There are exactly zero billion dollar companies that were built by the founders alone. In fact, you’ll need to hire an army of incredibly talented people to have any chance of reaching that goal. The first part of the problem is finding the best people who may want to work at your startup. Here’s how you do it:
Filtered Marketplaces
These marketplaces, like Hired and A-List, have great people but their focus on salary can incentivize mercenary behavior in candidates.
**Do:**Begin by filtering on skillset, then reading profiles for alignment with your mission. If you find someone interesting, send them a personalized note explaining your company’s mission and why they might be a fit. Lastly, explain your salary constraints and highlight the large equity stake you can offer. This will filter out most of the mercenaries.
**Don’t:**Focus on the higher salaried candidates, sending a generic template to each. As an early stage startup it’s tough to compete on compensation with larger startups that are scaling rapidly.
Deep Networking
If you’re genuinely looking for game changers like Sheryl Sandberg and Eric Schmidt, those kind of people will never make it to the job market. Although networking to these people is both simple and effective, most founders don’t do it because it absorbs an incredible amount of time.
Do:Get meetings with investors, serial entrepreneurs and others who have worked at successful tech companies. Ask them the deliberately vague question: “Who are the best people you’ve worked with in area X?” Make lists of the names mentioned and get warm introductions to those people. Assuming they won’t be available, ask them about their best colleagues. Repeat until you find someone who is both excellent and available.
**Don’t:**Focus all your efforts on your 1st degree network. For most people, it will be exhausted quickly.
Search your Communities
Startup communities, like accelerator alumni forums and VC portfolio groups, can provide high quality people whose company has recently shut down.
**Do:**Search for founders posting about new side projects, looking for consultancy gigs or even experiencing significant life events. Participate in community events — you’ll be amazed what you hear just being around and you might get the chance to discreetly ask staff if there are good founders who may be in need of a ‘soft landing’.
**Don’t:**Post job descriptions in the forums or chat rooms alone. Most community members will do this, so you’ll be competing for attention in a crowd.
It doesn’t matter how good you and your co-founders are — you will need to build an incredible team, to build a big company. Maximize your chances of hiring the best, by starting with the best.
If you’re a B2B company at the seed stage looking for help, you can reach me at ash@ashrust.com.
Thanks to Kaego Rust, Eric Wiesen and David Smooke for their help on this article.Photo by Rebekah Howell.