

[Music]

later